Chris Paul traded to Lakers...and then traded back

(Getty Images)

Yahoo! Sports reports that Chris Paul will be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. This move allows the Lakers to retain Andrew Bynum in order to make a play for Dwight Howard. As flashy as a move as this is, I'm not sure that it makes the Lakers better. They lose one of the top power forwards in the league and one of the top sixth men. They lack depth and size after losing Shannon Brown, Gasol, and Odom. We'll see what other moves the Lakers make. If Chris Paul can stay healthy, this will be the best guard tandem in the league.

Update: The deal is still being worked on, as it's been reported that Gasol will go to the Houston Rockets and New Orleans will recieve Luis Scola and Kevin Martin. Also, New Orleans will need to renounce David West in order to take on Gasol and Odom. I'll update as soon as I know more.

Update: The league has cancelled the trade for "basketball reasons". Unbelievable. They allowed it all to take place and then stepped in at the last minute. As if fans weren't pissed at the league already.

NBA Schedule Released

The NBA has released it's full schedule today, and as always, there are some great games to look forward to. The Lakers and Celtics play twice (Feb 9, March 11), the Lakers and Heat play twice (Jan 19, March 4), the Mavericks and Heat play twice(Dec25, March 29), and the Heat and Bulls play four times ( Jan 29, March 14, April 12, April 19).

Sadly, my Nets (with Deron Williams) make no national TV appearances (besides NBA TV), whereas the rival Sixers are on ESPN six times, and the Jazz (without Deron Williams) are on ESPN/TNT 8 times! Even the Pistons have a nationally televised game. Sigh.

Update: The Timberwolves have two games on ESPN. Seriously. The Timberwolves. That is all.

Big names on the move?

There's been a lot of rumors swirling around for the past few days. Here's a recap:

Nets ready to trade for Dwight Howard?

Yesterday, ESPN reported that the New Jersey Nets are preparing to offer Brook Lopez and two 1st round draft picks for Dwight Howard and the 3 year/$35 million contract known as Hedo Turkoglu. Billy King denied these reports, saying that he hasn't spoken to Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith since the trade deadline. This appears to be the start of the Dwight Howard sweepstakes. Expect the Lakers and Clippers to be in the fold as well, with pieces like Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Eric Gordon, and DeAndre Jordan as centerpieces.

(Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel)

Chris Paul to the Knicks?
Chris Paul's agent has requested that his client be traded to the New York Knicks, according to an ESPN report. The report says that Paul plans to opt out of his contract at the end of this season, making him an unrestricted free agent. It's been long speculated that Paul would join Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony in New York once he became a free agent, but as has been the trend recently, Paul has apparently chosen to force the Hornets' hand sooner rather than later. Whether or not the Hornets will give in remains to be seen, especially since the NBA owns the team at the moment.

(Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Deron Williams opts out; set to become free agent next summer
Deron Williams has opted out of the final year of his contract and will be a free agent at the end of this season. Williams can make much more money this way under the terms of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. This brings about much speculation about where Williams will end up after this season. If the Nets can actually land Dwight Howard, Williams will likely re-sign in New Jersey.

(Getty Images)