{"id":47275,"date":"2022-05-20T13:10:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T17:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=47275"},"modified":"2022-05-20T13:10:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T17:10:36","slug":"grading-the-chris-paul-to-the-clippers-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/05\/20\/grading-the-chris-paul-to-the-clippers-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Grading the Chris Paul to the Clippers Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Paul<\/a><\/strong> has been seen as a generational winner throughout his career. He’s a true culture changer as he has given 4 teams their best records of all time. He has given the best winning seasons to the Phoenix Suns<\/a>, Houston Rockets,<\/a> New Orleans Hornets<\/a>, and most noticeably, the LA Clippers<\/a>. When Paul joined the Clippers in 2011, they were seen as a title favorite. Although they were seen as somewhat of a disappointment, this is still a blockbuster trade with important results. Let’s look back on this trade and measure the impact for both teams.<\/p>\n

Grading the Chris Paul to the Clippers Trade<\/h2>\n

The Almost Trade<\/h3>\n

An important note for this story is the trade that almost sent him to the other LA team. The Lakers offered a package of Lamar Odom<\/strong><\/a>, Goran Dragic<\/strong><\/a>, and Luis Scola<\/strong><\/a> to the Hornets in a 3-team trade that teamed Paul and Kobe Bryant<\/strong><\/a> up. The common misconceptions are that this trade was vetoed because it wasn’t enough value for Paul, or that it would make the Lakers too good. This is false as David Stern, a partial owner of the Hornets, believed this would make the Hornets too good and make them undesirable for a new owner to purchase. He believed this new acquisition of talent, as well as current Coach of the Year Monty Williams<\/strong><\/a> would make the playoffs. Stern wanted them to tank in order to bring in a new owner.<\/p>\n

Instead, the Hornets went in a more rebuilding direction for this trade. They brought in Eric Gordon<\/strong><\/a>, Chris Kaman<\/a><\/strong>, Al-Farouq Aminu<\/strong><\/a>, and a first-round pick. This forced the Clippers to do a full rebuild with Gordon, who averaged 22 points the year prior. It also allowed them to obtain a good draft pick without Paul winning games there.<\/p>\n

Chris Paul’s Impact on the Clippers<\/h3>\n

Chris Paul is a winning player. This led to the Clippers winning. The year before Chris Paul came the Clippers had a 32-50 record and missed the playoffs. The year after they finished 40-26 and made the semi-finals in the playoffs. Before Paul, the Clippers had 2 winning seasons since moving to Los Angeles. Since then they haven’t had a losing season. Talk about a culture changer.<\/p>\n

Paul also played great alongside the young stars blossoming out in LA. Both Blake Griffin<\/strong><\/a> and DeAndre Jordan<\/strong><\/a> thrived playing alongside Paul and gave birth to the nickname “Lob City”. \u00a0His ability to help Griffen reach the All-NBA caliber player changed the west and made them legit contenders.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>