Chris Paul to Clippers: Breakdown and Analysis of NBA's Blockbuster Deal

It had to happen eventually and thank goodness it happened now because I know I wasn't the only one sick of hearing where Chris Paul could possibly end up this season or the season after when he becomes a free agent.

With the New Orleans Hornets trading him to the Los Angeles Clippers, we just barely missed out on a whole lot of wasted time on ESPN that could have distracted us from the season itself. Instead of hearing about Chris Paul, we can now turn our attention to the soap opera between Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic and where he could possibly end up.

But we'll save that for different pieces that will surely occur throughout the 2011-'12 season.

Instead, let's focus on the deal that features arguably the league's top point guard, and the franchise player of that small market in New Orleans, moving to the former laughingstock of the NBA in the Clippers.

The Clippers may have finished 30-52 last season, good enough for third in a dismal Pacific division, but they showed a lot of potential and a bright future in front of them with the likes of Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan all emerging as some of the league's top young athletes.

Gordon will no longer be with the team as he was a part of the trade that brought in Chris Paul. He will be joined by teammates Al-Farouq Aminu and Chris Kaman in New Orleans, where they will team up with Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza to give the Hornets franchise a new lease on life.

Losing Gordon was a questionable addition to the deal as the Clippers had stubbornly refused to offer him as a part of the deal.

Then in the Hornets darkest hours, when CP3 was sure to be miserable and the team was without David West or any other quality player for that matter, the Clippers came to the rescue by not only giving away a potential superstar in Gordon, but a conditional first-round pick as well, which is owned by Minnesota and you know that pick is going to be high.

The Clippers should have realized that the ball was in their court, why did they have to give away Eric Gordon and the first-round pick? Those were the two things that were holding the trade back and they gave them away for a player who has dealt with knee injuries over the past few seasons.

Granted that Paul is an unbelievably talented floor general who is a game changer, it's just that the Clippers are actually appearing to be the losers of this deal.

The Hornets were desperate. They were going to lose Chris Paul in the offseason regardless and should have been willing to accept any deal, which includes the Clippers previous offer in giving up Mo Williams, Chris Kaman and Eric Bledsoe. Instead, they lose out on a superstar in Gordon, an athletic project in Aminu, a center who could cause serious damage if healthy in Kaman and a first-round pick that might be in the top five.

Obviously, bringing Paul is great for public relations. The Clippers haven't been in the news this much since making it to the second round in 2007 for the first time since 1976. Chris Paul being added to the team means that you're still going to end up seeing a better team as you'll have one of the league's best floor generals leading the show on a team that possess two of the best catch-and-finishers in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Not to mention that they might not be referred to as that other team in Los Angeles. The Lakers greatly declined this offseason after losing a top contributor off the bench in Lamar Odom, and with a starting lineup that features four players at the age of 32 or older, the younger Clippers with CP3 are now looking a lot better.

By the first few alley-oop throwdowns from Paul to Griffin/Jordan, the Clippers fanbase will soon forget about what they had to give up in order to obtain it. Paul has worked miracles in the past, including leading a team where David West, Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson were his top contributors to 56 wins and a division title over San Antonio and Dallas.

Now that he has a solid roster consisting of Griffin, Jordan and Caron Butler, Paul is going to make the Clippers relevant and a perennial postseason threat if he decides to stay after two seasons.

By the way, Chris Paul can leave after his first two years with the Clippers. Sorry to break the bad news, suddenly huge Clippers fanbase. Paul reportedly said that he "might be interested" in signing an extension after the trade.

For the Hornets, this is obviously the greatest thing that could have happened to them and they're making out like bandits after this deal.

That team was depleted and set to change cities by the end of next season and they get a new lease on life after the trade that brings two young talents and a center who can score and produce when he's healthy. Couple that with the fact that they're going to get a top five pick and the Hornets are looking better than ever.

If a trade wasn't made, Chris Paul is going to play one miserable year in New Orleans and will jet in the offseason after the Hornets miss out on the playoffs. The Hornets will wallow in obscurity for the next decade, attendance will significantly decline and they'll eventually pick up shop and move the franchise for a third time after starting out in Charlotte.

This trade comes less than a week after an initial deal that was supposed to send Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic and Lamar Odom to New Orleans while Chris Paul goes to the Lakers was shot down due to "basketball reasons".

That deal didn't have two young talents, a first round pick and an oft-injured center, but the Hornets still would have received quality pieces to keep the team's head above water.

But when your franchise is owned by the NBA, I guess you can make anything work.

The Hornets will have Jarrett Jack run the point, but they'll feature an incredible upgrade at the shooting guard position as they'll be able to replace Marco Belinelli with a fourth year guard who just averaged 22 points per game on 45 percent shooting, while also hitting two three-pointers per game on 36 percent from beyond the arc.

They'll also receive a possible upgrade at small forward if Al-Farouq Aminu turns out to be worth the eight pick that he was drafted at in 2010.

The current position is held by a great defensive mind in Trevor Ariza, but the 39 percent shooting percentage over the past two seasons isn't helping to reaffirm his starting position and neither is the 30 percent he just shot from beyond the arc.

With a second year athlete like Aminu joining the team, the Hornets will give him significant minutes off the bench this season to see just who exactly deserves that starting job for the future.

Aminu didn't get too much of a chance to prove himself last season as he only played in 18 minutes per game while averaging six points on 39 percent shooting to go along with three rebounds per game.

Still, the Clippers didn't give Aminu much of an opportunity to go out and make a statement, while the Hornets and their depleted bench will be sure to give the second-year forward a chance to prove himself as a possible starting power forward as well as playing at the 3.

While Gordon and Aminu fit into this equation, it's tough to figure out what the team will do with center Chris Kaman and his expiring contract. The team currently has Emeka Okafor at center, but he can be expendable if Kaman can prove to the team that he's healthy enough to play run in a full season.

Considering that he's been injured three of the past four seasons and has played in 32 games or less in two of the past three seasons, Okafor may continue to be the starter for now.

When healthy, Kaman is one of the league's top scoring centers and has averaged as much as 19 points per game thanks to quality foot work in the post and a solid mid-range game.

As much as people are saying how lopsided this deal is for the Hornets, it's only barely that it weighs in their favor. Gordon is the only proven talent that they receive with Aminu not showing us much after a rookie season that he was barely featured in and a center that was traded because the team wanted a healthy body in the post for once.

The Clippers receive two second-round picks and arguably the league's top point guard, which is going to help generate interest in Clippers basketball, make the team relevant and most likely bring them to the postseason for the first time since 2007.

Los Angeles wanted to make moves and they managed to do so by pulling off the blockbuster trade of the offseason and they can now look forward to consistent relevance for the first time in franchise history.