Lakers Trade Rumors: 3-Team Trade for Chris Paul Is Best Value Hornets Will Get

The New Orleans Hornets will not get a better offer for superstar point guard Chris Paul than the one they had with the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets before NBA commissioner David Stern killed the three-team trade Thursday.

The Hornets were set to receive forwards Luis Scola and Lamar Odom, along with guard Kevin Martin and a first-round draft pick in the three-team trade.

After hearing other offers from teams such as the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics, Hornets general manager Dell Demps decided that the package of players in this trade with the Lakers and Rockets was the best way for his franchise to move forward and rebuild.

The Clippers seemed unwilling to include Eric Gordon in a deal for Paul, and the Warriors did not want to part with Stephen Curry. The Celtics' package of Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green and two first-round picks, although a pretty strong offer, was still not better than the one New Orleans found in the killed three-team deal.

The Hornets were getting a lot of value in this trade. Scola is a good scorer and a fabulous rebounder. With the team likely losing power forward David West in free agency, Scola would have been a solid replacement for him in the starting lineup.

Martin is coming off one of the better seasons of his career in 2010-11, where he averaged 23.4 points per game. He is a very efficient player and is capable of carrying a team offensively.

Odom is 32 years old but is still a versatile player who can score in a variety of ways.

If Stern is not going to allow this deal then who else is going to make a run at acquiring Paul via trade? Teams could be less inclined to make a deal for Paul after the league did not allow a trade to be completed in which New Orleans got a lot of talent in return.

What's the point of making an offer when it either won't be good enough or the league will not approve of it? Stern has made a terrible mess of this entire situation.

Demps' biggest task for the Hornets this season was to find a way for the team to get the best return for Paul and build toward a bright future, but how can he do that when he found a great deal and it was not allowed to be completed?

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski wrote the following regarding Demps in an article from Thursday:

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Hornets general manager Dell Demps is “disconsolate” over the heavy-handed move from the commissioner’s office, a source told Y! Sports. Demps considered resigning his job on Thursday, league sources said, and had to be talked out of it. The Hornets had scored a terrific deal for Paul, a trade that was lauded by some of Demps’ peers throughout the league.

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I'm not surprised that Demps was considering re-signing. The league ruined the hard work he had done for weeks in trying to figure out the best trade scenarios to improve his club and then in one fell swoop his effort was destroyed.

If Demps could not make this trade, what other deal can he make? It is unlikely that a better deal comes up.

The league wants the Hornets to play well so it can sell the team to potential buyers, but after rejecting this trade in which the Hornets got great value to help their on-court performance, the team may not be able to find another offer as good for Paul.