Two credible sources confirm. First, Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports:
Correction: The proposed deal to the Lakers is Chris Paul for Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, source says.
And Ken Berger from CBS Sports:
Source confirms updated @WojYahooNBA report that Hornets get Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom from the Lakers for Chris Paul.
UPDATE (seconds later): Details not finalized but based on my understanding of it via the Twitters of Woj and Marc Stein, here's who gets who:
NO: Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic
LA: Chris Paul
Hou: Pau Gasol
Still developing. Discuss details and be hysterical here. - Levin
The proposed trade doesn't affect the Sixers all that much. Neither team is in the Sixers' division, let alone conference, and the Sixers are nowhere near contention, so the Lakers getting Paul -- whether that makes them better or worse -- does not directly affect the Sixers championship dreams any time soon.
Also, the Sixers weren't rumored to be players for either Paul, Bynum, Gasol or Odom (besides a rinky dink Odom for Iguodala-for-Odom rumor last summer), so they aren't directly affected in that sense either.
That said, this is a mammoth deal for the NBA landscape. Perennial title contenders and the most-talked about team in the NBA -- the Lakers -- are reportedly on the verge of acquiring the league's best point guard. In turn, they're parting with two key pieces of their recent championship teams. I still haven't formed an official opinion of the deal and what it means for the NBA as a whole, but as a full-time, passionate Laker hater, I genuinely hope this does not work.
Check out At the Hive and Silver Screen and Roll for Hornets and Lakers fans' reactions, respectively.
Reminder: the off-season officially begins in about 5.5 hours. Go Sixers?