NBA Trade Rumors: Lakers vs. Clippers, Who Will Land Chris Paul First?

The latest twist in the Chris Paul saga had the Los Angeles Clippers close to acquiring the All-Star point guard, only to once again pull out of discussions after the league continued to ask for a kings ransom in return.

Now that the Clippers appear to be out of the running for now, the Los Angeles Lakers, who've attempted twice to acquire Paul, appear to be back in the running.

You would think that eventually commissioner David Stern and the NBA will have to come off their demands and deal Paul. Comparing the two Los Angeles franchises in their attempts to acquire him, the Clippers still have to be considered the favorite to land him.

With the Lakers still using center Pau Gasol as their main trade chip, they are going to have to get a new third team involved in the talks that can provide the necessary young players and picks the league deems necessary to trade him.

Considering what they wanted from the Clippers to make a Paul trade happen, Gasol alone isn't going to produce those assets from another team.

Stern set the bar by demanding the Clippers top five or six trade chips in return for Paul. If he wasn't going to come off that stance regarding the Clippers, who have much better trade assets than the Lakers, he will look even worse than he does now if he takes considerably less in return to send Paul to the Lakers.

In the end, the Clippers can still offer the best package of young players, salary cap relief and draft picks. They may have to wait it out until the NBA lowers its demands, but they still have the pieces to be the front-runner to land Paul.