The Los Angeles Clippers rejected NBA commissioner David Stern’s steep demands to complete a trade forNew Orleans Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul, and talks of a blockbuster deal perished on Monday afternoon, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Sources didn’t preclude the talks from re-starting, but the Clippers weren’t willing to meet the NBA’s and Hornets’ demands for Paul, sources said.
While there’s been no official transition of power, general manager Dell Demps has been completely pushed to the side in deal-making decisions for the Hornets, multiple league sources told Y! Sports.
“He’s basically a spectator now,” one official said.
Stern has two of his top league office executives – Joel Litvin and Stu Jackson – making calls and conducting negotiations with teams interested in Paul. Demps is still making calls, but rival front offices and agents involved in possible deals with New Orleans say that he’s no longer authorized to decide on any transaction.
Teams interested in Paul have to send formal “bids” to the league office, sources said.
The league took over the Hornets in December and are angling to maintain value to sell the franchise for the highest possible price.
This circumstance is unprecedented in NBA history.
The Clippers and Hornets had been discussing a package for Paul that included players such as Eric Gordon, Eric Bledsoe, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and a 2012 unprotected draft pick via the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Clippers resisted parting with Gordon, sources said. Management had been promising the talented young shooting guard that it would not include him in any deal to the Hornets for Paul, sources said.
Paul had expressed a desire to be moved to the Clippers, and the franchise would have had an excellent chance to sign him to an extension after he opts out of his current deal at the end of the 2011-’12 season, sources said.
The Los Angeles Times first reported that the two teams were on the verge of a deal.
Agents are finding it increasingly difficult to negotiate even minor deals with the Hornets’ front office. They’re struggling to get clear answers amid the belief that Demps doesn’t have the authority to make even minor signings to augment a depleted, non-NBA-caliber roster beyond the starting five.
“Stern has made them inoperable,” one prominent agent told Yahoo! Sports. “I’ve given up trying to do anything with them until the Paul situation is resolved. It’s very unfair to Dell. … Very unfair what the league is doing to him right now.”
- Written by Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo!
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