The NBA runs the New Orleans Hornets. The NBA wants to sell the New Orleans Hornets. The NBA might want to keep Chris Paul on the New Orleans Hornets until they sell him. So the original trade with the Los Angeles Clippers had to die.
Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports reports that it might not be totally over yet.
Still, Olshey allowed for the possible resumption of trade talks while speaking to reporters in Los Angeles.
"I don’t know if there’s anybody on the planet that doesn’t think they would need Chris Paul if they had an opportunity to acquire him," Olshey said.
Plenty of people in the league – including some in Paul’s camp – are skeptical of the NBA’s intentions to trade him, questioning whether league officials are merely going through an exercise to protect themselves against legal liability, preferring instead to have Paul on the Hornets’ roster when the team is finally sold to a new owner.
It makes sense that it's in the league's best interest to have Paul with the Hornets if they want this team to be sold as quickly as possible. So it makes sense for the NBA to want to move Paul, they'd want teams like the Angeles Clippers to have to give up a lot to make this trade.
Now that they have Chauncey Billups though, they might be willing to part with a lot of players like Eric Bledsoe, Al-Farouq Aminu and Chris Kaman plus draft picks. It's doubtful the Clips would go all the way and give up Eric Gordon, but with a complimentary guard like Billups now on the Clippers, LA might be interested in making a deal and making the CP3-Blake union happen.
To discuss Paul and the Hornets, head to At The Hive. To discuss the possibility of Paul on the Clippers, head to Clips Nation.