Chris Paul Trade To Lakers Put On Hold

Hours after the news broke about the blockbuster trade between Los Angeles, Houston and New Orleans the NBA Commish put the nix on it, leaving Chris Paul stuck.

ESPN's Mark Stein is reporting that Chris Paul is packing his bags and heading to LA.  The Lakers were reportedly interested in both him and Orlando's Dwight Howard, and they have gotten at least one of their targets for now.

The deal to get CP3 will see Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol go to New Orleans.  It's a three team deal that involves the Houston Rockets who will be sending Luis Scola,Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic to New Orleans as well.  Paul averaged around 15 points a game last season and around 9 assists.

UPDATE:

NBA Commissioner David Stern has stopped this trade from happening.  He informed the Hornets that they would not be able to make the trade of Paul to LA .  ESPN reports that Stern was flooded with emails from angry owners about the trade because many were angry that the small market team (Hornets) were being "raided" for the big players, thus giving the big market teams (Lakers) an unfair advantage.  In the end, the decision was Sterns to make.

The deal was never discussed at the Board of Governors meeting and the league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons.

-NBA Spokesman Mike Bass

The leaves all the players in the mix in an awkward place.  Paul has said that he will not be attending Hornets training camp on Friday, and I'm sure that the trade has left a sour taste in the mouths of Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reports that Paul may go as far to file a law suit against the lead on grounds that the trade was stopped for what most experts are saying was no apparent reason.

[ESPN]