Chris Paul Trade Unfair? the Lakers Trade for Pau Gasol Was More Lopsided

There have been a lot of big moves made so far in this truncated NBA offseason, but what would have been the biggest transaction has been put on hold for now.

A week ago the Los Angeles Lakers chances of acquiring both Chris Paul and Dwight Howard seemed slim at best. It seemed even less likely that the Los Angeles Angels would have a chance at Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson.

Only hours after Arturo Moreno's franchise was celebrating one of their biggest days in franchise history off the field, even more star power seemed to be on the way to Southern California.

The Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and New Orleans Hornets were on the verge of completing a blockbuster trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers and Pau Gasol to the Rockets.

With this deal nearly completed, speculation grew that the Lakers would be able to use some of their remaining players such as Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest in a trade for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

Those two potential trades would have broken up the best and most versatile frontcourt in the league, but the Lakers would have a superstar trifecta of Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard that could overshadow the big three in Miami.

Only hours after Jerry Buss's franchise was about to complete their biggest transaction in years, David Stern and the NBA pulled the plug on the deal, because in their opinion (and that of disgruntled owners such as Dan Gilbert), it was not in the best interest of the league.



It seemed like Stern was trying to prevent yet another superstar from a small market team from forcing his way to a marquee franchise in large market. Others seemed upset that the Lakers were once again getting another superstar while sacrificing very little.

The Lakers may be on the verge of obtaining their best point guard since Magic Johnson, but this deal would have been far from a ripoff for all the parties...

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