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The Los Angeles Clippers, in a potentially franchise-changing trade, have finally reached a deal with the New Orleans Hornets to acquire four-time All-Star guard Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets, sources tell TNT’s David Aldridge. The Clippers will send promising shooting guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, second-year forward Al-Faroqu Aminu and a 2012 first-round draft pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves that is currently unprotected to the Hornets.
A deal for Paul between the Hornets and the Clippers’ crosstown rival, the Lakers, was scotched last week by NBA Commissioner David Stern, acting on behalf of the league-owned Hornets.
The deal makes the Clippers a potential powerhouse in the Western Conference after almost three decades of being the NBA’s most laughably bad franchise, and shows the pull that third-year star forward Blake Griffin‘s presence has in luring marquee names to play there. With Griffin, Paul and newly signed small forward Caron Butler, the Clippers now have their own dynamic trio to compare with Miami’s “SuperFriends” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and New York’s new Big Three of Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and center Tyson Chandler, acquired last Saturday from Dallas in a sign-and-trade deal.
In the end, the Clippers abandoned their position that they wouldn’t include both Gordon and the unprotected first-round pick in the deal. The Hornets wanted five assets from the Clippers; the only one Los Angeles retained was second-year guard Eric Bledsoe.
But the Clippers still have dramatically changed the look and expectations of their roster, with the anticipation of the brilliant Paul throwing alley-oops to the high-flying Griffin already leading to the sale of around 1,000 season tickets in the last week, according to a league source. With Paul, Griffin, Butler and re-signed DeAndre Jordan taking over for Kaman at center, the Clippers could have one of the most athletic starting fives in the league.
Paul, according to sources, has committed to picking up his option year for the 2012-13 season, giving the Clippers at least two full years with Paul and Griffin together.
For New Orleans, it’s a reset for a franchise that has not been able to stabilize in recent years. Gordon, who averaged more than 22 points per game last season, is a top-notch two guard prospect. And the Draft pick may be especially valuable this year, as the 2012 Draft promises to be one of the deepest in recent years. With their own pick as well, the Hornets should get at least two young prospects to put on the court next season with Gordon and Aminu. The task now is to sell rebuilding as a promising concept for a fan base that committed to buy 10,000 season tickets before this season.
The NBA, which owns the Hornets, was adamant that in order to trade Paul, the Hornets had to get back a number of young assets that would both allow them to rebuild quickly and to be more palatable for potential owners who would keep the team in New Orleans. Aminu is 21; Gordon does not turn 23 until Christmas Day, and Kaman is 29.
It’s likely that the Hornets will flip Kaman, a former All-Star who’s in the final year of his contract and who would be in demand by many teams looking for a quality big man, by next summer at the latest for additional assets.
Paul originally was destined to go to the Clippers’ glamorous fellow Angelenos, the Lakers, as part of a three-team trade between the Lakers, Hornets and Rockets last week, but after the teams had gotten close to agreement, the NBA stepped in and killed the trade. In that deal, the Lakers would have gotten Paul, the Rockets would have gotten forward Pau Gasol and New Orleans would have received forwards Lamar Odom and Luis Scola, guards Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic and a 2012 first-round pick from Houston.
But Stern — after receiving withering criticism for getting involved — said the trade was rejected for “basketball reasons.” Several outlets reported that the league had been swayed by the concerns of small-market owners who didn’t want the Lakers to get another superstar player like Paul.
I guess Billups is starting at SG now. lol
Can’t understand why the Clippers just gave in and traded Gordon and the pick. This deal with Bledsoe instead of Gordon I could understand, but this seems a lot..
But on a positive note, Paul + Griffin, wow!
Way to go Clippers . Caving into the league …… And now they will try to trade Billups to Miami or somebody …
They cannot trade Billups to Miami ! New CBA regulations man !
BIllups has been acquired through Waivers so he cannot be traded until next July and by then , he will be a free agent.
So I am thinking , they could release Mo and use Billups at the 2 positon.
I am not sure if they can still waive him though !
finally the deal got down!
what about having 4 legit point guard on your roster?
Paul, Billups, mo williams and Eric Bledsoe?
what do u do now? get eric bledsoe on the court and run with deandre and blake or trade one of the older PGs elsewhere?
Know the Clippers should amnesty Mo Williams to clear cap and room at PG. Then trade Bledsoe and someone else for a legit SG or at least a SF that can play the 2, much preferable a defensive one that can shoot threes like Battier, DeShawn Stevenson, or heck try to land a SG to make a Big Three!
I don’t think the Clippers are done dealing. They picked up Billups just in case this deal didn’t work out. But since apparently it did, it left a gaping hole at the 2 spot. The Clips would most likely shop Mo Williams around for a quality 2 guard, keep Billups for a while until Bledsoe heals from his injury, then shop Billups around during trade deadline to a playoff contender who needs an experienced and steady leader.
Now the clips shoud trade Mo Williams and get him for Ariza, then they’ll have serious balance!!
*fingers crossed*
send Billups, Mo or Eric to Miami for… hahah we got nothing..
Mo williams back up pg or starting sg?
I SAY
PG – PAUL
SG- MO
SF-BUTLER
PF-GRIFFEN
C-JORDAN
It’s amazing to have both Blake and Paul on the floor but I think it’s more of a downgrade. They already had Billups and Gordon at backcourt which is good enough to go with Blake, Jordan and Butler and might have been the most effective backcourt in the Western Conference. Now they have to settle without a good an SG.
I agree, Clippers wont make it with out a solid SG.
would anyone know how many years CP3 has on his contract bec if he is only there for one year this trade sucks really as they dont state here if extend his contract at all
I wonder what Billups is thinking? He’s probably going to get traded again…..poor guy. Send him to the Lakers
Due to him being picked up on waivers he cant get traded until after the season. By that time he will be a free agent.
They still have Randy Foye who is at least serviceable at SG but I would start Butler at SG Gomes at SF at let Foye back up Butler. Trade Mo Williams, he only has two years left on his contract at is a good NBA combo guard, and Bledsoe for an upgrade at SF or some help down low.
NAH I THINK THEY SHOULD TRADE MO FOR ARIZA STILL SMART TRADE BECAUSE ARIZA GOT A RING AND CHAMPIONSHIP EXPREIENCE PLUS HES YOUNG TO GAIN NEW SKILLS AND GET BETTER SO I SAY MO FOR ARIZA
all clippers need now is jammal crawford and they would easily win 40 games
As part of the amnesty waiver Billups can not be traded this year.
It seems a fair trade, but Clippers already had a good PG and now lost a pretty good young SG and a decent center…Also lost the possibility to get a very good draft pick next year…Paul-Griffin is gonna be exciting, but wasn’t the team a bit more balanced before the trade ?
Totally agree. I like the LA clips lineup much more before this trade. It had tremendous balance especially when caron came in. Plus they had that Wolves pick that could of turned into a nice young player. They had a lineup up that could of developed into a force, now they have a 4 pg’s and no legit sg.
It was a fair trade. CP3 is at his best when paired with an athletic bigman. The New Orleans Hornets’ last playoff appearance was in 2009, back when thay still had an athletic bigman (Tyson Chandler). It doesn’t just point out that Paul would be more productive with Blake; it also points out that he is going to get a lot of help from Jordan, an extremely promising bigman that should remind CP3 of a younger Chandler. Plus the fact that they signed Butler, one of the NBA’s better defender, proves that they ARE trying to balance the team. The only problem is that they left a huge hole at the 2 spot, not to mention no backup center. They don’t need a great two-guard, just a decent one that Mo and Foye could play behind of.
how about getting arron afflalo?
THINK ABOUT:
CP3 at the 1!!!!
arron afflalo as a defensive stopper that can defend 1,2 and 3! and a really big threat from 3 point land
caron butler another good defender and scorer
blake… don’t even get me started
and deandre jordan wo is going to be an even better defender than last year.
i got them now at the 3rd spot in the west. even better than the lakers unless they don’t land dwight howard.
1 okc
2 dal
3 LAC!!!
give me ur thoughts on that!
1. okc
2. spurs
3. clippers
4. dal
5. lakers
@ tobzikachu you must be out ya mind.. 1 Dallas
2 Lakers
3 OKC
4 Spurs
5 Grizzlies
6 Warriors
7 Clippers
8 Blazers
also dallas has no team now they will blow this year no talent jason kidd is to old now tyson chandler gone caron butler gone jj barea gone their team is done plus lamar odom what is he gonna bring to the table from champ town to chump town lol
hate to break it to ya but its gonna go
1. OKC
2.SPURS
3.LAKERS
4CLIPPERS
5.DALLAS
6.DENVER (maybe)
7.GRIZZLIES
8.PHOENIX
now the bottom 3 there are really just my dark horse picks, you never know in the west cause they dont really have many contenders
1 – OKC
2 – Memphis
3 – Dallas
4 – Clips
Dont really understand.. Clips are based in LA so are in a big market also.. Plus, those guys involved in the trade cost more in salaries then CP3.. so its kinda the same thing then the previous trade with LAL and Houston rejected for “basketball reasons”.
Now, they got 4 PG’s (Paul, Bledsoe, Williams, Billups), dont get it.. except if all those things is to finally trade Chris Paul for Pau Gasol it could make sense
Paul + Griffin? Hmmm. Sounds interesting. :>
why did they give Gordon? thats way too much. Clippers certainly will regret this.
Not a wise move getting rid of Eric Gordon. Gordon is still young and improving, averaging 22ppt a game… while CP3 may have already reached his peak and is more injury prone than Gordon. They should have given Bledsoe instead.. Oh well..
Well i think Eric Gordon is a damn good player on both end of the floor. But i too am amazed at the Clippers having 4 PG on the roster. i can’t see how Mo Williams is going to stay ther maybe he was never meant to. And what about Bledsoe and Billups ? Billups at the SG position ? Or another trade ? We’ll see I guess. The truth is after a long long time the Clippers will enter the Playoffs and noone can predict how good they will do. I mean if Blake can shoot the ball a little better this year then they really are awesome. Butler is a good defender and they are all pretty athletic. Well it’s going to be weird if the Clippers go way over the Lakers for a change lol.
The move is 50/50. Gordon has potential to be one of the best 2′s in nba, some how managed to increase his scoring to around 23 ppg despite Griffin returning from his injury and, 2012 draft is going to be the deepest since 03, Wolves 1st round pick you can expect to be low, would be unlikely but that could turn into Anthony Davis, who is an ugly mofo, yet a beast, and now with the pick going to NOH I can see where this fairy tale is going for 2012
I think Clippers just want to rebuild their status in the league (if they ever had one…). Look at this trade from a marketing point of view – Having both Griffin and Paul in their team is a great solution. Griffin is a highlight machine (and now this should be even better with the ‘alley-oop from every possible position’ stuff). And – CP3 is one of those guys, that every player around him is just getting better. That’s why his really lame former team (NOH) was so succesful with getting into playoffs each year lately.
That’s why clippers should be much more fun to watch with one-year-older Griffin and should finally reach playoffs with CP3.
I think combining this two – there could be a new Stockton-Malone in the league (so the dynamic duo, that could penetrate every backcourt in the league). People would now be crazy to watch clippers matches, so a lot of tickets/gadgets/etc. will be bought by the fans.
Having 4 PGs is enough to reposition at least one of them to SG (Mo?). But we still have 10 days until the season starts, so maybe there’s still a chance for solid SG.
Btw. DeAndre is really atletic and young, Maybe he will grow better while playing alongside CP3.
I think everyone would like to see clips in PO this year. There’s just no way anybody could not cheer for them.
knicks kind of made mistake.they should have never waived billups and they should hve never focus on tyson chandler they should have focused on dwight howard and the amount of money they gave for 4 years to tyson chandler’s contract maybe
howard would have come to the knicks. i mean tyson chandler is good but compare him to dwight howard.
dwight howard >>>>> tyson chandler
now trade deandre jordan+mo williams+picks for dwight howard.
pg: paul/bledsoe
sg:billups/foye
sf: butler/gomes
pf: griffin/cook
c: howard
Chris Paul is good, but i really think this is not worth it. The Clips had two decent pgs on there list (Mo and Billups), and then a good young sg with Gordan, a experienced center in Kaman to support Jordan, and then that Wolves draft pick that would of turned into a decent player. All of this for Chris paul i dont think is worth it at all…they had there future set up already.
Lets just think about one thing, maybe CP will make a great couple with Blake.. BUT, if the NBA Comissioner did not cancelled the trade with the Lakers, CP could have make a bigger and greater team with Kobe Bryant. I think that LAC was not the team that needed Chris Paul.
I think it’s not a smart move for the Clippers claiming Chauncey off waivers. It would’ve been better if they had claimed Richard Jefferson which was waived by the Spurs. Now they’re loaded with a lot of legit PG’s. I wonder how will they rotate this guys who are used to start games and plays major minutes. Try to shop Mo. BTW, Does anybody know how much free cap space left for the Clippers?
Starters:
PG- Chris Paul
SG- Chauncey Billups
SF- Caron Butler
PF- Blake Griffin
C- DeAndre Jordan
That starting line-up can compete with any team and bet most, why are the so many whiners about the trade. With Paul and Griffin you can attract many players in the future that will easily replace the draft picks you gave up
Clippers are a great team right now.
1) Paul 16PPG 12APG 3RPG 3SPG
2)Billups (Should take this oppertunity to be the 3rd or 4th option, someone to shoot the open 3 play terrific defence and average
12PPG 4RPG 4APG 1SPG playing 25-30 minutes a game.
3)Butler 15PPG 5RPG 3APG
4)Griffin 26PPG 13RPG 1BPG
5)Jordan 12PPG 10RPG 2BPG
Key Bench PLayers
Mo williams 6PPG 3APG 1SPG 10-20 minutes a night (If Paul gets injured you bring in a player who can run the team well)
Jamario Moon 4PPG 3rpg 1bpg 10 nibutes night (If he stays, he can play good defence, and if caron gets hurt with starters minutes can put up 10PPG 6RPG 1BPG, in a back up roll to Butler, and can play the 4 at times, this is a great option).
Trey thompkins PPG 3RPG 1BPG 10 minutes a night( While he is listed as a PF he can play the center position as he stands 6-11 and wieghts 245 Pound, so he can backup Griffen or Jordan).
Craig Smith 7PPG 4RPG 1BPG 15 minutes a night ( PF with ennoff lower body strength to play C in spurts)
Ryan Gomes 11PPG 3RPG 2APG 23 minutes a night (YOUR SIXTH MAN OFF THE BENCH, can play the three or the two)
THIS TEAM IS GOING TO BE FUN TO WATCH, ONE OF HE MOST ATHLETIC TEAMS WE HAVE IN A LONG TIME, JUST LOOK AT THOES NAMES BOTH ON THE BENCH AND IN THE STARTERS MINUTE.
Clippers are finally looking up, for real this time!
Because they can’t trade Billlups, they’ve got to trade Mo Will for a solid swingman who preferably shoots three.
Seems like the Clippers gave up alot to get Paul and don’t get me wrong Paul is good but he is Injury Prone and the clippers already had a good team, I would of went else where as far as trades go, just seems like they gave up everything but Blake, if you ask me they had a better team before the trade, put it like this if They were looking to just sell Tickets then yeah go after Paul but if they really wanted to win a Championship then they would of kept the guys they had
SMART STERN, HE KNOWS PEOPLE WANT THIS TRADE, GRIFFIN-PAUL !
I don´t know??? Yes, CP 3 is good. But will Jordan develop further? They have no solid backup at C now Kaman is gone. In addition they put away 40 ppg and 15 rpg with Kaman, Gordon… Can Paul take over? I don´t know.
In addition it´s a risk too. Paul can opt out after one year. So it´s still possible for DAL for example to go for Paul or Williams AND Howard next season (If Howard doesn´t sign elsewhere now) because Terry, Kidd, Odom etc. contracts expire….
Still OKC looks in pretty good shape now Perkins seems to be healthy and XXXX pounds lighter.
About time!
This trade was ok I guess, but Gordon is a good player and will only get better. They have that gap at the 2 but Billups can play the 2. The fact is Mo Will and Bledsoe are going to be on the trading block. I thing they have a good look with CP3, BG & Caron. Billups will provide help in the backcourt 1 or 2 but if you saw the Olympics Billups was more of a 2 while the younger guys (Steph Curry) and those guys played the 1. The Hornets got Kaman and Gordon plus Aminu so this was a fair trade. LA has a new sherriff in town and they are Red & White not Gold & Purple
I don’t don’t know, but Stern looks like a genius now. I would much rather have Gordon & Minny’s #1 to build on.
CLIPPERS STARTING LINE UP
PG. PAUL
SG MO WILLAMS
SF BUTLER
PF BLAKE
C JORDAN
i can see a trade coming on here howard is coming to the clippers soon then watch out nba and the heat i would fly from oz just to see that