Looks like Lob City is going to become a ghost town soon.
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
In a surprising move, the Los Angeles Clippers have traded away Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets. In exchange for their franchise point guard, the Rockets will give them Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Lou Williams and a protected first-round pick.
The move is a bit surprising, as many had thought Paul would opt-out of his current contract in order to either sign elsewhere, or resign with the Clippers. But apparently in a meeting this week, Paul informed his former team he wanted to sign with the Rockets and play with James Harden. Paul then opted in to his $24 million contract and the teams worked out a trade.
After Chris Paul agreed to opt-in on contract, Clippers are trading All-Star guard to the Houston Rockets, league sources tell @TheVertical
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 28, 2017
The trade seems to mark the end of the best years of the Clippers’ franchise (at least for the immediate future). With Paul now gone, and with Blake Griffin and J.J. Reddick setting to become free agents, the Clippers will most likely free-up a ton of cap space in order to attract huge names in the near future to potentially build a super-team. It’s a long shot, but the Clippers could become a potential landing area for one LeBron James (one-man can hope).
It should be interesting to see how the Paul/Harden dynamic will work in Texas. Sure, they’ll form one of the best backcourts in the league, but will it succeed? Let’s not forget, both guys love to touch the ball and Harden flourished in his new role this past year, averaging 11 assists a game. After one-year, is he ready to hand the controls over to another point guard? Apparently so.
On the other hand, it’s a bit sad to see Paul leave the Clippers. I, for one, have always wanted to see the Clippers succeed, but the team could never figure it out for one-reason or another.
Good luck to CP3 and the gang. Let’s hope they can challenge Curry and Durant in the Bay Area.
