NBA commissioner David Stern squashed a proposed three-team trade on Thursday that would have sent All-Star guard Chris Paul to Los Angeles. On Friday, those teams are still trying to find appropriate framework for a deal.
Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets have revived their talks of a three-team deal that would ultimately land Paul in L.A. Since Stern, acting on behalf of the league-owned Hornets, vetoed a deal supposedly because New Orleans was "better served" with keeping Paul based on that trade scenario, the three teams are looking to make things work with a new deal.
Stern would not go back on that decision Friday morning, but the league is allowing the teams to continue negotiations in hopes of finding a new deal. According to the Yahoo! report, those talks are still ongoing as of Friday afternoon.
"All three teams are engaged," a source reportedly told Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski. "Not sure if it will work."
It makes sense that all three teams would want to get a deal done. The Lakers would obviously benefit from acquiring arguably the best point guard in the game. The Rockets are trying to build a new frontcourt under the assumption that they would receive Pau Gasol in the trade and would then use the money they clear up by trading pieces to New Orleans to sign free agent Nene. And the Hornets need to get something for Paul, who is almost certainly going to opt out of his contract after this season.
Not to mention the fact that the players involved in the original scenario are likely harboring some ill will toward the teams that were set to ship them out of town.
