CP3, Welcome to the LAC

            After multiple failed trades and the NBA stepping in to reject a potential trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, star point guard Chris Paul has landed with the Los Angeles Clippers. The New Orleans Hornets, currently under the ownership of David Stern and the league, agreed to send Chris Paul and two future second-round picks to the Clippers in exchange for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round pick. The All-Star point guard is in a big market for the first time in his career in L.A. and no longer has to deal with the woes of New Orleans. While the Clippers have a weak bench, they have a very powerful duo with Chris Paul at point and Blake Griffin down low.

Chris Paul averaged 16 points and 10 assists for the Hornets last year.
(Courtesy of http://www.eurweb.com/2011/12/big-move-by-the-lakers-chris-paul-acquired-for-lamar-odom-and-pau-gasol/) 

            In the Pacific Division, the Clippers should be competitive with the Lakers and will finish in the top three teams. After trading Chris Kaman, the Clippers can match up against Gasol and Bynum with DeAndre Jordan and Griffin, but the Clippers big men are much more inexperienced. However, the Lakers already traded 6th Man of the Year, Lamar Odom, to the Dallas Mavericks, and if they continue to trade players, LAC may be the favorite in their division. L.A. made a smart move to get CP3, but they need to develop team chemistry if they want to be a great team. The Miami Heat and Philadelphia Eagles show that signing the best talent available does not translate immediately to wins and championships. LAC also signed Chauncy Billups and DeAndre Jordan this week, putting skilled players along side of Paul. The probable starting lineup of Chris Paul, Chauncy Billups, Caron Butler, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan has a unique combination of young players and veterans. The Clippers will be a relevant team this season, which is great for the NBA and the city of Los Angeles. LAC has been quiet in recent years and Chris Paul should provide the spark to take them to the playoffs. With such an exciting offensive team and two of the league's best players, the Los Angeles Clippers have great chances at making the playoffs next year. The Western Conference has a New Orleans team without Chris Paul and David West, the Denver Nuggets have players stuck under contract in China, and the Lakers are growing older and lost one of their best players, which makes the Clippers a viable team for the six or seven seed in the Western Conference in the playoffs.
            It is great to see Chris Paul finally land somewhere so that we can stop hearing about the failed trade offers, but I have lost faith in David Stern in the league after they rejected the three-way trade between the New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Houston Rockets. After being prompted by NBA owners not involved in the trade, Stern nullified the deal because it didn't make "basketball sense." He thought the Hornets, which are under his control, got the short end of the deal despite the fact that all three general managers were very satisfied with the trade. New Orleans would have come away with three starters--Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, and Kevin Martin-- along with backup point guard Goran Dragic, and future draft picks. Let's see, the Hornets get three starters, improve their bench, and more draft picks to improve their team for the future...all for one starter! How is that a bad trade? The Lakers then showed how strict the NBA was being when they dropped out from the re-submitted trade. L.A. didn't even bother finding out what the league's decision was because they knew it wouldn't be in their favor. In the end, Stern lets CP3 go to the team that the Lakers share their home court and city with, the Los Angeles Clippers. Talk about pouring salt in the wound. David Stern should make his own decisions and not be influenced by owners of NBA teams. This deal complied with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and league rules, yet Stern has the ultimate power to veto. If the Lakers could have pulled off the original three-way trade and then managed to acquire Dwight Howard, there would be yet another Big Three in the NBA--Kobe, CP3, and Howard.
            Instead of another "Dream Team," we have to wake up to the reality that the league comissioner, who never played in the NBA or ran an organization, is making critical decisions about basketball--a sport he does not fully understand. This is the problem with league-owned franchises--they have to face the struggles of being owned by the NBA and the Hornets are suffering the consequences. The New Orleans Hornets need to move to a more basketball-friendly city, find an owner who can run the team properly, or disband. Being owned by the NBA is definitely not in their best interest.