Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
There is renewed momentum to push through a trade that would send Chris Paul from the league-owned New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Clippers, according to sources close to the process.
After a seemingly imminent trade routing Paul to the Clippers collapsed earlier Monday, sources told ESPN.com that the league officials negotiating on the Hornets’ behalf had aggressively re-engaged the Clippers in talks in hopes of completing a deal as soon as Tuesday.
One source close to the process also told ESPN that league officials also definitely did not see talks with the Clippers as “over,” since they rank as the Hornets’ most natural trade partner given L.A.’s trade assets and how it ranks as Paul’s preferred destination if he can’t land with the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Knicks. The NBA remains “hopeful,” according to the source, that Paul’s fate can be resolved “soon.”
Two other sources went so far as to say that a deal could be in place by Tuesday, with the league officials who have essentially taken over the entire negotiating process from the Hornets eager to finally bring an end to this saga after NBA commissioner David Stern vetoed a three-team trade Thursday that would have landed Paul with the Lakers.
The talks hit an impasse earlier Monday when the Clippers decided that the league’s asking price for the All-Star guard was too high. Sources told ESPN.com that the Clippers balked when the Hornets, at the league’s insistence, asked for the Clippers’ top five trade pieces in exchange for Paul: Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu,Eric Bledsoe and Minnesota’s unprotected 2012 first-round draft pick.
Sources close to the talks insisted Monday night that both Gordon and the Minnesota pick were in the package that would be going to New Orleans.
The Clippers found the demands “too steep,” according to one source close to the process, even after Paul told the Clippers he would invoke the 2012-13 option in his contract as part of the trade, ensuring that L.A. would have him next to Blake Griffin for at least two seasons.
The Hornets wanted “everybody,” one source said. That meant both prized shooting guard Gordon and the highly coveted Minnesota pick, with requests at various points in the day from NBA negotiators Stu Jackson and Joel Litvin for Bledsoe and an additional first-round pick as well. The latter two requests, sources said, were met with particular dismay by the Clippers, since they are already so skittish about surrendering both Gordon and the Timberwolves’ pick.
It was not immediately known how many of those assets the Clippers will be able to keep out of the latest round of talks, but Clippers general manager Neil Olshey acknowledged at a Monday afternoon news conference that the trade could be revived if some of the parameters change. The Clippers are likewise open, sources said, to the recruitment of an additional team to add to the deal, since they ultimately still want Paul, knowing that acquiring him now is their best chance of securing a long-term commitment from Griffin.
“Everything’s over,” Olshey said, “until it’s reborn again.”
On a busy day for the Clippers, they also won a waiver auction to claim veteran point guard Chauncey Billups. The 35-year-old point guard was released by the Knicks last weekend through the amnesty clause in the NBA’s new labor agreement.
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WRITTEN BY Marc Stein is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Chris Broussard is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Ramona Shelburne and The Associated Press contributed to this report & FULL STORY HERE
