Lakers Rumors: Why Houston Rockets May Be Ideal Trade Partner To Land Chris Paul

With the New York Knicks close to signing Tyson Chandler, it makes them much less of a factor in the Chris Paul trade sweepstakes.

By the looks of things, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have emerged as the front-runners to land Paul. The Lakers have stuck to their guns, centering their package to New Orleans around Pau Gasol, which means they need to get a third team involved.

It looks like they have found that team in the Houston Rockets.

Yahoo! Sports NBA writer Marcus Spears confirmed that the Lakers, Rockets and Hornets are discussing a three-team deal that would put Paul in a Lakers uniform.

With the Lakers insisting on saving Andrew Bynum in an attempt to acquire Dwight Howard and the Hornets having no real interest in Gasol, Los Angeles needed to bring in a team that are in need of a big man this season.

The Rockets are the ideal match for this situation.

They are on the verge of letting Chuck Hayes sign with the Sacramento Kings. Yao Ming also retired from the game, suddenly leaving Houston without a lot of size in their frontcourt.

Acquiring Gasol makes sense for the Rockets: They have cap space and no longer have to throw big money at Nene and some of the other big guys on the market.

Los Angeles can now take some of that money and potentially add some more backcourt scoring, since they would be rumored to part with shooting guard Kevin Martin in the proposed deal.

When all seemed lost, the Rockets came along and practically saved the Lakers.

Thanks to Houston's need for a guy like Gasol, the Lakers may still be able to accomplish the unthinkable and that's acquiring Paul and Howard.