The Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Lakers was vetoed when it was first submitted on Thursday evening, but that doesn't mean the New Orleans Hornets All-Star won't be a teammate of Kobe Bryant this season. In fact, according to ESPN, a similar trade was submitted for league approval on Saturday morning.
Chris Paul Trade 2.0 Submitted: Lakers, Hornets, And Rockets Wait For Approval
It's unclear exactly what was changed in the latest proposal as Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the deal between the Hornets and Houston Rockets, the third team in the trade, is still going to be the same. The new rendition likely involves either younger or better players being shipped from the Lakers to the Hornets.
NBA Commissioner David Stern said on Friday that the league didn't believe that the original offer -- which would have netted the Hornets Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Lamar Odom to go with a future first round pick -- was enough to keep the Hornets as a viable team without their superstar point guard.
"The decision was taken that Chris Paul in New Orleans was more valuable than the trade that was being discussed," David Stern tells Bloomberg. "I don't want to speak on the basketball side, but that particular one was weighed against Chris Paul's continued presence in New Orleans.''
More details should emerge at some point on Saturday afternoon. As of now, though, it seems the Hornets were able to apparently net a better offer thanks to Stern nixing the original deal.
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