Chris Paul to Clippers: Why Blake Griffin-Paul Tandem Is Must-Watch TV

The Dwight Howard saga may persist throughout the 2011-'12 season, but at least we can put one incessant rumor to bed.

All-Star and arguably the league's top point guard in Chris Paul was finally granted his wish of departing from the New Orleans Hornets after the team agreed to a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers late into the night on December 14th.

By sending Paul to L.A., the Hornets get Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and a first round draft pick that was formerly owned by Minnesota, which means that the pick has a large chance of being near the top.

Less than a week after a trade involving Paul going to the L.A. Lakers was nullified, the Hornets will actually come out as winners, according to some, as they will be set to receive one of the league's top young scorers in Eric Gordon, a developing player in the second-year Aminu and an oft-injured center who can produce when healthy in Chris Kaman.

For a team that just lost their franchise player, the Hornets actually might have got the better end of the deal, as they now have a team and not just Chris Paul. Trading Paul became a necessity, especially after former Hornets power forward David West departed for Indiana.

The Clippers will be fine in terms of a small forward momentarily, as they will have Caron Butler, but at 31 years old and coming off a devastating injury, a young small forward like Aminu might have been valuable in the near future.

The team will also be desperate to replace Gordon at shooting guard, as the current possible list of replacements includes Willie Warren, Travis Leslie and Randy Foye.

I'd argue for Chauncey Billups, but there's something about a 6'3" point guard that's 34 years old guarding the likes of Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili or Monta Ellis that turns me off of that idea.

But that's something that will be worked out in the future. The Clippers just landed a ticket that could get them into the postseason for the first time since 2006 and for only the fourth time in the past two decades.

Losing two key prospects absolutely hurts, but adding CP3 means we're to see a more efficient offense on what is sure to be one of the most entertaining teams in the NBA.

I really don't believe I have to give reasons as to why a team that will include Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan is going to become one of the most entertaining squads to watch. Griffin and Jordan are the most athletic big men in the league this side of Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, and Paul is one of the best offensive facilitators and passers in the league, which means we're in to see even more alley-oops than last season.

Griffin had an unbelievable rookie campaign last season where he took home Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 22 points and 12 boards per, while absolutely taking the NBA world by storm on account of his high-flying abilities as a 6'10" power forward that has to duck to avoid hitting the rim with his forehead.

The 22-year-old Griffin didn't let a previous knee injury affect him in the slightest, as he managed to have 214 throw-downs, with each one more impressive than the last.

DeAndre Jordan will be just as special to watch too as he managed to rival Griffin on a number of his dunks with some world-class slams of his own. He's 23 years old, 6'11", and possibly the most athletic center in the league. That athleticism allowed him to average two blocks per in his first consistent starting time in his three years in the league.

Obviously, it's just going to be plain amazing to watch CP3 and Griffin/Jordan hook up for dunks, especially with the passing prowess and court vision of a player like Paul, who can do far more than Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Mo Williams or anyone else when it comes to passing the ball.

It won't be the alley-oops that we'll watch for, however, as we'll also be excited to see how the Chris Paul in Los Angeles pans out and whether or not he'll be satisfied enough to stay after two years, when he can decide to leave or re-sign.

Paul has seemed to have wishes to join the New York Knicks, but it doesn't seem as that is possible since they don't have the trade chips nor the money to bring him onto their team.

There will still be plenty of suitors when CP3 does show up back on the market again, which means that the next two years will allow to show us just how satisfied he'll be when playing for the Clippers. The new team he joins has a much more improved roster than his former team in New Orleans ever had.

We could even see the Clippers make the Lakers become the other team in Los Angeles for the first time in a long time.

While the alley-oops and viewing this new experiment will be fun to watch, the main reason we want to see this as much as possible is mostly because we're excited to see the Clippers relevant once again.

The Clippers have always been the punchline of the NBA, as they have possessed some of the worst teams in the history of the game, have made some of the worst trades and picked some of the biggest draft busts, so it's good to see a change once in a while when a losing team no longer loses 50 games per season.

To put the losing into perspective, take note that the team has a winning percentage in the regular and postseason of .363, has never won 50 or more games in a season, never made it to the Conference Finals despite being a franchise since 1970 and has only made it to the second round one time in nearly 40 years.

Like I said, isn't it a good thing that we'll have something new for a change out of the Clippers franchise? The team that is most famous for losing games and drafting the likes of Michael Olowokandi now has a highly anticipated future in front of them.

We want to be there to see dramatic improvement out of the Clippers franchise.

Plus, wouldn't it actually be nice to see the Clippers run Los Angeles for a change? I wouldn't doubt seeing a little more red, white and blue in the stands during their home and away games against the cross-town rival Lakers come this season. The first regular season matchup is on January 14th.

The first available time to view the Clippers will be on December 19th when they take on the Lakers in a preseason matchup, while their first regular season game will come against the Golden State Warriors and will also be the final game of a Christmas schedule that was already exciting to begin with.