Chris Paul: Dallas Mavericks and Teams That Benefit from Botched Lakers Deal
A number of teams not even directly involved made out a lot better than they would have after the Lakers and Rockets three-way deal with the Hornets fell apart and Chris Paul, the centerpiece of the trade, was forced to stay in New Orleans by the league office.
It’s insane that commissioner David Stern got involved in the dealings of franchises during a legal trade, but the league does control the Hornets and many owners were upset with the proposed moves.
Now let’s take a look at those teams that should be happy it didn’t go down.
The Mavericks really lucked out. They were able to acquire Lamar Odom from the Lakers after he was unhappy that they tried and failed to trade him.
They also won’t be facing a super Lakers group that would have easily won the West with CP3 at the point.
It makes their chances of repeating as NBA Champions a lot better, even with the loss of Tyson Chandler.
However, there is one nightmare scenario that is in play if this next team can capitalize upon their situation...
Seriously, that trade wasn’t that special for the Lakeshow and they could do much better than to give up nearly everything to land a player with knee issues to pair with their oft-injured big man, Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant, who is breaking down himself.
They are now in position to make a run at Dwight Howard after clearing cap space and, should they land him, will have a much better roster with DH12 in the middle rather than CP3 at the point.
The Clips are now in position to land Paul after their in-town rivals lost out on the chance to get him.
He makes perfect sense to pair up with Blake Griffin and the two would make for one of the best tandems in one of the biggest NBA markets for years to come.
Eric Gordon would more than likely have to go, but the team would be set to build around two superstars and some solid young role players.
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