Each NBA team’s best trade in franchise history

LA Clippers

Chris Paul, cash, and a 2015 second-round pick for Al-Farooq Aminu, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, and a 2012 first-round pick to NO (2011)

For all intents and purposes, I should be discussing the 2011 Chris Paul trade in the next slide. The Los Angeles Lakers all but acquired him from the then-New Orleans Hornets prior to the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season.

But there was one problem: the Hornets were controlled by the NBA at the time after purchasing the team from George Shinn in 2010. Also, this trade happened in the wake of LeBron James’ “Decision”, so the idea of the NBA ‘s most glamorous franchise pairing another superstar with Kobe Bryant at the expense of the small market Hornets didn’t sit well with the other salty owners.

So instead of bolstering the Lakers, commissioner David Stern nixed the deal to aid… their Staples Center co-tenants: the LA Clippers. That’s right, Stern decided that it would be better for the league to prop up Donald Sterling than ensure that the Lakers were good for another 10 years.

As expected, it didn’t take long for Paul to lift the Clippers from the doldrums to one of the NBA’s most exciting teams. With his Einstein-level basketball IQ and court vision, Paul and his .270 WS/48 led the Clippers to six straight playoff appearances and though his efforts didn’t result in a championship for the Clippers, the team got something just as valuable: relevance.