After a long day on the phones for the three teams trying to salvage their Chris Paul blockbuster deal, sources close to the process told ESPN.com officials involved in the talks were cautiously optimistic that a reworked trade framework will be ready to be presented to NBA commissioner David Stern for approval, perhaps as soon as Saturday.

The exact tweaks to the original trade were not immediately known, but sources told ESPN.com the teams were working through the night to try to make amendments to the deal that would satisfy the league's desire to see more youth or draft picks going to the Hornets in the deal.

The NBA on Friday afternoon gave the league-owned Hornets clearance to re-open conversations with all teams about possible deals, one day after Stern nixed the trade agreed to in principle Thursday that would have landed Paul with the Lakers, Pau Gasol with the Rockets and given the Hornets three new starters: Kevin Martin, Lamar Odom and Luis Scola.

Sources close to the talks told ESPN.com earlier Friday that the Hornets, Lakers and Rockets were hopeful of reconfiguring the Hornets' haul in the trade to the point that Stern, after absorbing heavy and widespread criticism for intervening, signs off this time.

By Friday afternoon, New Orleans had re-engaged the Lakers and Rockets to try to make the needed changes to a trade that would have also delivered guard Goran Dragic and a 2012 first-round pick to New Orleans.

"Yes, we've been given autonomy to make another trade," Hornets general manager Dell Demps told reporters at an early evening news conference. "We're back to work and everything is on the table."

"We're back to work and everything is on the table."

That was evident hours later when NBA.com reported that the Hornets were close to a sign-and-trade deal that would send David West to the Boston Celtics. That trade will also require the final approval of Stern, but sources indicate that the Hornets would likely receive the expiring contracts of Jermaine O'Neal and Sasha Pavlovic and a future first-round pick for West, who would receive a three-year deal from Boston worth nearly 30 million.

Back to the Paul front, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that the National Basketball Players Association has decided not to take immediate action on behalf of the All-Star guard. The union will instead wait to see if the league-owned Hornets can concoct a trade by Monday that the league will approve that also sends Paul to a destination he welcomes.

If no such trade is made by Monday, sources said, union officials will then consider other options, including litigation.

"We'll continue to monitor the situation, and it seems to change every few minutes. It's hard to say what decisions will be made until this thing plays itself out, because there's so much at stake for so many different players and teams involved," NBPA president and Lakers point guard Derek Fisher said. "Hopefully a solution is found sooner rather than later."

He added: "I disagree with the NBA or commissioner Stern or the owners' ability to hold up a trade in the fashion that they have."

ESPN.com reported earlier Friday that the teams involved in the blocked deal were lobbying the league in hopes of convincing Stern to reverse the decision and let the trade go through. But it's apparent that Stern is unlikely to change his mind unless changes are made to the original three-team framework.

"I wish he stayed (in New Orleans)," Demps said of Paul. "I'm not going to lie about it. But it is what is."