NBA Trade Grades: Rockets land Chris Paul from Clippers

Los Angeles Clippers

It truly is the end of an era for the Clippers, who are losing one of the best point guards in NBA history and arguably the greatest player in their own franchise’s history. Because of this underlying takeaway, it’s hard to say this was a “winning” move for Lob City.

However, the Clippers could have very easily lost Chris Paul for nothing this summer had he exercised his early termination option and signed elsewhere. In this scenario, at least he gave them the forewarning so they could get something in return.

As ESPN‘s Ramona Shelburne points out, the Clippers are already feeling the influence of new front office executive Jerry West. Why run it back with a core that’s clearly peaked already, especially when it would have cost more than $200 million to re-sign CP3 — before re-signing Griffin to a max deal, no less?

There’s little question the 2017-18 Clippers will suck. Losing CP3 hurts their case for re-signing Blake Griffin, even if the two weren’t particularly close. Los Angeles can offer him the most money, but teams like the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat could offer him the chance to move East and play for legitimate playoff teams.

There’s also the question of whether Doc Rivers will want to stick around for a rebuild. That’s not exactly his style, even if there currently aren’t any notable head coaching vacancies around the league.

The ripple effects of this trade could set the Clippers back for quite awhile.

As far as what the Clippers actually got, Patrick Beverley is an excellent defender and an underrated three-point shooter (38.2 percent last season, 37.5 percent for his career). It will be interesting to see how he handles lead guard duties as a facilitator, since James Harden filled that role in Houston. Beverley’s $5 million salary for 2018-19 is not fully guaranteed.

Sixth Man of the Year finalist Lou Williams averaged 18.6 points per game on .444/.385/.884 shooting splits for the other L.A. franchise last year, and can take Jamal Crawford‘s spot as a sixth man who’s actually still effective. His contract comes off the books next summer.

Sam Dekker is a nice young piece to add to the group, averaging 6.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per game in what was essentially his rookie season last year. Though he’s already 23 years old, Dekker showed plenty of effort, positional versatility and potential in Houston.

Montrezl Harrell is another great addition to this trade package. Also 23 years old, Harrell averaged 9.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game, shooting 65.2 percent from the field and injecting energy off the bench.

Throwing a 2018 first-rounder into the pile, even if it’s (laughably) top-three protected, makes for a decent haul for a player that could have left for nothing. According to The Vertical‘s Bobby Marks, the Clippers could have more than $70 million in cap space next summer, when LeBron James and Paul George — two superstars rumored to be L.A.-bound — will be free agents.

Beverley and Lou Will may not have a place on the roster beyond the upcoming season, and neither Dekker nor Harrell projects to be a star talent. Houston’s 2018 first-rounder likely won’t be very valuable, especially since they may have just improved the team that already boasted the NBA’s third-best record last season.

There’s no denying this is a risky (albeit necessary) transition for a franchise that hadn’t seen success like this before CP3’s arrival.

Combine that with the loss of one of the best point guards in the league and the potential impact it will have on Blake Griffin’s free agency, and it’s hard to give the Clippers a grade any higher than this.

They got a nice return for a guy who could’ve left for nothing, sure, but make no mistake about it: This trade still sets the franchise back quite a few years and closes the door on the most prosperous era of basketball in Los Angeles Clippers franchise history.

Grade: B