Economy Forces NOLA to Trade Chandler; Thunder Add to Huge Collection of Young Talent

So it looks like Tyson Chandler is a Thunder ... part of the Thunder? Is thunder? Regardless, the big man whose defense, rebounding, and alley-oop connection with Chris Paul were a major part of the Hornets identity, has been moved for expiring contracts. I still fail to see how this does anything other than demoralize Paul, or for that matter, anyone who follows the game.

Maybe, with the cap shrinking, team owners losing personal assets, and the economy just generally endangering the financial sanity of some teams, the NBA's about to enter an MLB-like era of haves and have-nots. This despite the presence of a salary cap that was supposed to, at least to a degree, prevent this. And while baseball has had Moneyball and the Twins and all that, I don't think it's going to be fun watching teams like the Hornets lose key players, if not actually become inferior, all in the name of economic stratification. Maybe in a few years, we'll be used to watching teams with limited resources succeed against all odds, and innovative front offices outsmarting an unfair system. Wait, wasn't Jeff Bower supposed to be an unsung genius? I guess that was in the old reality.

But what's really crazy is that Chandler's going to Oklahoma City, the mother of all small markets. Granted, their core is almost all still under their rookie contracts, and there's no way they can afford to extend Westbrook, Durant, and Green at market value, even if the economy changes. Still, right now OKC's probably the best collection of young talent around. Move over, Kevin Pritchard. Sam Presti is here.

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