Chris Paul Trade Dead: NBA Vetoes Trade Involving Lakers, Hornets And Rockets

By Brett Martel, The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — The NBA, owners of the New Orleans Hornets, refused Thursday to approve a three-team trade that would have sent Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"It's not true that the owners killed the deal, the deal was never discussed at the Board of Governors meeting and the league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons," league spokesman Mike Bass said.

Yahoo Sports reported that NBA Commissioner David Stern killed the trade after several owners complained. Citing anonymous sources, Yahoo reported Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was one of the most vocal owners upset about the deal, done the same day as the end of the lockout, which was supposed to restore competitive balance in the league.

The proposed deal would have sent Lamar Odom from the Lakers to New Orleans and four-time All-Star Pau Gasol from the Lakers to Houston.

After it fell through, Paul simply wrote, "WoW," on his Twitter page.

The NBA's decision sets up an awfully awkward Friday.

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that Paul will report to the Hornets on Friday. And Gasol and Odom were expected to report to the Lakers' first day of training camp under new coach Mike Brown.

Odom, too, took to Twitter to share his feelings: "When a team trades u and it doesn't go down? Now what?"

Owners and players ratified a new collective bargaining agreement Thursday, the final step to ending the five-month lockout and allowing training camps and free agency to open Friday.

There was hope in small markets like New Orleans that after the lockout it would be easier for teams to hold on to their stars. Had the deal had been approved, one of the NBA's biggest stars from the league-owned small-market Hornets would have moved to one of the NBA's largest, richest markets.

The Hornets have been owned by the NBA since last December, when the league bought the club from founder George Shinn.

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that the framework for a deal had been in place earlier Thursday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were supposed to remain confidential.

The Rockets also had agreed to send forward Luis Scola, shooting guard Kevin Martin, point guard Goran Dragic and a first-round draft choice to New Orleans.

Odom, the NBA's sixth man of the year last season whose marriage to Khloe Kardashian and E! network reality show put him at the center of Hollywood's love affair with the Lakers, sounded devastated to be leaving his adopted hometown in an interview on 710 ESPN radio earlier Thursday. Odom has spent all but one season of his NBA career with the Clippers or Lakers.

The NBA's move also quashed an attempt by the Lakers to retool their roster after their back-to-back title reign ended last spring with Dallas' second-round playoff sweep.

There is, however, still the question of Orlando's Dwight Howard.

The Lakers are widely reported to be interested in acquiring the Magic center Dwight, another All-Star expected to move before signing a long-term deal. Unlike Paul, Howard has made no secret of his affection for Los Angeles.

If the Hornets are unable to figure out a trade for Paul, he would be able to opt out of his current contract after the upcoming season.

Speaking earlier Thursday, Hornets president Hugh Weber said the franchise has been preparing for months for the possibility that Paul would resist signing an extension in New Orleans, a move that would leave the Hornets with the choice of trading him or simply letting him walk in free agency at the end of the season.

"We've been preparing for this moment for over a year, and it's not like we were surprised or caught flat-footed," Weber said. "This is not a surprise. This is not something where we've been sitting around waiting to see what would happen. We've been managing this and taking control of the situation as best we can and we're going to have a team that we believe achieves that objective of making this community proud."

Paul, 26, averaged 15.8 points and 9.8 assists last season.

Despite the lockout and uncertainty over Paul's future, fan support has been building in New Orleans, where the team has advertised their season-ticket drive as an effort to lure a permanent local buyer who is committed to keeping the team in Louisiana.

The Hornets have increased their season ticket base from a little more than 6,000 last season to 10,019 as of Thursday afternoon.

Paul was drafted by the Hornets fourth overall out of Wake Forest in 2005.

He has been selected to the Western Conference All-Star squad the past four seasons and also was a member of the United States' Olympic gold medal-winning team in Beijing in 2008.

___

AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Comments

[linton]

05:44 AM on 12/10/2011

As a below average NBA fan, I wouldn't mind watching Kobe and C. Paul playing together.
It is fast becoming a super power league and maybe it is time to get rid of some of the teams. They play too many games and that is something they should have fixed. Why do teams have to play each other 10 times before the play offs?
How about the Washington Wizards? I bet they are getting ready for another losing season.

[TILL]

02:41 PM on 12/09/2011

I have mixed emotions. One I don't like the Lakers...but Two, I don't see how Stern can say he vetoed the trade because it was in the best interest of the Hornets. The trade was definitely in their best interest...they got a lot. They stand now to get less. I think Stern is lying and would be very happy to see him retire. In this article it may have Not been presented that Stern said what he said, because this is brand new news. But now Stern has given his reason and he's stuck with it. It's reported that LA was going to make out like a bandit in that... they were going to get Howard from Orlando, and Orlando would be happy to get the LA center. So, LA would have Kobe, Paul, and Howard. Pretty much a powerhouse. I think why Stern voided the trade is that the League owns the New Orleans franchise and without Paul there No one would buy them. Stern does Not like having ownership responsibility. The mistake Stern made was that the Hornets did get fair compensation for Paul, and the franchise's sell would have been just as effective with the new players. I repeat I wished there was a way the League could find a way to remove Stern.

[swan1]

12:09 PM on 12/09/2011

Kobe wanted this so much. Stern still hates Kobe, therefore anything to help Kobe Stern vetoes. It is so unfair for Chris Paul. He will leave N O anyway, why not now ? As for Lamar Odom, imagine how much mascara ran, when the Kardashians first heard about the trade. Why can't a person play where they want to play. If they rather be a Laker than a Hornet , SO WHAT !

[SoutheastBeast]

12:02 PM on 12/09/2011

Kobe wouldn't share the ball with a real point guard anyway. Stern just saved the Lakers from self destruction.

[DredLockRasta]

03:50 PM on 12/09/2011

it's the point guard's job to share the ball......

[SoutheastBeast]

04:16 PM on 12/09/2011

NOt if his two guard thinks he's the point guard.

[appalling]

11:54 AM on 12/09/2011

LA was about to self destruct with this deal unless they got Howard afterwards. Losing two of the best seven footers for a 5-9 shooting passer in Chris Pau made LA no different from any guard-gunning team. LA won when Pau played well, lost when he didn't. Odom added the versatility and along with 7-1 Bynum, LA was scariest due to their bigs. Mister "I can't win without Shaq or 3 seven footers carrying me" Kobe Bryant ain't doing jack with Chris Paul. The NBA saved a terrible deal for LA and Kobe knows it.

[MisterCee]

12:08 PM on 12/10/2011

I "kinda" agree with you. I think it's easier to get a point guard who knows his role than a dominating big man. I think the Lakers wanted to get faster instead of big because Dallas exposed them as a big team that was too slow to guard against smaller faster players and the jump shot. Bring in a Dwight Howard and fresh legs for the guards and I think we have a team. The Lakers need to forget about this Chris Paul deal, ship Odom and Bynum and (hopefully) Luke Walton to Orlando for Howard and one of their guards.

[CraigVale]

11:51 AM on 12/09/2011

I'll await the courtroom battle as I can see some antitrust issues coming out of this decision. The fact that the league actually owns a franchise seems problematic on its very surface! I can see a temporary take over due to some financial calamity but there should be a requirement to find new ownership within a defined period of time.

[Minnehaha]

11:47 AM on 12/09/2011

Good! Can't wait for one of the so called three kings to get the boot!

[vesaversa1]

11:33 AM on 12/09/2011

The league is creating their own little monopoly by owning teams themselves. The NBA have become worst than boxing everything is fixed.

[natturnerx]

11:27 AM on 12/09/2011

its a major conflict of interest for the league to own a team. it leads to situations like this where the league can't do whats best for the team it owns because of concerns it might upset competitive balance in the league. notice that the miami heat owners didnt have to worry about that.

[Mangus]

11:15 AM on 12/09/2011

who or what is an NBA?

[DredLockRasta]

03:51 PM on 12/09/2011

Y R U here ignoramus?

[abaybay]

10:45 AM on 12/09/2011

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7334835/the-sixth-day-nba-christmas

Great article on this topic from the legendary Bill Simmons

[NvisibleMan]

11:39 AM on 12/09/2011

Thanks for the link.

[abaybay]

10:36 AM on 12/09/2011

I laugh because it was the Hornets (NBA-owned team) who got the best out of this trade. Scola, Martin, Odom, Dragic and a first rounder is plenty to build around. Scola is a 17-18/10 guy, Martin is a 20+ scorer, Odom is one of the most versatile players in the league, Dragic is a decent back up point guard AND a first rounder. Chris Paul will leave regardless, should have gotten a bang for your buck, owners.

[RedWhiteandBlueState]

10:28 AM on 12/09/2011

Stern desperately trying to save the relevance of his irrelevant regular season.

[Mattcat25]

10:05 AM on 12/09/2011

The NBA stOwners need to recuse themselves from the New Orleans Operational Decisions.

[ludichris212]

09:54 AM on 12/09/2011

Even being from New Orleans and not wanting Chris Paul to go anywhere, I don't see why this didn't go through. What the heck are 'basketball reasons?'

New Orleans, while losing Paul would get four players and a first round draft pick in the deal. The small market team would be getting a heckuva package in exchange for one player who could leave of his own volition next year with the team receiving nothing in return.

I truly hope they revisit this prior to the season, because if the teams agreed to this one, I don't see why the league doesn't.

[NvisibleMan]

10:09 AM on 12/09/2011

I believe they'll revisit the deal.

But I also believe the real reason Stern did this...the 41 million that comes off the Lakers payroll.

[WendellPerrySociety]

10:17 AM on 12/09/2011

"basketbal­l reasons" - means they don't want a repeat of what happened in Miami - the rumor was that both Paul and Dwight Howard planned to move to the Lakers and team up with Kobe.

[ludichris212]

10:53 AM on 12/09/2011

Never heard that. I was aware of the collusion between Paul, Amare and Carmelo, but not of any plan by Paul or Howard to team up in L.A, but I wouldn't put it past them.

I still think that New Orleans would have gotten the best of the three teams in the deal though.