The Q
Hoop’s Villain, Reality’s Hero
The problem was that the original trade didn't include enough future assets to allow a new owner to put their own stamp on a newly acquired team.
Demps should have understood that, and Stern should have made his expectation clear to Demps.
And yes, it isn't impossible that lottery could have been fixed, but had they Pelicans done the Laker deal, they wouldn't have had those ping pong balls that allowed them to get Davis.
People forget that Dragic was in that deal. And that Lamar odom was traded like 2 days later for another first round pick.
It was just an overreaction to the lakers.