And as soon as it had risen, it has died.
Chris Paul is still a member of the New Orleans Hornets as the deal with the Los Angeles Clippers that was being discussed has died, according to a tweet by Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
The entire Chris Paul fiasco has put numerous teams in relationship limbo with players that were offered up in each deal. It caused so much damage for the Los Angeles Lakers that Lamar Odom asked to be traded and ended up landing on the Dallas Mavericks for a second-round pick and cash, like he wasn't the glue that held the Lakers together.
Paul is now a depressed superstar playing somewhere he's almost been traded from - twice. His best teammate, David West, just signed with the Indiana Pacers and his team just signed nine D-Leaguers. Yes, nine.
Now, if Paul ends up staying put, he'll walk away for nothing in return and the very team the NBA was trying to keep competitive will star Jarrett Jack, Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor and a bunch of guys who barely made the NBA. Great job, David Stern and cohorts, you are just as terrible as we all thought you were.
Now, about this Dwight Howard fella...