Chris Paul Trade: The Los Angeles Clippers Still Need to Make One More Move

After landing the New Orleans Hornets' All-Star point guard Chris Paul in a trade, the Los Angeles Clippers are on their way to making things happen in what is now being known as "Lob City."

That move won't be effective, though, until the Clippers move on from coach Vinny Del Negro.

With the electrifying Blake Griffin already making things happen in LA, the Clippers are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Paul will only help improve the long-time struggling Clippers, but what they really need now is a better coach.

Del Negro has done a fine job over his career, but by no means is he a coach who can take a team to the next level. With the Bulls, he put together two seasons with 41-41 records. That was with rookie Derrick Rose and a team made up of a core of Joakim Noah, Loul Deng and Ben Gordon (for the 2008-09 season).

The Bulls made solid additions for the 2010-11 season after bringing in coach Tom Thibodeau, but the team also improved by 21 wins in just one season after going .500. The Bulls added players like Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, CJ Watson and Ronnie Brewer. Even with the positive additions, the team still had work to do with both Boozer and Noah missing significant time during the season.

Del Negro didn't get off to such a hot start last season as the Clippers' head coach. With Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Griffin and Mo Williams, who came in after the trade deadline, the Clippers were not able to compete with the rest of the West. Even with all the talent that the Clippers had, they only were able to compile an overall record of 32-50.

With Paul brought in, the next best move for the Clippers organization would be to bring in a coach with a proven career. Obviously, the Clippers were too late to make the move, but going after a coach like Rick Adelman, who signed on with the Minnesota Timberwolves this offseason, would have been a smart move for this team.

A coach they could consider is Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott, who coached Paul in New Orleans from 2004-09. Scott had a lot of success in both New Orleans and with the New Jersey Nets, and could be a great coach to get the Clippers over the hump.

With the way things are going in Cleveland, Scott could be out of a job there soon if things don't turn around this season with top pick Kyrie Irving coming into the picture.

At this point, Del Negro will be given a chance to make things happen with the Clippers this season. With the additions of Paul, Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups, the Clippers should be able to eclipse .500. They will need to add a solid big man to play behind Griffin and DeAndre Jordan to make up for the loss of Kaman, as anything less then a winning record should be considered a failure.

The Clippers are finally on the right track to make some noise in the NBA, but they need to complete the job. Otherwise, the trade for Paul could be considered just a waste.

Jeff Chase is a Featured Columnist for the Chicago Cubs and Arizona State Football.