RoF site has crashed but here is some info...

[EC123]

..........:rofl:

Yes. That Jackson remaining instead of Wallace crap is hilarious.

Besides, I can guarantee you that Jackson will not be as productive as a 3rd or 4th option, like Wallace would be, just based on EGO alone, before you even start talking about Wallace not needing the ball in his hands to be productive.

[Jackson 5]

I dont want to pay ANOTHER player 10 mil a year to come off the bench, we can get the same stats out of flip for a quarter of the cost.

Flip has stated that he would love to come back to Charlotte so that would make this move even more of a head scratcher!:confused:

[cdandi1]

we all need to relax....just for everyones information, i have to take a dump.

[Munch4455]

THE REVEAL BY JAMES THE AUSSIE

I've outlined everything I've heard at one point or another, but for those who weren't here for the lead up here is what I was told. If you don't feel like reading the whole lead up and blah, blah, blah then skip down to a row of asterisks for the pure details.

I first heard about possible trades on Friday of last week (the 9th) when a friend of mine who works in the Charlotte Bobcats organization had mentioned off the cuff that the team were trying to acquire Chris Paul, but the New Orleans Hornets would not entertain any trade offers for him. At that time he told me there was 'no way he goes anywhere'. At the time I thought nothing of this... I was sure that overtures must be made all the time to try and at least see if a deal could be struck, and given Paul sat with Jordan during the Bobcats' series in Charlotte I thought it was probably a given they would at least inquire. At this time he told be that the organization were definitely looking for another PG to start, or push Augustin in camp, and not a rookie.

When the original news broke about the Diaw for Calderon trade it was my assumption that this was just the natural progression after being denied by New Orleans. I liked Calderon and spent much of the day (Monday) talking up Calderon and being excited for the prospect of his abilities in Charlotte. While we were talking back at forth at RoF someone asked if this could be part of a blockbuster trade (when we thought part of Bosh's trade exception must be coming to Charlotte), I responded then by saying 'I think we've gotten addicted to the idea of a blockbuster trade... maybe we're going to be cheap now'. Still, it made me wonder so I called my source in Charlotte when I got off work to see if he had heard anything. He had... at that time he told me that the Bobcats pushed again to acquire Paul, but it would have taken almost everything the Bobcats had, plus taking on enough of New Orleans' bad contracts that they could not have matched a front loaded offer sheet for Tyrus Thomas if one was offered.

At the same time though he did tell me that 'something major was in the works' and he couldn't give me more details. At that time, I believed it was going to be a plan to send some of Toronto's trade exception, and Nazr Mohammad and picks to Minnesota for Al Jefferson... but my source told me 'it's not Jefferson'.

A little after midnight word got out that Jordan was about to pull the plug on the Calderon deal... I had no idea what was happening, but that same night my source was called into work around that same time.

In the morning he called me as he was heading into the office. He told me some 'crazy stuff was going on'. He also told me the Charlotte Observer would have false information, and he didn't believe that any national outlet would have any information. At this time, as far as he was concerned the Calderon deal was still alive.

At this point I must interject in this long winded story to explain something that I found out after the fact relating to Tuesday. Something to do with the Bower firing in New Orleans opened the possibility to trade for Chris Paul for the first time. The Bobcats got word of this in the evening Monday, Vegas time and it was their belief Paul was going to be shopped. They saw their major stumbling block in getting Paul to be Dallas, who they knew had already made numerous overtures to New Orleans like the Bobcats had. Dallas, convinced Paul wasn't going anywhere was offered Chandler and Ajinca for Dampier, Carroll and Najera- the very contracts they were trying to move to Minnesota for Al Jefferson. The Bobcats knew what Dallas wanted gone, and made an offer and closed it as soon as possible.

Even now I'm not sure why we had to have Erick Dampier... I can speculate that maybe New Orleans wanted to cut money outright, but they did not want Tyson Chandler. Convinced that Dallas would find out about Bower's eventual firing Charlotte got the deal closed and in the book Tuesday.

We were left wondering what was planned. Tuesday night I got an email from another friend of mine in New York. He was not related to the Bobcats' organization, but his company did a lot of dealings with the NBA and typically facilitated in large scale trades. It was here that I first heard about what was referred to as 'the deal'.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

I can't tell you the psyche behind the trade itself, but I have my opinions on why this may have happened. My understanding is though that Charlotte for the first time had pieces New Orleans may be interested in to acquire Chris Paul, provided we would also take Emeka Okafor's contract back. It was outlined to me like this:

* Trade 1: Erick Dampier to New Orleans for Chris Paul http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2739ale

* Trade 2: DJ Augustin, Gerald Henderson, Nazr Mohammad, unprotected 1st round pick, 2nd round pick for Emeka Okafor http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2eyj3tu

I was told that this started in motion a long standing dream that Michael Jordan had to unite several of his 'Team Jordan' athletes under his team. Even though the Bobcats would be deep in the luxury tax, it was the organization's belief that the extra ticket sales, sponsorship opportunities and marketing would ultimately outweigh the money lost to luxury. He told me it would be 'damn near impossible' to pull off the trade, but when I pressed him he told me he gave it about a '30% chance of happening'.

Following this, he told me about another trade.

I was told that if, and only if Chris Paul was already on board negotiations would begin on another trade between the Charlotte Bobcats and the Denver Nuggets. Provided Paul has been traded, Carmelo Anthony would tell the organization that he would not be accepting their contract offer to play beyond the 2010-11 season. At this time the Bobcats would propose the following trade to Denver:

* Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, right to switch 1st round picks in a future draft, future 2nd round pick for Carmelo Anthony. http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=23fttaa

I asked him why Denver would do this, and all he could tell me was 'they just saw what happened to Cleveland and Toronto... it's a sweetheart deal if you ask me'. This made sense to me... lose Melo to free agency, or get an All-Star, versatile big man and draft flexibility for essentially no reason. I believe Charlotte was offering this for two reasons:

1.

MJ and Larry Brown have a long standing relationship and respect for George Karl

2. They couldn't carry that much salary into the season.

I asked him what he thought the chances of this one were. He told me '85% if they have Paul, 0% if they don't'. It was his belief that if Paul wasn't traded Anthony would wait a while longer and sign a 2 year extension so his contract finished as Paul's did. He also told me that Denver had been trying to trade for Paul also, but with no luck... they didn't have pieces New Orleans wanted.

From here, information started to trail off. My Bobcats source told me that numerous rumors were flying around and that while the Paul and Melo deal was something of water cooler banter in the organization he hadn't heard anything specific. He could tell me though that numerous backup plans were flooding in to the office regarding teams who wanted Dampier's 'dust contract' and these would be examined if the 'big trade' didn't go through. He told me at this time that what he did know was that if the 'big trade' didn't happen by the end of Friday, there was almost no chance it would occur at all. He did tell me, however, that a fake rumor detailing interest in Ramon Sessions would leak during the day, and that if we signed a free agent PG it was a good sign.

Wednesday: Bower was fired (peaked my interest), they voided Luther Head's contract (I believed to make room for Henderson) and we signed Livingston (I believed because we knew we were losing DJ).

When these three things happened I was literally giddy... I was sure the deal was going through and when Ourdaywillcome said his people said it was on I thought it was a slam dunk.

Then nothing happened

I need to add that behind the scenes this entire time Ourday and myself were comparing notes. Everything we got kept being remarkably similar, enough that I was sure we were on to something.

I still don't know what happened on Wednesday to delay the deal. My guy in Charlotte had no clue, and my source in NY was preoccupied with other issues... and here we sit at 3 a.m. On Saturday morning and I'm still not 100% sure why everything came grinding to a halt.

So, that's what I know. I'm as disappointed as the rest of you that this didn't go through. Now, we have to wait and see what 'backup trades' could materialize. I asked my source in Charlotte yesterday, and he told me that it would take everyone getting back from Vegas and then evaluating what happened and what they had on the table. He told me it could take up to weeks.

If you have any questions, fire away. The only thing I ask if that you don't pose a question that would result in me giving away any information on my sources.

Thank you, Go Bobcats!

PS: I again want to apologize that my naivety about just how far reaching one rumor can go and effect so many people. I originally isolated all of this to one blog, and now I am simultaneously posting this on Rufus On Fire, and Bobcats Planet as a gesture of good will so people might believe I didn't share any of my information merely for website.

[Carl Spackler]

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

f**k everything. except all my friends and family...

Am I your friend?

[Vagrant]

tldr; I wanted major hits for my blog. Thanks for the goose chase, bro.

[rico6]

It was fun while it lasted.

But we've just been Rick Roll'd lol.

[Woodie]

I'd like to think that Stern didn't step in, but he is a meddling sonofabitch. And to be honest, it was/is going to be hard to pull a trade like that off. We're talking about two of the top ten players in the NBA with CP3 and 'Melo.

If Stern was to step in, it would be to help Jordan. MJ is the highest profile representative the NBA has ever seen...player, coach, or owner. He is also the benchmark for marketing and brand exposure. So Stern would gladly step on Riley, or anyone, for that matter, if it meant Jordan would bring the kind of positive attention to the NBA that only Jordan can.

[Woodie]

As for the deal, while I have been somewhat skeptical, the more I read from those two guys, the more I think it was real. Just too much detail and honest discussion for it to simply be them trolling. And it actually made sense.

Think about it, for NO, we all know how cheap Shinn can get, and that Okafor deal is bad...real bad. So I can easily see Shinn desperately wanting out of it. Not to mention that Paul only wants to play for a winner, and wants to stay in NO only if they make some moves to put them in title contention. Well, that would mean taking on bigger salaries and higher profile players, which is not something Shinn has ever been too fond of doing. If anything, he tends to jettison the players with overly high salaries as soon as possible. And by taking on the guys we were rumored to send, he would be able to cut significant salary in both this and future years, while taking on some young talent with good potential still on their rookie contract.

And Denver is in a really awkward spot. If Anthony does not accept an extension, then there is a strong likelihood that he will leave next year with no compensation. So getting some solid pieces now rather than lose him for nothing next year might seem fairly attractive to them…particularly since they really haven’t done anything to put them in any better position to challenge the Lakers in the West. And Wallace being one of the best values in the NBA is also a very attractive factor.

For the Bobcats, it puts them over the luxury tax, but also puts them in serious title contention. And it’s a legitimate idea to think the team feels they could make up the cost with the revenue generated by marketing, advertising, ticket sales, etc. Also, I do not think Jordan bought this team for the money or glory, he has both in spades, but to compete and win championships. I think that’s his primary goal, and I can easily see him doing whatever it takes to make it happen.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

poo

[Porn Shop Clerk]

Hey Rick Bonnell, stop getting ideas from your half assed fluffy puff articles from here without giving credit where credit is due. You could at least mention the addy www.carolinahuddle.com in your little articles.

And do some legwork of your own. Oh that's right, the team has ostracized you because you're Shinn's lapdog.

[carpanfan96]

Hey Rick Bonnell, stop getting ideas from your half assed fluffy puff articles from here without giving credit where credit is due. You could at least mention the addy www.carolinahuddle.com in your little articles.

And do some legwork of your own. Oh that's right, the team has ostracized you because you're Shinn's lapdog.

Wow, I just read that.......article...if that's what you'd call it. lmao

[Porn Shop Clerk]

Happens quite a bit across the sports section in the Observer.