Chris Paul Has Been Traded To LA, But Not To The Lakers

Finally, Chris Paul has been dealt!  Upon hearing the news I was obviously very excited.  This means I can stop staring at my Twitter feed for five seconds and focus my thoughts on the upcoming season, I thought, and thank the basketball gods for that!  However, once I found out who the Clippers traded to get Paul, the excitement quickly faded into grief. 

So, I’m reading the article.  Oh look, they’ve finally traded Kaveman.  Hooray!  Soon to be second-year swingman Al Farouq-Aminu?  He could be a nice player someday, but no biggie.  I see that they’ve also given up that unprotected first rounder in a draft that looks to be a good one.  Meh, that’s ok, you’ve gotta give something to get something.  At least they didn’t give up my boy Eric Gord…oh my god…they dealt my boy Eric Gordon.  The third best shooting guard in the NBA.  The young talent to whom they reportedly promised security even if keeping him meant no Chris Paul.  Needless to say, that sh!t hit me like a ton of damn bricks.  Honestly… I’m devestated.  Via the LA Times…

The Clippers have agreed to acquire All-Star point guard Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets in a blockbuster deal that includes sending Eric Gordon to the Hornets, two people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak on the matter said Wednesday.The Clippers will send the Hornets Chris Kaman and his expiring $12.7-million expiring contract, second-year forward Al-Farouq Aminu and the unprotected No. 1 draft pick the Clippers got from the Minnesota Timberwolves, both people said.

The Clippers will get Paul and two future second-round draft picks from the Hornets.

The NBA, which operates the Hornets as team owner, was prepared to approve the deal Wednesday night, both people said.

The Clippers had been granted permission to talk Paul, and he informed them that he would pick up his option of $17.7 million for the 2012-13 season and might be interested in signing a contract extension after the trade, both people said.

Paul will earn $16.3 million this season.

The Clippers gave up a good young shooting guard in Gordon, but were able to keep second-year point guard Eric Bledsoe.

I don’t think I’m capable of breaking this deal down objectively, so forget that.  I normally pride myself in my ability to put personal biases aside and logically discuss the game of basketball… but not in this case; I just can’t do it.  Will Chris Paul make the Clippers a better team than Eric Gordon would’ve?  Barring injuries I’d say there’s a pretty damn good chance he does.  Still, I don’t like it.  No matter how good the Clippers become with Paul running the show, I still hate that this trade dismantles my favorite duo in the league.  I hate that it makes my Eric Gordon Clippers t-shirt irrelevant.  I hate that I’ve already heard Ralph Lawler scream “bingo” after an EJ three-pointer for the last time.

Just hours ago I was under the happy impression that Gordon was close to being signed to an extension.  I watch an episode of Seinfeld, return to my desk, and he’s a Hornet.  F@ck this.  Now all I can do is hope he becomes an even better player than I’d projected him to be so that the Clippers regret their decision. 

This isn’t fair.  ^^^That right there accounted for like 96.7% of my excitement about the upcoming season.  I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back–I mean, they said he wasn’t going anywhere!  F@ck, man… I haven’t been this down on the NBA since the ’07 Warriors were dismantled.

Eric will surely flourish in New Orleans.  He has a team of his own now… but that wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.  Now I can only imagine what could’ve become of Eric and Blake.  I was supposed to get to watch it unfold over the next decade, goddammit!