Chris Paul Trade Rumors: Deal To Lakers Killed By NBA

A wild day of Chris Paul trade rumors that appeared to have ended with the New Orleans Hornets star guard headed to the Los Angeles Lakers has taken another bizarre twist. The deal appears to be off after a group on NBA owners protested the swap that would have seen Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom leave the Lakers.

Yahoo! Sports reported that the NBA killed the proposed three-team trade involving the Hornets, Lakers and Houston Rockets.

From Yahoo:

Some owners pushed Stern to demand the trade be nullified, and the Hornets be made to keep Paul on the roster for the foreseeable future, sources said. A chorus of owners were irate with the belief that the five-month lockout had happened largely to stop big-market teams from leveraging small-market teams for star players pending free agency.

“The owners half-pushed this, and Stern took it the rest of the way,” a league source told Yahoo! Sports. “In the end, David didn’t like that the players were dictating where they wanted to go, like Carmelo [Anthony] had, and he wasn’t going to let Chris Paul dictate where he wanted to go.”

You wonder if this puts Paul back in play for the New York Knicks. The only thing we know for sure is that this was one crazy day.

Chris Paul To Los Angeles Lakers Trade Close To Completion, New York Knicks Left Out, According To Report

The New York Knicks were already seen as a longshot to get New Orleans Hornets' All-Star guard Chris Paul because of the packages that other teams could put together. The latest regarding Chris Paul on Thursday is that he will be shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers for Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom:

The proposed deal to the Lakers is Chris Paul for Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, source says. (via Adrian Wojnarowski's Twitter)

The Hornets have been telling teams interested in acquiring Paul that the deal is already done. Ken Berger at CBS Sports confirmed (via Twitter) that the deal is in fact done. Once the Hornets get Gasol, they will be sending him off to the Houston Rockets for Luis Scola and Kevin Martin (via Adrian Wojnarowski's Twitter).

When Paul had originally announced that he would not re-sign with New Orleans, he stated that he would like to be traded to the Knicks. New York was likely only going to be able to acquire the guard via free agency after the season.

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Chris Paul Trade Rumors: New York Knicks Not Likely Destination For Seemingly Inevitable Trade

The New Orleans Hornets are shopping Chris Paul actively and aggressively, and three Paul suitors told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports they believe a trade will come by Friday. The New York Knicks have reportedly held discussions with the Hornets, but do not figure to have the assets required to deal for New Orleans' superstar guard.

Paul's agent has already told the Hornets that his client would like to be moved, and preferably dealt to New York, according to Yahoo! Sports. But a number of teams -- foremost being the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics -- are willing to offer larger packages than the Knicks can put together. Multiple teams are reportedly willing to acquire Paul even if he does not sign a contract extension, leaving it extremely unlikely that the Knicks will be able to strike a deal for Paul.

But it's still possible for the Knicks to sign Paul via free agency after the 2011-12 season. Nets guard Deron Williams has already declined to sign a contract extension, saying it does not make financial sense to limit his options that way. If Paul follows the same path, he would become a free agent following the coming season, and the Knicks -- with two superstars already in tow, available cap space likely and a large market that lends itself to endorsement deals and superstar branding -- would figure to be one of his preferred destinations.

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Chris Paul Trade Rumors: New York Knicks Preferred Destination, Guard's Agent Reportedly Tells Hornets

Chris Paul's agent has told the New Orleans Hornets his client will not sign a contract extension and would like to be traded to the New York Knicks, Yahoo! Sports reported Thursday.

Still, the Knicks are not Paul's definite location. The team likely does not have the assets required to add another perennial All-Star to the mix -- other teams can offer New Orleans more value.

Hornets general manager has been listening to offers for Paul and there are no shortage of suitors. One of the more adamant and aggressive suitors so far has been the Boston Celtics, who reportedly could be willing to deal for Paul and hope to persuade him into signing an extension later.

The Hornets reportedly are expected to search for a trade sooner rather than later, and are not necessarily asking for a point guard in return. The team could use Jarrett Jack as a starter if Paul is traded for a package that does not include a lead guard.

For more Knicks coverage, visit our team page, or our blog Posting and Toasting.

New York Knicks Rumors: Chris Paul? Not So Fast

ESPN analyst Chris Broussard said Monday morning that the New York Knicks had a 'great chance" of eventually landing New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul. Monday night another ESPN analyst, John Hollinger, contradicted Broussard.

"It appears the only realistic way that Paul can end up in Gotham would be if he is willing to take a massive pay cut. He would likely make about 60 percent as much in New York as he could make in New Orleans and, even in the best-case scenario, forego tens of millions of dollars compared to playing in other markets … So if Paul really wants to go to New York, he can go — as long as he’s willing to give up, at a minimum, forty million dollars to do it. (The same, incidentally, applies for Deron Williams or Dwight Howard.)

So, what we have here is a battle of the analysts. Will CP3 end up teaming with Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire? Truth is, nobody knows. At least, though, we are talking about basketball and not lockout or legal stuff.

New York Knicks Rumors: 'Great Chance' Knicks Get Chris Paul

The New York Knicks reportedly have a "great chance" to land Chris Paul.