The Chris Paul-to-the-Clippers rumors have oscillated between a trade being imminent and dead since a deal appeared to be in place on Sunday night before it fell apart earlier on Monday. The talks appeared over earlier Monday, but the latest ESPN.com report indicates that the league-owned Hornets once again pushing Paul toward the Clippers and that a deal could be done as soon as Tuesday.
A source told ESPN.com that the NBA is "hopeful" that it can resolve the issue "soon." The league would like to end this trade-request saga, which has blown up since David Stern vetoed a three-team trade that would have sent Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers.
"Everything's over until it's reborn again," [Clippers general manager Neil] Olshey said. "I'm not going to drag this out. New Orleans made a fair offer on their end. We didn't think it was something we wanted to pursue at this point and we move on. I met with the team and (coach) Vinny (Del Negro) this morning. We love these guys and it took us three years to get in this position. We've been waiting on draft picks that are coming to fruition. Our players are developing, our young guys keep getting better, we added a key free agent (Caron Butler)."
The Clippers seemed to have moved on from the prospect of a trading for Paul when they made a surprise winning bid to claim point guard Chauncey Billups, who was amnesty-ed on Friday by the New York Knicks.
But a source told ESPN that the winning bid was for $2 million, which is not the type of financial commitment that would prevent the team from bringing in Paul. Los Angeles believed the Hornets' asking price to be too steep, but remains interested if adjustments are made to the trade request.
For more details on the trade talks and to keep up with the latest news and rumors, check out SB Nation NBA's Chris Paul X Clippers Trade StoryStream.
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