5 Biggest What-ifs of the past decade

#3 2011: What if Chris Paul joined the Lakers?

Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets

Chris Paul was subject to a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2011.

The trade looked like this: Lakers get - Chris Paul; Rockets get; Pau Gasol, Hornets get; Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic, Luis Scola, Lamar Odom, and a first-round pick. Instead, this happened: Clippers got - Chris Paul, Hornets got - Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, and a draft pick.

Succumbing to pressure around the league from owners and advisers, David Stern (former commissioner) vetoed the trade, citing “basketball reasons”.

The possibility of Kobe and Paul on the same team is mind-boggling. There was a high chance of more rings in Los Angeles, specifically for the Lakers. The domino effect of the trade would mean no Harden in Houston because of Gasol’s big contract and a better post CP3 era in New Orleans.