Sources: Chris Paul to LA (Clippers Edition)

[Big Sexy]

ESPN has announced that Chris Paul is going to be traded to LA. Again. This time he is going the Clippers. LAC is trading Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman, and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first round pick to New Orleans for Chris Paul and two future second round picks.

The trade is good for the Clippers because they now have the best point guard in the league and a top 5 player period. CP3 and Blake Griffin is more then a good enough tandem to lead the Clippers to the playoffs and possibly even more. A starting lineup of Paul, Randy Foye, Caron Butler, Griffin, and Deandre Jordan is pretty good. The only negative is the Clippers have too many point guards and not enough depth at shooting guard or inside. They have Paul, Eric Bledsoe, Mo Williams, and Chauncey if he reports. They will likely trade one of their point guards for shooting guard or big man depth and then sign a free agent or two to fill out the bench.

The trade for New Orleans is good because they get some nice young talent. Chris Kaman is the only real veteran of the three but he can still play. Eric Gordon is very good and is bordering on becoming a star. Aminu has a ton of potential but needs to develop more. Aside from Gordon the nicest trade chip is the unprotected Minnesota first round pick which is likely to be a top 5 pick (depending on the lottery). Their starting line up projects to be Jarrett Jack, Gordon, Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor, and Chris Kaman. Aminu will likely play a sixth man role.

Finally the question is whether or not this is better then the Lakers trade. I'd say they get a slightly better haul with this trade because of the youth they brought in but it isn't much better and by allowing this trade Stern is showing he really didn't want Paul with the Lakers.

So what do you think of the trade for both teams and in comparison to the Laker deal?

 

[Khalifa]

I like the deal for the Clippers, however I believe New Orleans got ripped off quite alot. Kaman is injury prone and quite frankly isn't that great of a player, Eric Gordan is great can shoot, can dribble. But how will he hold up when he has to carry a whole team. In LA he had Blake to help him, Mo/Davis. In NO he doesn't really have that much scoring power.

I still fail to see how this deal helps the smaller market teams better. I would take Jack/Martin/Ariza/Scola/Okafor with Odom and Dragic on the bench over Jack/Gordon/Arizza/Okafor/Kaman and Bledsoe on the bench any day. Heck the Lakers wouldn't of even got that much stronger if we added Paul because our bench and big men stock would be so weak. So the NBA are stupid for allowing this.

 

[Big Sexy]

I still fail to see how this deal helps the smaller market teams better. I would take Jack/Martin/Ariza/Scola/Okafor with Odom and Dragic on the bench over Jack/Gordon/Arizza/Okafor/Kaman and Bledsoe on the bench any day. Heck the Lakers wouldn't of even got that much stronger if we added Paul because our bench and big men stock would be so weak. So the NBA are stupid for allowing this.

The reason this trade is slightly better isn't because of this season or even next season. It is because of the future. Eric Gordon is the best player from either deal and the Minnesota first round pick should be a high lottery pick unless Minnesota surprises everyone. Kaman has had some injury problems but he is still a career 12 and 8 guy who can also block shots on the defensive end. He will likely be used as trade bait for more young talent.

In the Lakers deal the Hornets could have competed for a playoff spot but they weren't anywhere near being a contender. They also didn't get any young help outside of a first round pick that would have likely been a middle round guy at best. Odom is 32, Scola is 31, and Kevin Martin is 28. Goran Dragic was the youngest guy they got and he was also the worst of the 4 players. At the very least the Clippers trade allows them to truly rebuild.

 

[gd]

The Stern veto thing is a whole different discussion, but as for this deal, the Hornets made out about as well as they could have considering everybody knew Paul would be leaving at the end of the year. Gordon is the best under 30 shooting guard in the league right now and that Minnesota pick should be good. Kaman is solid if healthy and is in the last year of his contract anyway.

Obviously adding Paul is great for the Clips, although if they would've been able to do it with Bledsoe instead of Paul they would've made out even better. They have to figure out what to do with the backcourt of CP, Chauncey, Mo Williams, and Randy Foye. It's a bit of a risky move, but if Paul's knees hold up and they can sign him to extension obviously they make out really well.

 

[J.J.]

Eric Gordon will be the face of New Orleans for years to come, easily will average 25 a game. CP3 and Blake Griffin is going to be off the charts. Now Clippers are relevant, hopefully the chemistry will be off the charts.

New Orleans would benefit greatly if they sit back and wait patiently for the 2012 offseason, much like the Bobcats are.

 

[Khalifa]

The reason this trade is slightly better isn't because of this season or even next season. It is because of the future. Eric Gordon is the best player from either deal and the Minnesota first round pick should be a high lottery pick unless Minnesota surprises everyone. Kaman has had some injury problems but he is still a career 12 and 8 guy who can also block shots on the defensive end. He will likely be used as trade bait for more young talent.

In the Lakers deal the Hornets could have competed for a playoff spot but they weren't anywhere near being a contender. They also didn't get any young help outside of a first round pick that would have likely been a middle round guy at best. Odom is 32, Scola is 31, and Kevin Martin is 28. Goran Dragic was the youngest guy they got and he was also the worst of the 4 players. At the very least the Clippers trade allows them to truly rebuild.

But you cant base your team on "the next 4 or 5 years" because it might never happen. You cant predict potential. You cant predict what will happen. If Eric Gordan gets injured then they don't have a reliable second scorer that can step up. If one of the people in the first trade got injured, lets say Kevin Martin. Atleast you have guys like Odom and Scola who can easily average 18 points+ and become that first scorer.

I know Eric Gordan is a great player and will become a franchise face, but Hornets just don't have the assets to build a championship team, or even compete.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

I think this trade is alot better for the Hornets than the proposed Lakers deal because unlike that deal they actually get some good YOUNG talent. They weren't going to compete in the west in the next few years anyway so getting older guys(relatively speaking) like they were in the Lakers trade wasn't all that helpful. In this trade they're likely getting a top 5 pick, one of the top young guards in the leauge in Gordon, another young player with a ton of upside who was just a top 10 pick last year in Aminu and a former all star C in Kaman. So you potentially get 3 great young players(when you count the lottery pick this year) and Kaman who while being injury prone is still relatively young and talented, that's a pretty good haul if you ask me.

As far as the Clippers go, obviously when you get arguably the best PG in the league and pair him with the best young PF/C in the league in Griffin you have to do it. I think this is one of those win/win situations because considering Paul was likely leaving NO after the year I don't think they were going to get a better young nucleus than they got in this trade.