Report: Chris Paul to Lakers Trade Dead After League Forced To Kill Deal

So much for the Chris Paul trade between the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the NBA has decided to "kill" the proposed three-team trade just hours after the deal had originally been reported as one that was complete.

This is an unbelievable development in the sweepstakes to land Paul's services, and it comes just hours after the new Collective Bargaining Agreement had been ratified and put in place.

With the deal having been blown apart, the blockbuster trade that was set to change the landscape of the entire league will not happen. Here is Wojnarowski's breakdown of how the trade was shaping up before it was quashed:

"

Under terms of the deal, the Lakers would have sent Gasol to the Rockets. The Hornets would have received Odom, Rockets guards Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic and forward Luis Scola, league sources said.

Houston had also agreed to send a 2012 first-round pick—previously obtained from the Knicks—to New Orleans as part of the package, a source said.

"

It's fairly remarkable that the league has pulled the plug on this deal—largely because other owners were reportedly upset about the implications of the Hornets making the deal while owned by the NBA. It's a prime example as to why it's absolutely ridiculous to have the team indefinitely remain owned by the league (it's been about a year since the NBA took over the franchise).

All players involved in the deal are expected to be with their respective original teams when training camp kicks off on Friday, and there's no question it will make for a very uncomfortable start of the season for everybody involved.

The owners are still dictating what happens in the league despite the lockout being over, and this debacle is beyond embarrassing for a league that is set to open its doors on the heels of this announcement.

Only one thing is for sure at this point: This is not the last we've heard on the Chris Paul rumor front.

This is a story that will be continued, and it's likely going to happen sooner rather than later.