Report: Cavs owner Dan Gilbert calls proposed trade a 'travesty' in e-mail to NBA Commissioner David Stern

** FILE ** This is a Nov. 22, 2008 file photo showing Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert watching an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, in Cleveland. Police are investigating an altercation between Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and a former executive of his mortgage company at a suburban Detroit hotel. Birmingham police Chief Richard Patterson said Friday March 27, 2009, it involved Gilbert and David Hall, a one-time senior vice president at Rock Financial. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

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Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert was so upset over Hornets star Chris Paul's reported trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, he called it a "travesty" in an e-mail obtained by Yahoo! Sports early Friday morning.

The league killed a deal that would've sent Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol. The Hornets then would've sent Gasol to the Houston Rockets for Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and a first-round pick.

"It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed," Gilbert wrote to Stern in the e-mail obtained by Yahoo!, suggesting the trade should go to a vote of the league's 29 owners. The league currently owns the Hornets while a buyer is being sought.

Gilbert, of course, became famous during the summer of 2010 for his scathing statement in the hours after LeBron James left as a free agent for Miami. Gilbert was aggressive in pushing for systemic changes during the lockout to ensure small-market teams had a chance to hold onto its stars. This was his first public sign of that, and it happened to center on Paul -- one of James' best friends in the league.

"I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen," Gilbert wrote to Stern. "When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?"

The league veto after it was reported as a done deal sent most of the players involved reeling. Paul, Odom and Gasol have all threatened not to report to camp today and ESPN reported early Friday that Paul will file a lawsuit against the NBA over the decision.

As for the Cavs, training camp opens today with plenty of questions, the  most pressing being what to do with Baron Davis. An earlier Yahoo! report indicated the Cavs would amnesty Davis soon, wiping his $28 million and two years remaining off the cap ledger. But two sources with knowledge of the Cavs' position said no decision on Davis has been made. He is expected to report today with the rest of the team.