Revisiting the Chris Paul Trade to the Los Angeles Clippers

The first time that

Chris Paul

was traded in his

NBA

career turned out to be one of the biggest blockbuster trades of the 2010s. It also happened under some pretty odd circumstances.

The Point God was on his way to Los Angeles, but at first, he thought his new home would be on the

L.A. Lakers

. This was before league commissioner David Stern stepped in.

There was a massive blockbuster in place that was supposed to send Paul to the Lakers. It involved some pretty big names changing homes in the process.

Pau Gasol

was supposed to be on his way to the

Houston Rockets

as a part of this deal. The man who had been the co-star to

Kobe Bryant

for two championships in Los Angeles was on his way out.

Lamar Odom was also set to relocate. Odom played a big role coming off the bench for those same championship teams. However, his services were no longer necessary either. The Lakers were all in on Paul.

Stern had other plans. Considering that the league owned the New Orleans Hornets at the time, anything of this magnitude would need his approval. Stern was reportedly ‘under pressure’ at the time and ultimately decided that the deal would not come to pass.

The

L.A. Clippers

seized the opportunity. They saw a chance to bring Paul to the other team in Los Angeles, and they would not falter in their endeavors.

Instead of joining Bryant on the Lakers, Paul would be leading the Lakers’ ‘little brother’ franchise in a battle of supremacy over Los Angeles.

Lob City Is Born

The trio of Paul, Griffin, and Jordan leads the Clippers to new heights

Before Paul joined the Clippers, the team was far from a storied franchise. They were not even a particularly relevant franchise.

Dating back to 1970, when they were still the Buffalo Braves, the team had only made the

NBA Playoffs

seven times in their franchise history.

If one were to only consider the days when the team was specifically the Los Angeles Clippers, they had only made four playoff appearances since the 1984-85 season.

Paul was viewed by most as the best point guard in the NBA at the time of this trade. If anyone could bring some stability to this historically poor franchise, it would be him.

That was exactly what Paul did. He spent six seasons with the Clippers, and they made the playoffs in each of those years. At the point Paul left, his leadership over the Clippers accounted for more than half of their playoff appearances since their move to Los Angeles.

Paul would be supported by the high-flying

Blake Griffin

and

DeAndre Jordan

during those years. Their highlight-worthy offense spawned the nickname of Lob City during this era.

The Clippers never made it further than the second round during the Lob City days. They even flamed out in soul-crushing fashion against the Rockets in the 2015 playoffs, blowing a 3-1 lead.

However, the Clippers did essentially get what they needed out of this trade. Paul elevated the franchise. He could not lead them to a championship, but he certainly helped them shed their status of complete irrelevance.

When looking back at this deal, it can only be viewed as an absolute success for the organization. The Clippers have turned into a perennial playoff team, qualifying for the postseason 11 out of a possible 13 times since the 2011-12 season.

Pelicans Fail To Receive A Fair Deal

The Hornets, turned Pelicans, have little to show for Paul’s return package

At the time,

Eric Gordon

was the promising young player around whom the trade package for Paul was built. The problem with Gordon was his inability to stay healthy.

Gordon only spent five seasons with the team, watching them turn into the

New Orleans Pelicans

in the process. He left the team in the 2016 offseason.

Chris Kaman only spent one season with the Hornets before moving on. Al-Farouq Aminu was only around for three seasons in New Orleans.

The first round pick that the Hornets received in the deal was used to select

Austin Rivers

in the 2012 NBA Draft. Rivers eventually ended up with the Clippers too.

The bright side of this trade for the Pelicans is being bad enough to land the first overall pick that turned into

Anthony Davis

in 2012. The domino effect from that eventually led to shaping the core that the team has today.

The Lakers Pivot

The fallout from the veto led to an awful period in team history for the Lakers

It would be disingenuous to leave the Lakers out of this story. The Paul trade had major implications for them as well.

After being eliminated in five games by the

Oklahoma City Thunder

in the 2012 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers knew they needed to retool. That led to the infamous superteam attempt that added

Dwight Howard

and Steve Nash to the team.

The team was a hot mess. Multiple players battled through injuries that year. The Lakers snuck into the playoffs as the 7th seed, only to get swept by the

San Antonio Spurs

in the first round.

That was the last time in his legendary career that Bryant made the playoffs. On top of that, Howard left the team to join the Rockets in free agency. He would explain the decision to leave at a later date.

This chain of events was all a result of the veto by Stern. However, the former league commissioner explained himself on the Nunyo & Company podcast.

Truly, the biggest loser of the trade that sent Paul to the Clippers was undoubtedly the Lakers.

Stats are courtesy of Basketball Reference.