Paul to L.A?

FROM ALMOST DONE TO “DEAD”
UPDATE 9:47 p.m.: One of the biggest blockbuster trades of this new NBA season died before it ever got done.  Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who first reported the deal earlier, is now reporting that the deal was killed by the league.

NBA commissioner David Stern has killed the New Orleans Hornets’ trade of Chris Paul after several owners complained about the league-owned team dealing the All-Star point guard to the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Some owners pushed Stern to demand that trade be nullified, and the Hornets be made to keep Paul on the roster for the foreseeable future, sources said. A chorus of owners were irate with the belief that the five-month lockout had happened largely to stop big-market teams from leveraging small-market teams for star players pending free agency.
All the players involved in the trade have been told to report to their teams for the start of training camp on Friday.
Before Stern intervened, the Lakers had reached an agreement to acquire Paul in a three-team trade that would have cost them Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The shockwaves that the initial reports of the deal sent around the league will be matched by the outrage simmering now that the deal is apparently off.

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LAKERS’ DEAL FOR PAUL DEAL CLOSE
UPDATE 6:03 p.m.: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Hornets are informing teams that Chris Paul is headed to the Lakers in a deal for Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom:

The Hornets have started to inform teams that they’re sending Chris Paul to the Lakers for Gasol and Odom, league sources tell Y! Sports.

Whether or not this removes the Lakers from the Dwight Howard sweepstakes remains to be seen. They still have Andrew Bynum to work with, if they were to pursue such a deal.
But Kobe Bryant and Bynum with Paul running the show keeps the Lakers among the elite and favorites in the Western Conference.

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PACKAGE DEAL?
UPDATE 5:58 p.m.: Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that free agent small forward Josh Howard and coveted big man Nene could be a package deal, depending on where the Brazilian center/power forward signs:

 Wiz free agent SF Josh Howard is attracted to signing with team DEN FA C Nene signs with, source tells Y! SA, Chi, Den, NO, Utah, NJ in mix

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BREAKING DOWN THE DEAL
UPDATE 3:47 p.m.: David Aldridge reports Caron Butler is heading to the Clippers, reportedly for three years/$24 million. Butler was considering offers from the Nets, Bulls, and Spurs, but chose the up and coming Clippers instead.
Also, parameters for a potential three-team deal appear to be in place that would land Chris Paul in Los Angeles with the Lakers. According to Aldridge, the deal would look like this:
Lakers get: G Chris Paul
Hornets get: F Luis Scola, G Kevin Martin, G Goran Dragic, 1st and second round picks
Rockets get: F/C Pau Gasol
Note: The deal is not done. Sources indicate while the Lakers and Rockets are comfortable with the deal, the Hornets are still making inquiries about Paul with other teams.

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HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Thank you Tayshaun Prince.
Thank you for doing your business quietly and without rumors swirling about your future. Thank you for bringing a measure of calm to a process that has been anything but for so many. And congratulations on four more years in Detroit for a tidy $27 million.
Now back to the trade rumor craziness that has had all of our heads spinning today.
The truth is, we don’t have enough hands that could type fast enough here at the hideout to keep up with all of this craziness. The rumors are flying at a wicked clip. and the official start of free agency is still hours away.
What we know, as of this minute, is that the New York Knicks have come out of nowhere to lead the pack in the chase for Tyson Chandler, per reports from both Ken Berger of CBSSports.com and . Of course, this could complicate the Knicks’ pursuit of Chris Paul (unless they have another move up their sleeve) and deals yet another nasty blow to Chauncey Billups, who could be on the move for the second time in 10 months due to circumstances, one way or another when all is said and done.
Then there is that SI.com report confirming the discussions of a three-way deal between the Rockets, Lakers and Hornets that would send Paul to the Lakers and allow the Lakers to hold on to Andrew Bynum, but only so they can do more business next. Chris Mannix of SI.com added via Twitter that:

Lakers pushing hard to make Pau/CP3 deal. If they can close, would offer Bynum for Dwight and whatever bad contract ORL wants to dump.

TNT’s David Aldridge added the Pau Gasol to Houston portion to round out this latest development.
Good luck trying to make sense of all the different information, seeing as how it changes every few minutes. How did anyone keep up with all of this stuff before Twitter anyway?
Stay tuned. Things can only get crazier before the start of training camps tomorrow.