Chris Paul is finally going to L.A. only it is as a member of the Clippers. The soap opera which has been the Paul saga beginning with a proposed trade to the Lakers that would have sent LaMar Odom to New Orleans and Pau Gasol to Houston and Luis Scola and Kevin Martin to N.O. looked like a great deal for all involved. Commissioner David Stern and the NBA, who own the Hornets, stepped in and killed the deal. The resulting fallout was heard around the league and hurt a lot of feelings in the process (especially Odom who requested and got a trade to Dallas).
The Clippers, who are far from the laughingstock they once were, still have Blake Griffin, won the bid for Chauncey Billups who was waived by the Knicks, but gave up center Chris Kaman and guard Eric Gordon for Paul. The question is will Paul sign a long term extension to the Clippers, or at least pick up the option on his current contract and stick around for two years with Griffin, possibly enough time to persuade Paul to sign long term.
Phil Jackson predicted the conflict of interest that would arise from the NBA's ownership of the Hornets. It reared its ugly head as they effectively agreed to a deal that was worse than the initial proposal. How does Hornets GM Del Demps feel? He worked very hard on the initial deal, so he wouldn't have a lame duck superstar holding his team hostage like Carmelo Anthony did to Denver last season.
Stay tuned...
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