California Dreaming

On June 25th, 2009 the Los Angeles Clippers took the first step toward turning around their troubled NBA franchise by drafting the University of Oklahoma star power forward, Blake Griffin.Wednesday December 14th will go down in Los Angeles Clipper history as the day this much maligned franchise took a leap towards relevance and potential greatness by putting together a blockbuster trade to secure the services of NBA All Star and all world point guard, Chris Paul. In this trade, the Clippers sent starting center, Chris Kaman, shooting guard Eric Gordon, small forward and 2010 1st round pick Al-Farouq Aminu and a 2012 1st round draft pick. A huge price to pay, however the potential return makes it worth it in more ways then just on the basketball court. By trading for Chris Paul the Clippers finally have two center pieces to build their team around. They have done a much better job over the last three years drafting and obtaining talented players, which put them in position to make this a reality. Lets not understate the significance of this pairing and the outcome it will have for this franchise. You can make very strong arguments that the Clippers now possess the leagues best point guard and power forward. The Clippers!? What planet am I on?

What really leaves me scratching my head is how it's taken this organization so long to put something like this together. Heck, even something less formidable then this. The Clippers have been snake bitten by horrible scouting, drafting and management for decades. Every major sport in North America has teams that suffer through long dry spells, or even ineptitude. But the Clippers were likely one of the last of this breed. The Cleveland Brown and Pittsburgh Pirates may be the new basement dwellers of the sports world, but even the Pirates have made huge strides this past season with regards to shaking that losing stigma. Chris Paul instantly changes the course of this franchise. On, and off the court. The impact a player like Paul will have in a market such as Los Angeles will be tsunami like. The number 3 Chris Paul jersey will only be trumped in volume by the number 24 Lakers jersey. You won't have an empty seat at a Clippers home game for the next 10 years. Forget what a move like this will do for the locker room there. NBA players now have another Los Angeles market team to gravitate towards when considering who to play for during free agency.

The point guard position closely parallels the quarterback of football. Your primary responsibility is to distribute the basketball putting your team in the best position to score. The effect Paul will have playing point guard for the Clippers will be immense. Players like Caron Butler, Randy Foye and Ryan Gomes will all be key contributors when on the floor with Paul. As for Griffin who has already emerged at a top 10 overall player in the league, you better be showing up on the defensive end of the floor every single night because it's going to take complete team defense to defend this kind of inside/outside attack that a Paul-Griffin partnership will create!

For those who believe this trade was bad for the Clippers I ask of you this. How did the Clippers perform last season with that core? 32-50 is the answer, a 39% winning percentage. 3rd last in the West and 14 games out of a playoff spot. Would the growth of Gordon and Aminu have made up those 14 wins to even have a chance at sneaking into the playoffs? Unlikely in my opinion, possible? Maybe. This move however completely changes the complection of the team for the better. The Hornets never had less then 37 wins with Paul running their back-court, in 07/08 the Hornets won 56 games, a feat Clippers fans have only dreamt about in their Californian homes. It turns out with news in weeks past about a potential Paul trade to the Lakers that he too, was California dreaming. Luckily for Clippers fans, their dreams have finally come true.