[Update II: Thanks to jrduncans for the following:
"The deal began to unravel around an hour before the NBA's 2 p.m. deadline. When the Hornets acquired Marc Jackson and Linton Johnson III for Bostjan Nachbar in a trade with New Jersey, they no longer had the salary-cap room needed to absorb the difference between Barry's and Smith's contracts. The Spurs and New Orleans tried to get Atlanta involved to help facilitate the trade, but couldn't get it done in time."
Still frustrating but not quite as tragic as previously thought.][Update: Ugh. According to ESPN.com, a Hornets deal fell through because they filed it 5 minutes after the deadline.
According to The Oklahoman, both Hornets GM Jeff Bower and Byron Scott were visibly disappointed soon after the trade deadline. "We got it to the league five minutes after the clock and they said, 'No deal.'" Scott told the newspaper. "So it was squashed, and everybody in the room was a little disappointed. We were that close to really feeling pretty good about the whole thing."
The Spurs missed out on a 20 year old athletic 2-guard shooting 39.5% from 3 due to a slow fax machine. Or a poorly set watch. That's cruel and unusual.]Brent Barry's father, Rick, has a radio show in the Bay Area. Today he announced on air that his son was about to get traded and the rumors started flying. Golden State fans starting throwing out names like Derek Fisher and Mike Dunleavy. I knew that was bullshit because the Spurs aren't going to add somebody with a horrible long term contract. Not to mention I wouldn't stand for Derek Fisher as a Spur and Pop and me are tight.
Obviously the trade fell through. According to Johnny Ludden the Spurs were to acquire J.R. Smith, the 20 year old athletic shooting guard for the Hornets who has found himself in Byron Scott's doghouse. Well fuck me. It's not often you can trade a nearly broken down spare part for a young, athletic guy with oodles of potential. Looks like we're stuck with The Cooler until at least the summer.