Trade fail revisited

The article gives the account of what happened in the trade from sources.

At around 1 o'clock on the afternoon of Dec. 8, 2011 Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak thought he had a deal.


For the previous 10 days, he'd been actively involved in discussions with New Orleans Hornets general manager Dell Demps on a trade that would bring superstar point guard Chris Paul to Los Angeles.


The three-team deal would send Paul to the Lakers in exchange for the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a 2012 first-round pick from the Houston Rockets, who would end up with the Lakers' four-time All-Star forward Pau Gasol.

The Lakers' ownership was onboard. The Houston Rockets were onboard and excited to begin their rebuilding process after the retirement of center Yao Ming. The basketball people running the league-owned Hornets seemed to be equally eager to get the trade to the finish line.

At the same time the league's 30 team owners were meeting in New York to formally vote on the new collective bargaining agreement, the Lakers, Rockets and Hornets were putting the finishing touches on a trade that would rock the NBA.

Within an hour of those final calls between the three teams, news of the trade would reach virtually every Twitter feed, email address and website that covers the league. The reaction to the deal was swift and dramatic.

Why did it have to be the Lakers? Wasn't this one of the things the owners had staged their lockout to prevent? Another star forcing his way to another star-studded town. Another small-market team left to rebuild with whatever it could get in return.

None of that was the concern of Kupchak, Demps or Rockets GM Daryl Morey. But there was a problem. A big problem. NBA commissioner David Stern -- serving as de facto owner of the Hornets -- had a different idea of what was in the best interest of the New Orleans franchise.

In a move that will affect each of the franchises for years to come, Stern rejected the trade. Seven days later he signed off on a seperate trade that instead brought Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Kupchak still finds it hard to talk about. He generally does things quietly, without disturbing anyone. He's still not interested in commenting on the specifics of the trade.

"It was a disappointing experience," Kupchak said Sunday night before the Lakers fell to 10-8 on the season with a loss to the Indiana Pacers. "It's the first time I've ever been through something like that. But we moved on and that's where we are today."

Much has already been said about the seven days in December that changed the landscape of basketball in this town. In almost every measurable way, the Lakers have owned their intra-city rivals for as long as they both have called Los Angeles home. The Lakers' dominance isn't a debate here so much as it is a reality; as much a part of the civic order of things as late-arriving crowds and $18 appetizers at any decent restaurant in the fashionable parts of town.

But things are different now. The best point guard to play in Los Angeles since Magic Johnson wears a Clippers uniform.

A definitive history of those seven days is impossible to reconstruct just six weeks later. Too much cannot be said, yet. Too little is definitive.

What follows is an account of that week based on extensive views with numerous team officials, agents, players and other league sources who were deeply involved in the trade that was and the trade that wasn't. Most requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Others declined to comment, or offered only brief thoughts.

The picture they paint is fascinating and full of intrigue, and the questions that surround Stern's decision still linger.

In the end, Paul probably said it best after the trade to the Lakers was rejected when he tweeted simply: "WoW."

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