"The New Orleans Hornets continue to ask for guard Eric Gordon and the unprotected first-round Draft pick originally from the Timberwolves as the central assets in a potential deal with the Clippers for Chris Paul, a league source told TNT's David Aldridge Wednesday morning. But the Clippers remain adamant that the Hornets cannot have both Gordon and the pick and must choose between the two.

The standoff is the major impediment in a possible trade between the two teams. While the Hornets are having discussions with other teams about their four-time All-Star guard, including the Lakers, the Clippers' group of assets remains the most desirable and the one that New Orleans wants. The Clippers have committed to including center Chris Kaman and second-year forward Al-Farouq Aminu in the trade, and Monday's claim of guard Chauncey Billups off waivers makes second-year guard Eric Bledsoe eminently tradeable. But the Gordon/pick problem remains.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are again trying to get involved for Paul, and are now using Pau Gasol as the primary piece of the deal to the Hornets. Last week's aborted three-team deal between the Lakers, Rockets and Hornets had Gasol going to Houston, and Lamar Odom joining Rockets players Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic in New Orleans. But the league vetoed that deal at the last minute, with speculation rampant that the NBA — which owns the Hornets — bowed to pressure from owners of other teams who did not want the big-revenue Lakers again profiting by getting a star player from a small market."