After the New Orleans trade that would send Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers fell through, who would’ve thought CP3 would end up in L.A. anyway? According to ESPN, that seems to be the case, but Paul will most likely be a Clipper.
The framework of the trade looks like the Clippers are giving up a lot, and they are, but in the long run, I think this is the best move for the “other” Los Angeles team. The Clippers have long lived in the shadow of the Lakers but last year they showed they were ready for the lights of the big city. They only won 32 games, but some of them were against teams like the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and even the Los Angeles Lakers.
The new face of the franchise, Blake Griffin has shown he’s pretty much capable of anything. Imagine if he had one of the most dynamic point guards in the league getting him the ball. Paul to Griffin is enough to build a team around right there. It may take some time to get all the right pieces in place to contend in the Western Conference, but they’d have a solid base to build on.
The terms of the new trade look advantageous for the Clippers, as well as the Hornets. Paul has already shown he’s willing to play in L.A. by picking up the option on his contract to extend it another year, meaning he’d willing to start building something with the Clippers. The Hornets are getting a lot of good pieces from the Clippers and a great draft pick. At this point, knowing that Chris Paul wants out of New Orleans, they’d be stupid not to take it.
I predicted a few weeks ago that CP3 would end this season as a Clipper and that’s looking more and more like what’s going to happen, but you never know with the way the NBA operates these days.
And if it does happen, you know Spurs fans will love to see one of the NBA’s best point guards out of the Southwest Division.
UPDATE:
According to reports, Paul-Clippers deal is dead.
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