A little perspective

As to the first two paragraphs, the vast majority of people here were not deluded, we knew it was betting against the odds to re-sign CP3, we know we’ve had bad ownership, we know we’re in a small market.

In re the latter two, Odom is 32 and he’s aged gracefully statistically-speaking in part because as a 6th man on the Lakers (often a starter when Bynum or others were frequently injured & out), it’s not exactly a challenge when you’ve got some and/or permutation of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, and Andrew Bynum on the floor to get some good looks. Nobody thinks he’s worthless mind you. He’s old and getting older, and the looks he get aren’t going to be half as good as the open opportunities he had in L.A.. He’s a much better version of James Posey. I’m not exactly ecstatic. He’s too old for a team that needs to get rebuilt with young talent and not big enough a name to get fans to care about the Hornets.

Martin is a good scorer, but he’s not a young stud, his FG% is as low as Ariza’s, he can’t play defense, and – most damningly IMO – he’s only an efficient scorer if he/he makes his meal ticket by getting to the foul line 10-20 times a game, a fact that scares me considering he’s missed substantial chunks of games due to injury. A guy who gets hurt because he’s not very athletic or strong, but can score if he’s hit enough times to draw fouls and get to the line. I don’t like it.

Scola is an X-factor. He’s a good player, but how good is a big T.B.D. His best years have been on Houston teams where the Rockets have been without Yao and usually playing from behind, which have enabled him to put up – to some unknown extent – pretty good numbers since it’s not like teams were going to play incredibly stout defense against Rockets teams that were regularly playing from behind with Chuck Hayes at center. Scola is good. IMO, his stats. are somewhat padded. The big question is by how much. I don’t like that level of uncertainty and would rather hedge our bets on evaluating talent on multiple first round picks in the NCAA’s upcoming totally stocked drafts.

Goran Dragic. Really? “The edge of breaking out”? That has to be a joke.

Your hypo. in re DeAndre Jordan not breaking out but touting Goran Dragic makes me nauseous. It’s not personal – I believe you were joking about Goran Dragic being a good piece for the team – it’s simply because DeAndre Jordan has been developing in spite of lackluster coaches, would have thrived under a defense-minded coach like Monty, and Goran Dragic is just bad. There’s a reason the Clippers offer DJ $40 million and the Suns with an aging Steve Nash and the Rockets whom have had an indeterminate status at PG for years are willing to deal away Dragic. It makes me sick.

I appreciate the spirit of your message and agree nobody should go too far in reacting, but I think your message confuses peoples’ frustration: It’s not that we thought we had a great shot to retain Paul, it’s that the deal stinks to a great many people.