NBA: Chris Paul-To-Lakers Trade Veto Still A Mystery

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Oct 8, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Pau Gasol (16) pulls down a rebound against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

The Proposed Trade

Hornets receive: F Lamar Odom, F Kevin Martin, G Goran Dragic, G Luis Scola, and 2012 first round pick from Rockets

Lakers receive: G Chris Paul

Rockets receive: F Pau Gasol

As you can see, the Hornets actually were offered a pretty decent package from the Lakers and Rockets to lure CP3 out of New Orleans

Dragic was a young, up and coming point guard, Martin and Odom were both borderline all-stars at the time, and Scola was a capable, offensive-minded power forward as well. With all that in mind, the Hornets would have acquired potentially four starting caliber players and a first round draft pick for a player planning to leave in free agency anyways.

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So why did Stern step in and use his commissioner power to veto the trade?

The answer could be that when put to a vote, 27 out of the 30 NBA team owners said they had a problem with the deal. If you do the math, the three teams that said they didn’t have a problem with the trade were involved in it. The most notable owners to come out publicly against the trade were Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

In a letter to Stern, Gilbert wrote, “I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process.”

He went on to mention that the Lakers would also have the possibility to acquire Dwight Howard easily in a later trade because there were no draft picks from the Lakers involved in the CP3 trade.

Cuban made it known that he believed keeping NBA stars in the small markets where they were drafted would be best for the NBA and would keep fans interested in all teams and not just the large-market teams like in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles.

With all of the backlash and opposition the trade was getting, along with the fact that it came to light the day that the lockout came to an end, Stern decided he couldn’t allow it to happen. Teams were not supposed to engage in NBA activities during the lockout, which makes the negotiations that most likely took place during the lockout should never have happened????

Next, Stern actually trades Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers, who play in the same arena and the same town as the LA Lakers!

“I knew we were doing the best thing for New Orleans and that was my job,” Stern said when asked about the deal. “You have to stick with what you think was right. I must confess it wasn’t a lot of fun, but I don’t get paid to have fun.”

The trade went down December 15th, 2011, exactly one week after Stern nixed the CP3 to the Lakers deal.