NBA Trade Rumors: Chris Paul to Clippers Looks Slim with Chauncey Billups Claim

If there has been an official slogan for this year's offseason period, it's been to expect the unexpected.

Whether it was Chris Paul's rumored trade demands or Dwight Howard's trade demands of his own, and then both players shortly either denying the demand or backing away, this offseason has had just as much fireworks and speculation in it than last year's, when LeBron James was set to go to either Chicago, New York or New Jersey before he ended up picking Miami.

Perhaps the most absurd moment to take place during the short offseason period was a trade that involved the L.A. Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets being denied. It would have given Paul his wish of being moved by being sent out to the Lakers, Pau Gasol would have gone to Houston, and Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Lamar Odom and Goran Dragic would have been sent to New Orleans.

It seems like a fair trade, but not to the NBA who voided the trade because of, get ready for this, "basketball reasons". In a league where Gasol was traded for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol, two first-round picks and a pack of Skittles, it sort of makes you wonder what sort of intentions and the agenda that the front office has.

But that's dead now and Paul will not be going to the Lakers this year, as they have now set their sights on Dwight Howard. Paul's latest rumored landing spot happens to be the Lakers rival, the Los Angeles Clippers. Word is that the Clippers are interested in trading for Paul, but the teams' demands of which players they want is a little too steep for the organization.

The one demand that has the Clippers hesitant to deal is giving up Eric Gordon, which would cause any team to resist a possible trade even for a player like Chris Paul. Gordon will only be in his fourth year next season and is coming off a career season where he averaged 22 points per. He showed off a great deal of athleticism and an offensive prowess that includes a three-point shot and an incredible driving ability, it's no wonder why the Clippers don't want to deal him.

The Hornets also wanted an unprotected 2012 first-round pick possessed by the Minnesota Timberwolves, which we all know will end up as a top five pick.

Now it's dead. On the same day where talks between the two teams were heated, the trade was declared dead due to the Hornets not budging off obtaining Gordon. The Clippers had offered Chris Kaman, Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe earlier on in the week, but it wasn't nearly enough for the Hornets who refused to obtain an oft-injured center who becomes a free agent next year, a peaked Williams and the lone player with potential in Bledsoe.

Word is now coming back that trade talks have possibly been renewed, but it doesn't seem as likely to happen now that the Clippers have acquired the recently waived Chauncey Billups, who was an amnesty casualty of the New York Knicks due to the team clearing cap space in order to sign Tyson Chandler.

Billups isn't Chris Paul, but it's still a terrific move by the Clippers as they obtain a veteran to help lead a starting lineup that features a number of young, potential superstars in Gordon, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. With Caron Butler signing with the team and set to get the start at small forward, this Clippers team is looking more and more formidable as the days pass.

There isn't much a bench aside from Mo Williams and Chris Kaman, who I doubt is going to be with the team much longer, but the Clippers are still on the road to the postseason, and it may occur as early as this year.

The Clippers have a roster consisting of more potential talent than any other team in the NBA, at the moment, and also possess one of the brightest futures as they have a team that's built for success for the next decade.

With Billups now on the squad, we wonder if the Clippers are going to make the jump of trading for Chris Paul. The acquisition of Billups and Butler makes the starting line-up perfectly well-rounded and you have to wonder if the team is ready to make an enormous move after making two smart pick-ups, even though they did overspend on Caron.

The Clippers balking on the Chris Paul trade because of potentially losing their future superstar in Gordon is an uncharacteristic move of the squad that has made countless, absurd deals in the past.

Going after Chris Paul now seems to be a move that would be unnecessary at the moment because of the team having Billups set to the run the point. He's certainly not a player that's going to ride the bench in L.A., and he might end up retiring if he does end up being a part of the deal that brings in CP3.

However, it's not all sunshine and rainbows for the Clippers as Billups is still 35 years old and only has so many quality years left in him. You also have to ponder if he has what it takes to keep up with the loaded starting lineup that possesses three of the most athletic players in the NBA.

The New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets had their fair share of athletes, but not like the Clippers who feature a number of players that want to do nothing other than run.

Eventually, Billups is going to retire and the team will be left with Mo Williams as their starting point guard, and we all know about the teams that featured him as their starter at the one.

Still, I wouldn't doubt Billups having nothing but a positive impact with the Clippers. He's still completely capable at running the point better than the majority of the league's floor generals and is extremely durable as he has played in 70 or more games for 11 consecutive seasons. Don't doubt this move by the Clippers as it may have just been the smartest of the offseason thus far.

Chauncey is going to add a lot of intangibles that this team didn't possess before and it might just mean that the Clippers are out of the Chris Paul sweepstakes for this particular offseason. If they were truly adamant about obtaining CP3, the Clippers certainly wouldn't have made a push to sign a different point guard the second they got on the block.

To think that all of this could have been avoided, had the NBA just let that deal with the Lakers go through.