After news late last week that the Lakers’ trade for Chris Paul was vetoed it appears that Paul will be on his way to Los Angeles after all. This time, however, Paul has been acquired by the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers were able to acquire Paul from the Hornets for a package of players built around young guard Eric Gordon and the first round pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2012 draft. Included in the deal are center Chris Kaman and forward Al-Farouq Aminu.
The Hornets certainly received more value in this particular trade than they would have gotten from the Lakers and Houston Rockets in the trade that was agreed upon last week. In the previous trade the Hornets would have acquired Lamar Odom from the Lakers as well as Goran Dragic, Luis Scola and Kevin Martin from Houston.
The more puzzling question for Lakers fans has to do with NBA commissioner David Stern’s approval of this trade compared to the last. Especially since his main reason was his refusal to allow Paul to dictate his ultimate destination. Regardless, for the Clippers this is certainly an exciting turn of events. Paul has agreed to opt into his contract for the 2012-13 season, leaving Los Angeles with at least two years of Paul and Blake Griffin on the same team.
