LOS ANGELES - Nang tanggihan ng Los Angeles Clippers ang isang proposed deal ng New Orleans Hornets para kay Chris Paul, nabingwit naman nila si five-time All-Star guard Chauncey Billups at muling pinapirma ng bagong kontrata si center DeAndre Jordan.
Sinabi ni Clippers’ general manager Neil Olshey na masyadong malaki ang mawawala sa kanila kung kukunin nila si Paul.
Ang magiging kapalit ni Paul mula sa Clippers ay sina center Chris Kaman, reserve guard Eric Bledsoe, forward Al-Farouq Aminu at ang kanilang No. 1 pick sa 2012 draft.
Gusto ring makuha ng Hornets si guard Eric Gordon.
“There wasn’t one piece or another piece that killed this deal,” wika ni Olshey. “The aggregate compensation that we were going to have to convey to them was just too much and it was going to hamstring our franchise in the long term.”
Kamakailan ay ibinasura ni NBA Commissioner David Stern ang isang three-team trade ng league-owned Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers at Houston Rockets na magdadala sana kay Paul sa Lakers.
“This is a superstar player that is obviously in a delicate situation with his current franchise,” ani Olshey.
Ginamit ng Clippers ang natitira nilang $3.5 million sa salary cap para mahugot si Billups na pinakawalan ng New York Knicks.