It’s Official: Chris Paul Traded To The Los Angeles Lakers. Dwight Howard Next?

Photo Credit: Keith Allison

According to various reports, NBA All-Star point guard and Olympian, Chris Paul, has been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The news had spread all throughout social media in a matter of seconds and before anyone had a chance to blink, “CP3” as fans love to call him, will be wearing the purple and gold this coming season.

With every big splash in sports free agency, there are always casualties. Yes, the Lakers managed to get a star player in Chris Paul, but the team also had to cut ties with two important big men (Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom) that helped the Lakers win back-to-back NBA Finals in 2009 and 2010.

Via a three-team trade, the Lakers received PG Chris Paul, C Pau Gasol was sent to the Houston Rockets and SF Lamar Odom was dealt to the New Orleans Hornets.

With the Chris Paul trade, the focus automatically shifts to another superstar in C Dwight Howard. The Los Angeles Lakers are still very much interested in the All-Star center. The Lakers have already made it publicly known that the franchise is willing to trade every player on the roster, with the exception of Kobe Bryant, in order to complete a deal. There were even rumors that Chris Paul had been sending Dwight Howard messages persuading the “superman” to come to Los Angeles. Regardless if the gossip is true or false, everything seems to be shaping out for the Lakers to get their three-headed monster (Bryant, Paul, and Howard).

One thing is for certain, with the loss of Gasol and Odom; the Lakers are now in definite need of a player that could establish himself in the paint. Currently, the Lakers still have C Andrew Bynum, but the team will need to sign Dwight Howard in order to reach the NBA Finals.

If the Los Angeles Lakers were to get Howard, the starting five could be as presented below. (Wow!)

PG – Chris Paul
SG – Kobe Bryant
SF – Luke Walton
PF – Ron Artest
C – Dwight Howard

Watch out everybody! Here comes the Lake-Show!

Update – 12-9-11:

Two hours after the trade, NBA Commissioner David Stern surprisingly vetoed the transaction that would’ve sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers. The move to block the trade stemmed from complaints by NBA owners, such as Dan Gilbert (Cavaliers) and Mark Cuban (Mavericks) stating that the deal was not a good business decision by the New Orleans Hornets.

How could this happen? The Hornets are owned by the league, which meant the NBA had the power to deny any trades associated with New Orleans. Simply put, if Chris Paul was on any other NBA team with different ownership, the trade would’ve happened without any problems.

Currently, due to the media uproar, the NBA has allowed the New Orleans Hornets to discuss and rehash negotiations with the Lakers and the Rockets in hopes to finalize a better deal.

In the meantime, Chris Paul and the other players involved in the trade returned to their respective teams waiting to see what happens next.

Update – 12-14-11:

According to numerous sources, the Chris Paul saga has finally ended. CP3 has been traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Hornets, in exchange, would receive guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center Chris Kaman and a first-round draft pick.