NBA Rumors: Failed Eric Gordon Deal Tilts Chris Paul Trade in Clippers' Favor

Day by day, game by game, the gap between winners and losers in the blockbuster trade that sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers and Eric Gordon to the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets grows ever more cavernous.

The failure of the Hornets to come to an agreement with Gordon on a long-term extension is just the latest entry into the dubious file on commissioner and de facto team owner David Stern. Gordon told the New Orleans Times-Picayune the inability of the two parties to find common ground before the January 25th deadline was mutual:

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"It wasn’t that I turned down anything, it works both ways. Yes, I’ll be restricted, but I am just a basketball player right now and the future is unclear. All I can do is worry about coming back at this point to try and help the team win games at the end of the year. It’s not the best situation, but it’s also not the worst. As long as I get back playing that will be the thing.’’

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By "restricted", Gordon means he'll be headed for restricted free agency come July 1st. Hence, Gordon will be allowed to talk to all 30 NBA teams, but New Orleans may exercise its right to match any offer that comes Gordon's way.

Of course, if the Hornets were unwilling to hand Gordon a four-year, $62 million extension right now, who's to say they'll be more amenable to going dollar-for-dollar with, say, the Indiana Pacers, who are already licking their chops to bring to star shooting guard back to his home state?

That would leave New Orleans without Gordon, the centerpiece of the CP3 deal, who has played in only two games this season and could miss up to six more weeks with a right knee contusion.

As for the rest of the package, Chris Kaman, who's destined for unrestricted free agency at season's end, is in the midst of his worst statistical campaign since the 2004-05 season while Al-Farouq Aminu has shown little, if any, improvement from his rookie season thus far.

Oh, and that first-round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft? The one from the Minnesota Timberwolves? That selection figures to end up somewhere in the late lottery at best, assuming Kevin Love and rookie Ricky Rubio continue to tear up the NBA as they have thus far this season.

All told, the Hornets are mired in a 3-15 slump to start the season, placing them dead-last in the Western Conference and in a virtual tie with the Washington Wizards for the second-most ping pong balls at this point.

That's not to say that everything is just fine and dandy in LaLa Land. Chris Paul has been an excellent addition for the Pacific Division-leading Clippers, though he's already missed five of the team's first 16 games with a nagging hamstring strain.

Not a good sign for a superstar like Paul, who's had his fair share of leg problems over the course of his seven-year career in the NBA. The Clips have fared just fine throughout, thanks in large part to the presence of two other former All-Star point guards on their roster—Chauncey Billups and Mo Williams.

But if things don't pan out as planned with Blake Griffin and co., Paul could just as easily pick up and sign elsewhere in 2013 if he so chooses, leaving the Clips with only two second-round picks to show for their own sacrifice.

Still, CP3's own injury woes hardly make up for what's turning out to be a disaster of a trade for New Orleans, especially when measured against what else they could've garnered for their former franchise star. Most notably, the Hornets might still be a semi-watchable team with something to build around had Stern not squashed the swap that would've sent Kevin Martin (20.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists), Luis Scola (15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds), Lamar Odom (7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds) and Goran Dragic (7.6 points, 3.2 assists) to the Big Easy.

Instead, they might just as well be left with Aminu and a mediocre draft pick to show for the best player to ever don a Hornets uniform.

And you thought it would be difficult for Stern to find a local buyer for the team before all of this went down...

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