How Does the Chris Paul Trade Impact Your Team?

It is easy to see how the Chris Paul trade is going to affect the two participating teams.

The New Orleans Hornets got their wish of trading the superstar point guard without a season-long soap opera and landed themselves a seven-footer (Chris Kaman), a second-year small forward with tremendous upside (Al-Farouq Aminu), one of the best young 2-guards in the game (Eric Gordon) and an unprotected first-round pick.

Couple that with their own draft pick and the Hornets could essentially turn Chris Paul into an entirely new starting five.

Returning players such as Jarrett Jack, Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza and Quincy Pondexter will be key players along with the new additions.

This also gives them the opportunity to make even more moves. Kaman, in particular, can still find good value on the trade market.

The Clippers lineup will be even easier to figure out. CP3 will run point with an array of other guards moving in and out of the 2-spot. Between recently signed Chauncey Billups, second-year guard Eric Bledsoe and veterans Mo Williams and Randy Foye, the Clips should be able to work some kind of rotations, as well as having Chauncey spell CP3 when he needs a breather.

The 3 spot will be for new three-year, $24 million man Caron Butler with that dude Blake Griffin and his pal DeAndre Jordan rounding out the 4 and 5 spots.

Needless to say, the Clippers will be fun to watch.

But how does this trade affect the rest of the league?

Lakers

Let's start with the other LA team. This deal severely damages the Lakers for a number of reasons. One, they had a deal in place a week ago only to see commissioner David Stern block it. The Lakers then went ahead and traded highly-regarded utility man Lamar Odom to the defending champion Dallas Mavericks in a deal they hoped would help them land either CP3 or Dwight Howard.

Howard is now off the market and if the Lakers want any shot at him, they'll have to hope the Magic budge from their determinedly strong stance on not trading him.

With Odom out of the picture, no CP3, no Howard and no Phil Jackson, the Lakers are a team in trouble out West.

They've now put a ton of pressure on the frontcourt duo of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and look no better than a four seed.

Rockets

Another team directly affected by the trade is the Houston Rockets, the third wheel in the nixed Lakers deal.

Houston is always trying to get in on something and they would've landed themselves Pau Gasol in exchange for Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a first-round draft choice.

Expect Houston GM Daryl Morey to be very active again this season as he tries to better his disappointing ball club.

Knicks and Celtics

Two Eastern Conference teams, the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, have both seen pipe dreams destroyed by this deal.

The Knicks were Paul's preferred destination, but they did not have the trade chips necessary to make a deal. Instead, the Knicks went out and acquired Tyson Chandler via sign-and-trade.

The thought of CP3 leaving LA this offseason to take considerably less money to play for the Knicks is something that won't happen anymore. New York's future at the point guard position will have to come from somewhere else.

As for the Celtics, they were a bit off the rocker with their idea in the first place. Mortgaging their future for one more potential title run with CP3 at point and no guarantee that he'd sign a contract extension would have been a foolish move.

It is safe to say that Danny Ainge is saved from himself on this one and the Celtics can continue to develop Rajon Rondo as the future of the franchise.

Nets

One other Eastern Conference team indirectly affected is the New Jersey Nets. Mikhail Prokhorov's Brooklyn-bound Nets have to find a way to keep superstar point guard and potential free agent, Deron Williams, in a Nets jersey. Yesterday it was reported they were working diligently with the Magic on a deal for Dwight Howard before Orlando GM Otis Smith backed out and said Howard was off the market.

With CP3 now traded, point guard-needy teams could actually come after Williams, although the Nets are trying desperately to land a superstar of their own.

Both the Nets and Lakers will be among the most talked about deal-makers through the first half of the season.

Magic

If Otis Smith and Orlando were to deal Dwight Howard, the Chris Paul deal will be the ground work for what they'd want in return.

The Lakers and Nets will certainly get involved again before the season is over and there is no telling what Mark Cuban could do.

Orlando claims they have no intention of trading Howard at all, but until they get him to agree to an extension (which likely won't happen) there is going to consistently be trade chatter around this team.

They can thank themselves and CP3 for that.

Western Conference Contenders (Mavericks, Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Trail Blazers and Grizzlies)

There is blood in the water out West and for the first time in a long time it is coming from the Lakers. The loss of Phil Jackson, Lamar Odom and, as of now, missing out on a superstar addition really hurts this team.

All potential playoff teams—ranging from the defending champion Mavs to the upstart Nuggets and Grizzlies—will be ready to overtake Kobe Bryant and the Lakers once and for all.

Dallas and San Antonio are simply superior teams and the Nuggets, Blazers and Grizzlies are younger, faster and better suited to handle this "rushed" season.

This was one trade between two teams, but the ripple affect washes across almost half the league. Fortunately for us, the basketball season hasn't even started yet.