3. Chris Paul Vetoed trade
The Los Angeles Lakers would have received: Chris Paul
The New Orleans Hornets would have received: Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, and Goran Dragic
The Houston Rockets would have received: Pau Gasol
Slightly bending the rules here but I challenge you to find a more suitable trade that shaped the Lakers decade more than this vetoed trade. If the trade had gone ahead, this easily would have been one of the best moves the Lakers ever made.
Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers took this failed trade very hard. However, with the recent passing of former NBA commissioner David Stern, respect must be given to Mr. Stern for the difficult decision he made. His thoughts at the time were firmly fixed on the long term future of the Hornets.
While Lakers fans saw the trade as a fair deal as they were handing over an All-Star in Pau Gasol and a 6th man of the year candidate in Lamar Odom, Stern (On behalf of the ownerless Hornets) vetoed the trade due to the lack of draft picks and/or young prospects.
If the trade had gone ahead, God knows how good the Lakers would have been this decade. With Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant, the Lakers would have had easily the best backcourt in the NBA.
Two of the most fiercely competitive players in recent NBA history, CP3 and Bryant would have pushed each other on a nightly basis to be better and in turn, the Lakers as a whole would have soared.
The Dwight Howard trade could have still occurred as Andrew Bynum would have been on the roster allowing for the 4-team trade that occurred to still happen.
A trio of Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant in their prime would have been frightening.
Chris Paul would have been the best floor general since Magic Johnson on the Lakers. With CP3 on the roster, he would have made every player around him better, elevating them to a higher level than they thought they could reach. His ability to lock down his opposing man would have been a huge asset to the team and he easily could have made a push for the MVP award with the Lakers.
Howard would have been given time to get healthy as the Lakers would have had enough scoring and star power to get them through the first season. Howard could have sat for most of the year and made his return around All-Star break and pushed the Lakers to the next level.
With a fully healthy Howard in his prime, the Lakers would have got elite scoring, elite rebounding, and elite shot-blocking. Having an in his prime Dwight Howard as the potential 1st, 2nd or 3rd scoring option on any given night would give opposing teams nightmares.
Kobe Bryant would still be Kobe and he would be able to defer to CP3 to get him easier shots in the flow of the offense. Kobe could focus on scoring and defending each night and could have easily pushed for another MVP with the level of talent around him.
This trade also would have given most NBA fans one of their most sought after dream scenarios.
A Kobe vs LeBron finals.
CP3 vs Wade, Howard vs Bosh and Kobe vs LeBron. The stuff of dreams.
Alas, this never happened.