owned New Orleans Hornets have finally reached an agreement to trade all-star Chris Paul, six days after the league vetoed a trade that would have seen Paul join the Los Angeles Lakers. On Wednesday, the Hornets announced they had dealt guard Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers in a deal that includes players and draft picks. The Hornets receive guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and a first-round draft pick from the Clippers. The Clippers also get two second-round draft picks. “With this trade, we now have three additional players who were among the top eight draft picks in their respective drafts as well as our own first round pick and Minnesota's first round pick,” Hornets general manager Dell Demps said. The 26-year-old Paul is a four-time all-star who averaged 18.7 points and 9.8 assists last season. The trade first had to be approved by NBA commissioner David Stern because the Hornets are owned by the league. The trade unites six-year veteran Paul with rising star forward Blake Griffin, who averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds last season, his first as a pro. Gordon, who averaged 22.3 points last season, turns 23 on Christmas Day. Aminu will be entering his third season in the NBA, while the seven-foot Kaman, 29, is an eight-year veteran who averaged 12.4 points and seven rebounds last season. NBA veteran Baron Davis was, meanwhile, waived through the league Wednesday by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who used the league's new amnesty clause to improve their salary-cap position. Waiving the ageing point guard under the amnesty clause rule allows the Cavaliers to clear space in their salary cap. Gasol staying at Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies have re-signed Spanish center Marc Gasol, the team said Wednesday, after he helped them to their most successful season by reaching last season's conference semifinals. Gasol, who had used his Twitter page to say a tentative agreement had been reached Monday, agreed to a four-year contract for $57.7 million, according to local media reports. Singler opts for Spain Former Duke forward Kyle Singler says he felt no rush to start his NBA career and decided to sign with Real Madrid because of the quality of basketball in Spain. While other NBA players flock back to the United States with the lockout finally over, Singler has opted to stay in Europe to continue his development. Singler was taken by the Detroit Pistons with the No. 33 pick in the draft. He had been playing with Spanish team Lucentum Alicante during the lockout.
