Dallas Mavericks, Lamar Odom Winners in Veto of Chris Paul to LA Lakers Trade

NBA commissioner David Stern currently has authority to make personnel decisions on behalf of the league for league-owned New Orleans Hornets, and has ruffled quite a few feathers with his veto of a deal earlier this week that would have sent point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-way trade with the Houston Rockets.

Had the deal gone through, the Hornets would have received Lamar Odom from the Lakers and Luis Scola and Kevin Martin from the Rockets. 

The deal was great for the Hornets and Lakers, but owners like Dan Gilbert of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks publicly opposed the deal that would make the Lakers serious contenders for not only the NBA title, but for the services of Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

Despite efforts to rework the deal to appease Stern, the deal is not going to happen as the Lakers have become frustrated and withdrawn.

Now the Lakers are sending Odom, who was very unhappy when he found out that the Lakers were willing and wanting to trade him, to Dallas in exchange for draft picks.

Unless they are able to land Howard, the Lakers are the big losers in this situation created by Stern’s veto of the trade.

The Hornets will trade Chris Paul. The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are still very interested in his services, and the Hornets (or should I say Stern) are interested in players from both of those organizations, mainly Stephan Curry and Eric Gordon.

If Paul were to go to the Lakers’ cross-town rival Clippers, it would be a huge slap in the face for the franchise sent courtesy of their beloved commissioner.

The winner in this fiasco so far has to be the Mavericks. 

Initially on the outside of the deal voicing complaints about the “fairness” of the deal, now they are welcoming the current NBA Sixth Man of the Year and a guy with championship pedigree in Odom without giving up any players that remain from their championship team.

I might add that Odom also wins as he gets away from the drama that is the Kardashian family.

Stern’s decision not only slapped one of the NBA’s best and most marketable franchises right in the face, it helped bolster a franchise owned by arguably Stern’s biggest foe in Cuban, who will laugh all the way to the bank and possibly a second straight NBA championship.