(Image Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune)
 

BY KAVEH KAGHAZI

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

Chris Paul needed one word: Wow.

That’s how Paul reacted when NBA Commissioner David Stern killed a trade that would send the Hornets guard to the Lakers. The league bought the Hornets last year and has a right to control trades, but NBA.com’s David Aldridge says it’s turned into a giant conflict of interest.

“This is the problem where the concern that people had about the league owning the team. Basketball decisions may get influenced by business decisions.”

The trade would bring Paul to L.A., and send Lakers forwards Pau Gasol to Houston and Lamar Odom to New Orleans. Stern said the cancelled trade was for “basketball reasons”. But ESPN’s Chris Broussard says that’s not the case, as one side has taken the power back.

“It shows that the league’s official statement that this was about basketball reasons is not true. And we all--you know we’ve heard from various sources that this was not about basketball. But this was about owners, particularly some small market owners but perhaps even some big market owners who didn’t like this trade.”

A small market team such as the Cleveland Cavaliers? Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was adamant about nixing this deal. He expressed his displeasure in an email addressed to David Stern obtained by Yahoo! Sports.

“It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed... I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen. I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do.”

The blockbuster trade that wasn’t now leaves six players wondering about their futures. Both Paul and Odom reportedly won’t show up for training camp. A writer for the Los Angeles Times says fans have a right to be suspicious about the NBA’s controversial move.

“The NBA's move clearly showed it's serious about protecting small-market teams, far more than any new labor deal can show. The league absolutely can't justify Paul being traded anywhere after rejecting this one.”