Who else thinks Paul will still be a Laker, as in revenge at the League?

[j804]

I know lots of people think ahh great he's not going to LA. I think he's going to somehow push himself there anyway  - as in I'm going to get my way you can't stop me. I know before all this drama he wasn't being really vocal and kind of just letting it ride out, doubt that'll be the case now.

Ya'll think a Faker at the trade deadline? I think so

[PosImpos]

i think the trade will either go through with some tweaks to it, or it won't and chris paul will sit out a portion of the season until the league agrees to allow him to be dealt to some other team -- probably a relatively small market team.  i couldn't tell you which one.

i'd say there's still a solid chance chris paul ends up a laker, but im not so sure it'll necessarily work out for them as well as they thought it would.  at the very least i think the league will ensure that paul + howard in LA never happens.  that was a big part of this, i think -- the trade itself didn't seem that bad; it was the fact that LA was set up to still have an opportunity to trade for Howard afterward. 

the lakers positioning themselves to have a new dynasty stretching into the next decade was too much just after a lockout based partly on "competitive balance" and the dissatisfaction of small market teams was finally resolved.

[j804]

spot on could see it playing out somethin like that

[LarBrd33]

based on how I view the events that took place... I don't think Chris Paul goes to the Lakers unless the Hornets are taking back a significantly different package. 

It's not the NBA's fault that the media is reporting this incorrectly... and I can't see 29 teams having their hand forced because of some media fueled hysteria.  That trade didn't make financial sense for the Hornets.  Bottom line.

[Who]

No, I expect the league will continue to block this trade until the team is sold.

[j804]

No, I expect the league will continue to block this trade until the team is sold.

Not so fast

Posted by Ben Golliver. 

Less than 24 hours after NBA commissioner David Stern stepped in to veto a 3-team trade that would have sent New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard to the Los Angeles Lakers, the three sides have reportedly resumed talking.

Yahoo Sports reports that the Hornets, Lakers and Houston Rockets are re-engaged in trade talks in an attempt to "find a new way" to consummate a trade that would have sent Lakers All-Star big man Pau Gasol to the Rockets and Lakers forward Lamar Odom to the Hornets, along with Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and other considerations. 

The three sides had reportedly agreed to a framework earlier on Thursday before word broke that Stern killed the deal in his role as overseer of the league-owned Hornets. The NBA initially said the trade had been vetoed for "basketball reasons" and issued a full statement on Friday morning.

"We decided, free from the influence of other NBA owners, that the team was better served with Chris in a Hornets uniform than by the outcome of the terms of that trade," Stern's statement read.

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert sent a letter to Stern that called the proposed trade a "travesty" while players criticized Stern for stepping in to block the trade.

Paul reportedly threatened not to attend the opening of Hornets training camp on Friday, but eventually showed up. ESPN.com reports that Odom showed up late to Lakers camp, met with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and then left without participating.

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/33776222

[Eja117]

Woah woah woah. I was thinking Paul Pierce for a sec.  Heart attack ended.  I think we need to start saying CP3 or use the full name or I might not make it through all this

[Snakehead]

i think the trade will either go through with some tweaks to it, or it won't and chris paul will sit out a portion of the season until the league agrees to allow him to be dealt to some other team -- probably a relatively small market team.  i couldn't tell you which one.

i'd say there's still a solid chance chris paul ends up a laker, but im not so sure it'll necessarily work out for them as well as they thought it would.  at the very least i think the league will ensure that paul + howard in LA never happens.  that was a big part of this, i think -- the trade itself didn't seem that bad; it was the fact that LA was set up to still have an opportunity to trade for Howard afterward. 

the lakers positioning themselves to have a new dynasty stretching into the next decade was too much just after a lockout based partly on "competitive balance" and the dissatisfaction of small market teams was finally resolved.

I think you are right on.  And this is my problem and that's understandable for the other owners.  The Hornets having room for Howard after that trade is crazy, they need to be taking on more salary.  I don't get it from New Orleans perspective.

I was in the whole Paul to Celtics trade haze, but now I don't really care if he goes to LA, just make the trade make more sense and don't let Howard go there.  Howard in New Jersey with Williams is fine.



If he can't go to the Lakers somehow my prediction is he is traded and plays out his season on that team not saying he'd sign with them and then just goes to Lakers in free agency.  It'd just be a spite thing and I get it from his perspective.