For a bit of short-term Showtime, Lakers fall for the trap of landing an overpaid point guard--and at the expense of an aging but still-decent pair of frontcourt rotation guys to boot. (They are probably happy to get back their L.A. boy Ariza, though.) With whiny Chrissy, backcourt defense gets worse, and unless they somehow keep Metta, the wing production stays about the same.
Not since Magic Johnson (who really isn't a PG) has a max-salary PG been a cornerstone on a contender. Kidd was overpaid but he wasn't a cornerstone; even Mark Cuban refused to max out Steve Nash. Rondo and Mr. Longoria were both eight-figure guys but not max players. The list goes on and on.
After overpaying their elite and egotistical #3 pick general for 3 years, Utah got smart and traded him, setting the trend for New Orleans to be forced to unload Chrissy.
NOH overpaying for CPeeThree was the reason Utah had to max out DW8 in the first place.
Makes the Lakers' Staples Center debut vs. the Jazz even more intriguing (not that we needed it).