- [Announcer] Paul, and he got it!
One second left!
Clippers by two!
- In 2011, Chris Paul was traded
from the New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Clippers
turning a perennially underwhelming team
into an instant contender.
But a trade was originally proposed
that would've sent him to the other L.A. team
before getting vetoed by Commissioner David Stern
and we are all left wondering what could've been.
(suspenseful music)
Prior to the 2011-2012 NBA season,
the Clippers had made the playoffs four times
while representing L.A.
They made it out of the first round only once.
The Lakers on the other hand
have brought 11 championships to the city up to that point
and in December 2011, the New Orleans Hornets
accepted a deal that would send superstar point guard
Chris Paul to the Lakers,
pairing him with future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant.
But at the time the Hornets lacked ownership
and were represented by NBA Commissioner David Stern.
Owners were appalled by the deal
and Stern even received an angry email
from Cavs owner Dan Gilbert.
With the wellbeing of small market teams in mind,
Stern vetoed the trade
stating that the backlash from owners
did not play a role in his decision.
Instead he insisted it was purely for basketball reasons,
which is good because person reasons
would've been controversial.
Stern claimed that the team was better served
with Chris in a Hornets uniform,
a uniform Stern presumably expected Paul to wear
under his Clippers jersey
since he flipped him to the Lakers'
less successful L.A. counterpart a week later.
The Hornets gave up Paul and two second round picks
for a package of Eric Gordon,
ice age survivor Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu,
and Timberwolves 2012 first round pick
which turned into Austin Rivers.
The Clippers then made the playoffs
a franchise record six seasons in a row.
But they never made it beyond the conference semis
in the monster that was the Western Conference.
The Hornets went 21 and 45
in their first season without Paul,
among the worst in the NBA,
but managed to strike gold by winning
the number one overall pick in the 2012 draft
and selected perennial all-star Anthony Davis.
But the deal originally proposed by the Lakers
paints a different picture of the future.
If David Stern had allowed
the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers
the Hornets would've received Goran Dragic,
Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin
and a 2012 first round pick that turned into Royce White.
The Rockets, the third team in the deal,
would've received Pau Gasol,
who would be the heir to Houston's big man throne
with the Yao Ming era now over.
Instead of the Hornets season being plagued
by an Eric Gordon injury,
Dragic would've thrived in his first chance as a starter
and his connection with Kevin Martin
would've given the Hornets a respectable backcourt.
They're still bad, but better than they would've been
if Gordon was on the sideline.
Meanwhile, in L.A., Paul, Kobe, and Andrew Bynum
entered the 2012 playoffs as a fearsome trio.
But just not fearsome enough to take down
O.K.C.'s three-headed monster
of Durant, Westbrook and Harden.
In the off-season, the team fourth most likely
to win the draft lottery ended up with
the number one overall pick.
With the Hornets being slightly higher in the standings,
the gift of drafting Anthony Davis
would go to the Sacramento Kings,
pairing him with DeMarcus Cousins in Sac-town.
How about that?
With the ninth overall pick,
the Hornets look to fill the gap
left by Odom's dwindling numbers
and selected U-Conn big man Andre Drummond.
As for the Lakers,
after getting jettisoned from the playoffs
they look to replace the void left by trading Gasol
and trade for superstar big man Dwight Howard,
shipping out Andrew Bynum in the process.
The Lakers new trio of Paul, Kobe,
and three-time Defensive Player of the Year
Dwight Howard was plastered
on every billboard in Los Angeles.
The Showtime Lakers were back
and there was nothing that could stand in their way,
except for the relationship between Kobe and Dwight.
Kobe was quoted saying, "I never appreciated Shaq
"until I played with Dwight."
Team chemistry was in tatters,
but sheer talent alone got them into the playoffs.
A storm, however, was brewing in the Western Conference.
The Rockets stuck with the Gasol-Lowry pairing
and fell short on assets in the James Harden sweepstakes.
With the Rockets out,
the Thunder took a good, hard look
at the other big offer that was on the table at the time.
An up and coming Golden State Warriors team
was looking to replace the loss
of two guard Monta Ellis
and offered the Thunder 2011 first round pick
Klay Thompson and a future pick.
The caveat was that the Thunder
had to take on Richard Jefferson's contract
so the Warriors could avoid a massive luxury tax bill.
Instead of ignoring this option
and dealing with the Rockets,
the Thunder having no better option available
agreed to send Harden to the Warriors.
The Warriors with their Curry-Harden backcourt
and rookie forward Draymond Green
would prove too much for the Lakers
and their locker room turmoil.
The Western Conference now belonged to two young teams
in the Warriors and Thunder
as well as the aging Spurs.
The Lakers, while always fielding a competitive team,
just couldn't crack the top-heavy conference.
In order to keep the Thunder's Splash Brothers together,
Kevin Durant eventually decided
to re-sign long term with O.K.C.
Then, in an attempt to avoid riding shotgun
on Kobe's 2016 farewell tour,
and to ditch the Western Conference altogether,
Paul forced a trade to Cleveland
to join his longtime friend Lebron James
as he chased a championship with his home team.
In return, the Lakers got
a building block for the future in Kyrie Irving.
Sadly, Paul's career was tarnished
when he missed a would-be, championship-sealing
three-pointer in game seven against the Warriors
with the game tied 89, 89.
The game was decided by a flop induced free throw
by James Harden, giving the Warriors
their second consecutive championship.
(suspenseful music)
Cleveland may not have gotten their championship
and Chris Paul may not have brought glory
back to the Lakers,
but this story still has a happy ending.
A destitute franchise approaching
a full decade without a championship
hit the lottery in free agency
giving hope to a fanbase
that just did other things for a few years
while the team righted the ship.
- [Reporter] It is official, Lebron is a Laker.
(switching dial)