David Stern's deputies Joel Litvin and Stu Jackson are now making calls and conducting negotiations with teams interested in trading for Chris Paul, leaving Hornets' general manager Dell Demps to be a bystander.

“He’s basically a spectator now,” one official said.

While Demps is still making calls, front offices and agents say he no longer is authorized to decide on any transaction.

Teams interested in Paul have to send formal “bids” to the league office, sources said.

“Stern has made them inoperable,” one prominent agent told Wojnarowski. “I’ve given up trying to do anything with them until the Paul situation is resolved. It’s very unfair to Dell. … Very unfair what the league is doing to him right now.”

While the Clippers are believed to have walked away from negotiations, Ken Berger of CBS Sports reports that the NBA is trying to resuscitate trade talks.