Chris Paul to Clippers: Would the Hornets Have Gotten Better Deal with Lakers?

When the NBA initially vetoed the trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers, I thought they were crazy. Those needing a reminder of the trade was vetoed can read the initial report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. 

While I will never agree with the NBA stepping in and vetoing a trade, it appears as though they got a better move.

ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting via Twitter that the Clippers and Hornets have agreed in principle on a trade that would send Paul to the Clippers. 

Unless there's another holdup, this trade is a better deal than what they would have gotten from the Lakers. It's not even close. 

While the Hornets lost a superstar player in Paul, they now have a deep, young group to build around. That's how you succeed when playing in a small market. Chances of keeping big-name players in those markets are just slim; they always have been. 

This is nothing new to the NBA, or any sport. The big stars tend to go to the big markets. Small-market teams need to counter those teams with depth. 

Rather than having one or two stars and a group of seven or eight lower-level players to work around them, they need to have a solid group of eight to 10 players that play.

With Eric Gordon, the Hornets have an above-average player to start with, and a decent group of players to put around him. That's not even counting Minnesota's first-round pick, which is almost sure to be a lottery selection. 

The on-court product in New Orleans is better because of this trade. It's better than it was when they had Paul, and better than they would have gotten from the Lakers. 

Now, the Lakers don't come out of this looking very good. 

They've already lost Lamar Odom and for the first time in the franchise's history, they are now the second team in their own city—and building for that matter. 

But from the perspective of the Hornets, they are now clearly a better team. More valuable to potential owners, and just better on the floor.

Follow @mdixon1985