Chris Paul to Clippers: Acquiring PG Allows LA's Other Team to Upstage Lakers

The Chris Paul saga has taken an interesting turn. It now appears as though he's going to be on the Los Angeles Clippers.

ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting via Twitter that the Clippers and Hornets have agreed in principle on a trade that would send Paul to the Clippers. 

Now, if the last week has taught us anything, it's that these things can change at a moment's notice. But let's assume that this trade is actually going to happen. 

The Clippers are a scary team. Even with everything they're giving up, they have a point guard in Chris Paul and a big man in Blake Griffin whose skills mesh perfectly with each other. And they're not exactly thin at other positions. 

Objectively, the Clippers are clearly the top team in Los Angeles now. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, but little else to work with. If the report from ESPN's Chad Ford and Stein is in fact true, Dwight Howard is not going to be an option anymore. 

Bryant's a fantastic player, but he doesn't have anything else to rely on. This is the Lakers' team that we saw after they lost Shaquille O'Neal in 2004, but before they got Pau Gasol in 2008. The only difference is that now Bryant is older. 

As far as the "other" team in Los Angeles. They are loaded. They have an exciting team, which is what you need in Los Angeles, and their talent meshes well with each other. 

If this trade goes through, the Lakers are now the other team in Los Angeles. That's never been the case in Tinseltown, but it clearly is now. 

The Clippers have everything going for them. For one, they are the better team. There's really no way around that.

With Griffin and Paul, they are the more exciting team. This is a team that will run the floor. Griffin and Paul will be a fixture on Sports Center every night.

Lastly, the Clippers are younger. That's something that's hard to get around. The Lakers' best player is old, and the nucleus around him is aging. 

Right now, the Clippers are the top team in Los Angeles. It's going to be that way for a while.

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