In the blink of an eye, the entire landscape of the NBA has changed. As originally reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, and Houston Rockets have agreed on the framework of a deal that will bring Chris Paul to L.A. The long-standing rumors linking the league’s best point guard and premier glamour franchise have finally been actualized, giving the Lakers the kind of transcendent star to usher in the post-Kobe Bryant era.
The specifics of the deal are as follows:
Los Angeles receives:
Chris Paul*
In exchange for:
Pau Gasol
Lamar Odom
Houston receives:
Pau Gasol
In Exchange for:
Luis Scola
Kevin Martin
Goran Gragic
2012 first round draft pick (originally from New York)
New Orleans receives:
Lamar Odom
Luis Scola
Kevin Martin
Goran Dragic
a 2012 first round draft pick (originally from New York, via Houston)
In exchange for:
Chris Paul
*According to salary cap wizard Larry Coon of ESPN.com, the Lakers may also be acquiring two traded player exceptions (TPE) that they can in turn use to acquire other players. Kevin Pelton -- of Basketball Prospectus and ESPN.com -- wisely connected the dots between the Lakers’ TPE and New York’s Ronny Turiaf, whose contract currently stands in the way of the Knicks’ arrangement with free agent Tyson Chandler.
The Rockets have paid a steep price in order to acquire Pau Gasol, but Houston GM Daryl Morey finally has the star player he has so long coveted. Additionally, the Rockets will have enough room under the cap to continue chasing after unrestricted free agent big man Nene, who could provide the Rox with a dynamic 1-2 punch on their back line. That said, Gasol is likely not the franchise centerpiece that many Rockets fans envisioned after years of Morey collecting tradeable assets.
New Orleans gave up one of the league’s true superstars, but in return have acquired a number of quality assets. Odom, Scola, and Martin are all very good players that can make the Hornets competitive in the short term, but can also be flipped with relative ease if the right deal comes along. The Hornets are trying to move on at this point, but by acquiring several very good assets at the expense of Chris Paul’s ticking clock, they buy time to pursue fair trades and do their proper diligence.