Chris Paul to Clippers: Los Angeles Will Finally Shed Its Bad Reputation

Chris Paul has been dealt the Los Angeles Clippers in what can be honestly characterized as the best offseason in the history of the franchise.

While it's been a great summer, and is a fantastic acquisition, let's not kid around here. The bar is not set very high. 

Over its 40 years of existence, the team has never had a 50-win season. It has had seven winning seasons. It has been to the postseason seven times. It has never been to a conference finals, much less an NBA finals, much less win an NBA finals. 

Only one franchise, the relatively much younger Memphis Grizzlies, has a worse winning percentage, and even that's not by much. The Grizzlies also have had a 50-win season. 

It would be inaccurate to say that the Clippers are arguably the worst franchise in NBA history only because it would imply that there's another team in the argument. The Clippers have been so bad over their history that if you look up the word "horrible" in the dictionary, it says, "Please don't associate me with the Clippers." 

So when you say this is their best offseason ever, it's like talking about the prettiest smelling cheese. 

Having said that, even though Donald "The Racist" Sterling is still the owner, it looks like the Clippers have had a pretty good offseason. 

First off, they won a battle with the Lakers to get Chris Paul. I'll give you a moment to reread that sentence two or three times to let it soak in. The Clippers won and the Lakers lost. 

While there's no shortage of articles to read on the internet about how all that worked out, there's more to the Clippers offseason than just the acquisition of Chris Paul.  

The Clippers made a series of moves this offseason that have set them up to be a real contender in the Western Conference.

Last year they had Blake Griffin win Rookie of the Year in one of the best rookie performances in a long time; it was the best by a power forward since Tim Duncan. 

This offseason, they matched the contract of his frontcourt mate, DeAndre Jordan, signed a new small forward in Caron Butler, picked up Chauncey Billups, who will be the new starting shooting guard after the Knicks amnestied him, and traded for Paul. 

That means they acted to either keep or attain the rest of the starting five. They actually built a quality team around a superstar. 

Yes, we are still talking about the Clippers. 

The thing that is surprising here is that it's a solid group with different players who can handle different roles. They have multiple players who can score the ball, create shots and two of the best finishers at the rim.

This is a team that could actually contend. 

This could be the season that changes the way we look at the Clippers. The words Clippers and "winners" may no longer be mutually exclusive! I know it sounds crazy, but so does the notion of them beating out the Lakers in an offseason deal.