Has the economy caused an NBA team to throw in the towel?

Posted Feb 19th 2009 5:06PM by Mark Fightmaster

Turns out no one is safe from the economic downturn, not even an NBA franchise. The New Orleans Hornets dumped Tyson Chandler (and his paycheck of $12.3 million next year) on the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Hornets received Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox in return, along with the draft rights to DeVon Hardin.

According to various outlets (including ESPN.com), the Hornets have long been shopping Chandler for "financial reasons." The two players received in return have contracts that expire at the end of the season, so this is the classic rent-a-player scenario for the Hornets. New Orleans' payroll was set to hit $77 million next season, and they felt strongly enough about keeping that number in check to deal Chandler.

Many experts note that this is a concession by New Orleans. Chandler is the team's best defensive player, and trading him (according to ESPN) "almost certainly takes the Hornets out of serious playoff contention in the West."

Hornets coach Byron Scott basically admitted that the deal was money driven (although he recanted quickly), noting, "Deals that are made that are money-driven are always tough from a coach's standpoint ... I think obviously there's a lot of owners in this league that don't want to pay luxury tax and things like that."

Please understand that I am not crying tears for a multi-billion dollar operation like the NBA, its owners, or its franchises. In fact, dumping heavy salaries at the trading deadline is a standard practice in most leagues. However, trading away one of your three best players when you are in sixth place signals a white flag from the franchise -- a white flag that could extend to the paying customers (a group that you don't want to have throw in the towel).

Tags: business of sports, BusinessOfSports, contract, nba, sports, sports business, SportsBusiness, trading