The Lakers will get Chris Paul, settling their point guard issues, but will lose Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets and Lamar Odom to the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets also will get Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a first- and a second-round pick. The Lakers also could be getting big man Emeka Okafor from the Hornets, which would address the losses of the 7-foot Gasol and the 6-10 Odom.

The deal can’t be finalized until the official end of the lockout Friday at 11 (PST).

It’s a huge deal anyway you look at it, but particularly if the Lakers move ahead and attempt to acquire Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic for Andrew Bynum and perhaps another player or two. Howard would give the Lakers a dynamic presence that Bynum gave them on occasion, but not as consistently as the team would have liked.

This is the first time the Lakers have overhauled their roster after a playoff loss. They traded Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat after the Detroit Pistons defeated them in the 2004 NBA Finals. It took time, but a re-tooled roster led by Gasol, Bynum, Odom and Kobe Bryant reached the Finals three consecutive seasons and won two titles.