While a certain jaw-dropping play from an All-Star forward is what captured the majority of the headlines, it was an All-Star guard that truly stole the show.

Chris Paul scored 26 points and dished out 14 assists in a vintage effort, leading the Los Angeles Clippers to a relatively easy 112-100 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday evening.

Blake Griffin and Caron Butler each chipped in with 22 for the Clippers, who have won three straight games and improved to 12-6 overall this season.

DeAndre Jordan scored 11 points to go along with 11 rebounds and three blocks. He ranks second in the league (behind Washington’s JaVale McGee), averaging 3.06 blocks per game.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to score 67 for OKC, but were the only two that really showed up offensively for the Thunder. Daequan Cook (12) was the only other player to score in double figures.

The two players combined to score the first 21 points of the game for the Thunder, as well as 23 of the team’s 25 points in the third quarter.

The Clippers led for the majority of the first half, but the Thunder went on a run on the way to halftime, pulling to within six. Then, a series of wild, turnover-filled play by Oklahoma City led to four consecutive three-pointers for LA, all in the final minute of the second quarter. OKC never made a serious challenge from that point on.

LA’s hot shooting continued, as they shot 71 percent from three-point range in the first half (making 10), and made 13 threes in all. This was after setting a season high just the day before in Denver, when they knocked down 14 from beyond-the-arc.

Oklahoma City came into the game having won 11 of their last 12 games, and boasted a league-best 16-3 record.

Los Angeles has sold out all 12 home games so far this season, and has rewarded the fans with a 10-2 record as the home tenant at Staples Center.

Paul quietly dominated the game from the start, shooting 12-16 from the floor to go along with just two turnovers. He essentially put the game on ice late, hitting four straight shots in the final four minutes of the game.

Guard Eric Bledsoe made a brief season debut for the Clippers, as well, entering with just over a minute to go in the fourth quarter.

From here, the Thunder will head on to Dallas to take on the Mavericks in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals on Wednesday.

The Clippers will travel to Salt Lake City to face the Jazz on Wednesday, as well. They’re 2-4 on the season away from home.

Following his team’s loss at the hands of the Lakers Wednesday night, Clippers forward Blake Griffin insisted that there was still no rivalry between the two teams because the Lakers have been so dominant for so long.

Well, if what we’ve seen so far this season is any indication, that’s about to change.

Kobe Bryant scored 24 points to go along with seven rebounds and six assists in leading the Lakers to a chippy 96-91 “home” win over the up-and-coming Clippers.

Six technical fouls (along with a flagrant) were issued in all, along with several post-play scuffles, most notably a scrum between Josh McRoberts and Reggie Evans that got McRoberts ejected from the game in the fourth.

Griffin led the Clippers with 26 points and nine rebounds, but he got little help from his teammates down-the-stretch.

Chris Paul, playing for the first time since injuring his hamstring during the last meeting with the Lakers on January 14, scored just four points on 2-8 shooting in 27 minutes. However, he was able to dish out 12 assists without turning the ball over.

Mo Williams, who had been essentially carrying the Clippers offensively without Paul for the last three games, scored 16 points, but shot just 6-16 from the field.

The Clips did lead by three entering the fourth, but several miscues on both ends of the floor late in the game (capped by a three-pointer by Metta World Peace) ultimately spelled doom. World Peace is now 6-38 on three-pointers this season. The “road” loss drops them to just 1-4 away from home this season, and 9-6 overall.

The Lakers got a big boost off-the-bench from rookie guard Andrew Goudelock, who chipped in with a career-high 14 points. He had scored 10 points total on the season prior to this effort.

Pau Gasol, who was a key piece in the league-nixed trade that would’ve brought Paul to the Lakers prior to the season, scored 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds. The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Lakers.

The Clippers will have to move on from the loss rather quickly, as they host the surging Memphis Grizzlies Thursday night at Staples Center.

The Lakers will head to Milwaukee to face the Bucks Saturday night.

We still haven’t even hit the 20 percent mark of the wild, lockout-abbreviated 2012 Clippers season quite yet, but, by this point, we’ve seen enough to be able to draw a few conclusions here-and-there.

Who’s exceeded expectations? Fallen short? What can we look for as the year progresses?

All of this, and much more on your 8-4 Clippers…right now.

DeAndre Jordan (C): Grade – B+

The Clips signed the former Texas A&M Aggie to a lucrative four-year, $43 million contract during the shortened offseason, and he hasn’t disappointed.

His points and rebound averages are about the same (both in the neighborhood of seven a game), but he’s blocking shots at an incredible rate. His 1.78 blocks per game last season was good for 10th-best in the league, but this year, he’s upped his average to an incredible 3.1. Best in the league.

Jordan is very similar to the Knicks’ Tyson Chandler in that he won’t give you much offensively outside of dunks and close-range, opportunistic shots, but he makes his money occupying the paint on the other side of the floor.

He knows his role, and is a perfect complement to Blake Griffin up front. Speaking of ol’ Blake…

Blake Griffin (PF): Grade – A-

As he was during his exemplary rookie season a year ago, Griffin is a double-double machine. He’s eighth in the league in scoring (21.3) and fourth in rebounding (11.8).

Unfortunately, though, he’s still struggling in the same areas in which he struggled last season. Griffin shot 64 percent from the free-throw line last year, but even that’s plummeted to a miserable 51 percent so far this season. He’s also yet to find the consistent rhythm on his jumper, which seemed to get better and better as last season wore on.

We’re also still waiting on the potentially-devastating CP3-to-Griffin pick-and-roll fest that helped spark the “Lob City” phenomenon right after Paul was acquired. As Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk points out, Griffin has opted for stop-and-pop jumpers rather than roll to the bucket once engaged in the aforementioned CP3 pick-and-roll.

And, of course, defensively, he’s still a bit of a liability.

Fortunately, all of these are areas in which improvement is easy with the right amount of coaching and the right amount of effort. Remember, he’s still just 22 years old.

Caron Butler (SF): Grade – C-

Butler became the first major acquisition L.A. made during the offseason when he inked a three-year deal worth about $24 million after spending most of last season injured with Dallas.

While the scoring numbers have always been there, he has a reputation as a bit of a ball-stopping chucker. When you’re on a team with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, something you don’t want is your random small forward taking contested 20-footers on the wing.

He’s gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, shooting just 41 percent from the floor and a paltry 29 percent from beyond-the-arc. Things hit rock-bottom Wednesday night when he scored just two points on 1-12 shooting against his former team. Fortunately, though, it wasn’t enough to keep the Clippers from winning.

While the offense has been shaky, Butler has provided adequate wing defense on the other side. He may not be the best fit with this current bunch, but his veteran leadership is something that could come in handy as the year progresses.

Chauncey Billups (SG): Grade: C

Billups was amnestied by the Knicks before the season started, and warned teams not to claim him by threatening retirement if claimed.

However, the Clippers threw caution to the wind anyway, and put in their claim at just over $2 million. Once Chris Paul was acquired just a day later, Billups agreed to join the Clippers.

The 35-year-old is shooting just under 35 percent from the field so far, but his three-point percentage is up around 38 percent, which is more than substantial. He’s been particularly good in each of the last two Clippers victories sans CP3, having scored a total of 41 points on 50 percent shooting from beyond-the-arc.

He’s undersized as a two guard, which can provide matchup issues for the Clippers defensively. He’s still quite a capable defender, but bigger guards like Kobe Bryant and Manu Ginobili could give him some problems.

As Billups continues to get used to the new offensive system, I’d expect that shooting percentage to steadily rise.

Chris Paul (PG): Grade – A

Paul has missed the last three games after suffering a hamstring injury in last Saturday’s win over the Lakers, but, when he’s played, he’s been as advertised.

He carried them offensively in last week’s back-to-back victories over the Heat and Lakers, scoring a total of 60 points with 17 assists, six steals and, best of all, just two turnovers.

As has always been the case with Paul, he’s been solely a distributor at the beginning of games, but slowly finds his rhythm and can be lethal down-the-stretch.

He’s averaging about 18 points and eight assists, and that’s after having essentially zero training camp to adjust to his teammates and learn the ways of the team.

Bench

Mo Williams (G): Grade – B+

Williams reportedly wasn’t too pleased when Los Angeles went out and picked up two players that play his position (Paul and Billups), but it didn’t take him long to grasp the role as the sixth man and leader of the second unit.

He’s still playing about 27 minutes per game, and is averaging just over 12 points on tremendous 51 percent shooting.

Williams is a perfect complement and backup to Billups and Paul, and can thrive and succeed playing both guard spots.

Randy Foye (G): Grade – D+

Yep. Another small-ish guard that can play either position. Foye has seen his minutes rise with the recent injuries to Paul and Williams, but his production hasn’t necessarily followed.

He played 41 minutes on MLK day against the Nets and inexplicably shot 17 times, making just six. Foye’s role on this team when at full-strength is still largely undefined, and may be in danger of losing his playing time completely once Eric Bledsoe returns from injury in a couple of weeks.

Brian Cook (F/C): Grade: D

Brian Cook do what Brian Cook do.

He’s a massive body at 6’9″, 250, but his lack of athleticism hurts him defensively. He’s been a very good three-point shooter throughout his career (39 percent), but hasn’t found the touch so far in 2012, having made just four of his 19 attempts from distance.

With Reggie Evans now healthy, Cookie may not see the court too often.

Ryan Gomes (F): Grade: B-

The Clippers tried Ryan Gomes as their starting three last season, where he struggled to find his niche. Throughout his career, he’s been better suited as a reserve power forward.

That’s where he’s playing this season, and, even though his minutes are down, he seems more comfortable in the role.

Gomes is yet another Clipper that has struggled shooting from three-point range so far (18 percent), but he’s done the job defensively when called upon.

Reggie Evans (F): Grade – B+

Evans has a reputation for being a tenacious rebounder and solid post defender, and he hasn’t disappointed.

He’s played in just seven games so far after coming back from injury, but is still averaging seven rebounds a game in just over 17 minutes. He’s almost non-existent on offense, but that’s not what he’s here for.

Overall: B

The fact that the Clippers are 8-4 after 12 games after undergoing such massive roster overhaul in such a short period of time is thrilling. Vinny del Negro has done an admirable job putting the pieces together and helping the train down the track.

There’s obviously still much work to be done, though, and it only gets tougher from here. The Clippers do have some very impressive wins already (Heat, Lakers, Mavericks), but they’ve benefited greatly from a home-heavy schedule. They’ve played eight games at home (7-1) and four on the road (1-3).

With a lengthy six-game road swing coming up at the beginning of February, we’ll check in afterward and see what we can make of the little Clippers then.

It’s been a rough trip to Los Angeles for the defending champion Dallas Mavericks.

For the second time in three days, Dallas was beaten on a last-second three-pointer from an opposing aging point guard.

After Derek Fisher’s heroics saved the Lakers on Monday, Wednesday, it was Chauncey Billups’ turn.

A Jason Terry three-pointer with five seconds remaining put L.A. in a one-point hole before Billups, on the ensuing possession, drilled a 25-footer of his own with one second left on the clock.He scored 21 points, including 5-11 from three-point range.

Point guard Chris Paul missed his third consecutive game as he continues to nurse a strained left hamstring. Randy Foye once again started in his place, and contributed five points, six assists and four steals in 29 minutes.

The real hero on the night for L.A. was Mo Williams, playing in his first game since last Wednesday’s win over the Heat after injuring his foot. He made his first seven shots off-the-bench, and finished with a game-high 26 points on 11-15 shooting.

The teams’ respective “star” players, Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin, were held in check offensively, shooting a combined 12-33 from the floor. Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 17 points, Griffin finished with 14.

Dallas clearly misses Tyson Chandler in the middle, who signed with the New York Knicks during the offseason after helping the Mavs to their first ever championship last season. DeAndre Jordan took full advantage, scoring a season-high 19 points to go along with nine boards.

Caron Butler, playing for the first time against his former team, struggled tremendously, shooting just 1-12 from the floor and scoring two points in 36 minutes.

This was the first win for the Clippers over the Mavericks in the last 10 games, and they had also lost 16 of the last 17 meetings between the teams.

The Clips finished the first back-to-back-to-back of the season 2-1, with wins over the Nets and Mavericks with a blowout loss to Utah sandwiched in between.

The defending champs have already endured a fair amount of heartbreak this season, losing for the third time on a last-second three-pointer. OKC’s Kevin Durant dealt the first blow with a fade-away, buzzer-beating triple back on December 29.

From here, Dallas (8-7) will travel to Salt Lake City to take on the Jazz Thursday night.

The Clippers will host another young, upstart team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Friday evening at Staples Center.

No Chris Paul? No problem.

With their newly-acquired star point guard sidelined with a left hamstring injury, the L.A. Clippers improved to 7-3 on the young season behind 20 points from Chauncey Billups by downing the New Jersey Nets at Staples Center 101-91 Monday afternoon.

Billups started in Paul’s place, and scored nine of his 20 in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter to put the game on ice.

Second year All-Star Blake Griffin chipped-in with 23 points and 14 rebounds, notching his fifth consecutive double-double, and already his seventh of the season. Randy Foye started for the second time this season and scored 10 points in 41 minutes. The Clippers were searching for some additional depth in the backcourt, as Mo Williams also missed the game with a sore right foot. The club signed tiny Courtney Fortson earlier in the day, who played nine minutes and did not score.

Reserve forward  Brian Cook also sat out for the Clippers with a sprained ankle.

Griffin’s free throw shooting continues to be a concern, as he made just 5-of-13 from the stripe, and is shooting just 56 percent for the season.

New Jersey (3-11) showed some fight, surging from 18 points down to tie it at 81 midway through the fourth. Billups took over from there, all-but clinching the W for the Clips with a three-pointer with just over a minute remaining.

Former Providence star MarShon Brooks, a rookie, led the Nets with 19 points. He’s now averaging nearly 15 points per game this season. The Nets looked sluggish for most of the game, coming off of a 107-94 loss last night against the Utah Jazz.

Los Angeles has now won three-straight games, and improved to 6-1 at home. They’ve also won six of their last seven games, and will host the defending world champion Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night.

Paul is hopeful to be back in the lineup.

From here, the Nets will travel home to take on the Golden State Warriors Wednesday.

As of Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles Clippers sit at 3-2, and are the only team in the Pacific Division with a winning record. With all the roster turnover the team has undergone in such a short period, they should be feeling pretty good about things.

However, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. One would expect things to get better as the season continues and players start to figure out how to play and succeed alongside one another, but there is one glaring need that needn’t be overlooked.

The Clippers have a massive logjam at the guard positions, and a relative dearth of size off-the-bench.

Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, Randy Foye, Mo Williams and the injured Eric Bledsoe are all capable of playing both guard spots, and are also players that should be playing fairly large roles. Unfortunately, there are only so many minutes to allot in a given game, and with Paul being a superstar, the other four are left to pick up the scraps and divide them amongst each other.

With Reggie Evans recovering from injury, the two “big men” that play major minutes off-the-bench are Brian Cook and Ryan Gomes. Sure, Brian Cook is a wide-bodied 6’10″, but he doesn’t use that size to his advantage on either side of the floor. He’s shooting a miserable 5-20 so far on the season, with 11 of those shots coming from three-point range. He tends to hit them at a decent clip, but not well enough to warrant him playing big minutes. Cook is not at all athletic, which hinders his defensive presence in a major way, of course.

Gomes was brought in prior to last season to be the Clippers’ starting small forward, where he struggled mightily. He’s a bit undersized at 6’7″, but his skill set makes him a more viable backup power forward, where he’s played this season. As the backup to Blake Griffin, he’s playing just over 17 minutes per game, and, again, is too small to really have much impact on the game defensively when he’s in there. Journeyman Solomon Jones was signed earlier in the week, but isn’t expected to have much of a role.

The team was rumored to have interest in former Jazz big man Kyrylo Fesenko, who could potentially step in and eat up the minutes at center behind DeAndre Jordan. He’s been buried on the bench in Utah for his entire career, but has shown flashes of upside when he actually has seen the floor. He would seem to be an ideal fit with the Clippers, but seems to be drawing more interest from the Dallas Mavericks.

Veteran Joel Przybilla would also seem to be a nice fit. He’s likely in the latter stages of his career at 32, and has had recent injury troubles, but would clearly be able to help the team as a force in the defensive paint in limited minutes.

If neither of those two winds up in Los Angeles, the Clippers will likely have to dip into their depth at guard to try and swing a trade for their big man.

The Houston Rockets would almost certainly be open to dumping former lottery bust Hasheem Thabeet, but he’s never shown any ability to play at an NBA level, so it would seem doubtful that he could crack the Clippers’ rotation and do anything of note.

Minnesota youngster Nikola Pekovic could be an interesting prospect. He’s massive at 6’11″, 290 pounds, and was a solid contributor to the Timberwolves’ frontcourt in his first NBA season last year. New head coach Rick Adelman doesn’t seem to be too keen on Pekovic, as we’re still waiting for Nikola to step on the court for the first time this season. It’s a nice thought until you realize that David Kahn’s Timberwolves have an overcrowded backcourt of their own.

A trade partner that would appear to be a natural fit for the Clips is the Utah Jazz. They have a few intriguing young guards, but none of them have really stepped up and made enough of an impact of yet. They also have a bevy of frontcourt players, with Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter all fighting for minutes at two positions.

With Jefferson on the books for $29 million over the next two seasons, he’s not the answer. You’re not paying a backup that kind of money, and Jefferson is an extremely poor defender.

Favors was the big blue chip the Jazz picked up in the Deron Williams trade, so they’re surely not planning on giving up on him. Kanter has struggled offensively early, but he was still taken No. 3 overall in the most recent draft.

So, that leaves Paul Millsap.

He’s on an extremely favorable deal (about $14 million) for the next two years, and has been vocal about his displeasure with regards to playing time. He’s a tenacious rebounder, and has developed his offensive game tremendously since coming into the league five years ago. He’s also still only 26.

What would Utah want in return? Eric Bledsoe is the clear centerpiece. The Hornets wanted him in the CP3 trade, and he showed flashes of brilliance while filling in for the injured Baron Davis midway through last season. He’s an explosive athlete, and showed in college that he can be a very capable long-range shooter.

Devin Harris is clearly not the long-term answer at point guard for Utah, and neither is anybody else currently on the roster. Perhaps a deal centered around Bledsoe and a future first-round pick (with salary filler) would be enough to get a deal done.

The return of the aforementioned Reggie Evans will help matters, but you can never have enough size in the NBA. Keep an eye on this situation for the Clippers.

Chris Paul scored 17 points (including a crucial lay-in with nine seconds remaining to put L.A. up by four) and dished out another seven assists as the Los Angeles Clippers improved to 2-2 on the young season with a 93-88 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Clippers maintained a healthy lead throughout the majority of the game (including a 16-point advantage midway through the third quarter), but were unable to completely shake the feisty Blazers until the final buzzer sounded. The loss dropped Portland to 3-1.

L.A. showed more fight on the defensive end of the floor than they had in either of the previous two games (both losses) in forcing Portland to shoot just over 42 percent from the field.

Jamal Crawford led the Blazers with 23 points off-the-bench, but, in typical Jamal Crawford fashion, took 16 shots to get there. The Clippers’ wing defenders did a fantastic job on Portland’s second-leading scorer, Gerald Wallace, holding him scoreless on 0-5 shooting in nearly 30 offensively-inept minutes.

Blake Griffin led the Clips with 20 points, and Caron Butler added 19. Griffin also grabbed 10 rebounds and recorded his second-consecutive double-double. Chauncey Billups missed his second straight game nursing a sore right groin.

In the end, though, it was Paul’s steady play d0wn-the-stretch that proved to be the difference. In addition to the aforementioned game-clinching layup, he also won a jump ball against Crawford in the waning seconds to officially put the game on ice.

From here, the Trail Blazers will travel to Oklahoma City to take on the undefeated Thunder on Tuesday, while the Clippers will have a few days off before hosting the Houston Rockets Wednesday night at Staples Center.

Ah, the time has finally come.

Almost two full months late, the NBA is set to get underway today, with five delicious games to help distract you from the A Christmas Story marathon.

Things get kicked off with the Celtics and Knicks at noon, followed by the world champion Dallas Mavericks hosting the Heat at 2:30.

At 5, the new-look Lakers will host MVP Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls, while at 7:30 the Magic take on the Thunder.

And, in the nightcap, the L.A. Clippers travel north to face the Golden State Warriors.

The Clippers, of course, have been the talk of the NBA’s abbreviated offseason after pulling off a blockbuster trade that landed Chris Paul a few weeks back. L.A. won both of their preseason tilts with their in-house rivals, the Lakers, in rather spectacular, dunk-a-riffic fashion.

They haven’t reached the playoffs since the 2005-06 season, and are obviously hoping that the addition of CP3 will change the fortunes of the franchise. They also added a pair of former All-Stars in Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups to the starting lineup.

The Warriors have struggled through a similarly futile recent history, having reached the playoffs just one time (2006-07) in the last 17 seasons. This campaign may be headed for a rough start, as well, as they may be without star guard Stephen Curry, who sprained his ankle in the final preseason game against Sacramento last week. He’s officially listed as day-to-day.

The Pacific Division rivals split their four meetings last season, but Golden State has won the last three at home against the Clippers.

Tip-off is scheduled for 10:30pm ET.

Following a whirlwind mini-offseason during which we may have seen a shift in the face of Los Angeles basketball, it’s finallyBefo time to start playing for real.

For the second time in three nights, the Clippers toppled the Lakers in preseason action before a raucous crowd at Staples Center, this time by the score of 108-103.

Blake Griffin led all scorers with 30 points, while also adding seven assists and six rebounds.

It was a back-and-forth game throughout the majority of the second half, before Griffin took over.

He scored on four consecutive possessions late in the fourth quarter, dominating Lakers newcomer Troy Murphy in the process, to effectively put the game away for the Clippers.

Caron Butler and Mo Williams chipped in with 16 points apiece, while Chris Paul scored seven points along with 10 assists (and zero turnovers) in his second game with L.A.

The Lakers, led by Andrew Bynum’s 26 points and 11 boards, looked much more cohesive in their second game under new head coach Mike Brown, but still came up short in the end. Kobe Bryant missed the game after tearing a ligament in his right wrist during Monday’s contest. He’s listed as day-to-day.

Metta World Peace continued to give world peace a bad name Wednesday evening, scoring 10 points on just 4-13 shooting. He went scoreless on 0-8 shooting in the blowout loss on Monday.

The Lakers will host the Chicago Bulls to open the season on Christmas Day, while the Clippers will travel to Oakland to take on the Warriors that evening.

The first regular season matchup between the Staples Center’s co-tenants will take place on January 14.

So, after a seemingly endless stream of posturing, negotiating, vetoed trades and general BS, Chris Paul is finally on the move. And he’s coming to the Los Angeles Clippers. I know, it may take months for that sentence to actually sink in.

The deal, as reported by approximately 1,025,520 sources, brings Paul (and a pair of future second-round picks) to L.A. The Clips, in return, will send Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and a 2012 first-round pick to the Hornets.

What does this mean for the Hornets? They’re getting a good group of young players that gives the franchise a foundation for potential success in the future. In defense of David Stern, this is a better trade for New Orleans than the reported Odom/Martin/Scola package that was rejected last week. With a star player in Gordon, and (possibly) two lottery picks in next year’s loaded draft, the Hornets could be poised for a return to relevance faster than many expect. Good for them. However, we’re not here to talk Hornets, so enough about them.

This is the most important day in the history of the Los Angeles Clippers. Obviously, drafting Blake Griffin is up there, as well, but acquiring a once-in-a-lifetime talent like CP3 gives the Clippers something they’ve never had before: relevance.

Sure, they gave up quite a bit, as detailed above. For all we know, Gordon could be the next Michael Jordan, while Chris Paul may be headed down the road of Brandon Roy (unlikely, but still, you never know). Obviously, there is always risk involved when you’re making trades.

Now, the Clippers have two of the very best players in the league. Chris Paul (reportedly) actually said that he wanted to be a Clipper. Read that again. And again. And again. Make sense? No? Read it again. Chris Paul. Wanted. To be a Clipper. Yep, I know, still makes no sense. And he’s going to opt-in to his contract for next season. So, the Clips have two seasons to convince him to sign for the long-term.

In doing this trade, the Clippers are suddenly a desirable destination. If the prospect of playing with Blake Griffin wasn’t enough for a prospective free agent, now you’re pairing that guy with one of the best, most selfless players in the history of the league. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

Last season, the dunking antics of Griffin and DeAndre Jordan helped make the Clippers one of the more SportsCenter-friendly teams in the league. People would actually willingly pay to go see them on the road. Before 2010, was there ever a person in the history of Earth that said, “Oh, the Clippers are in town? Let’s go!”

(HINT: No.)

Griffin and Jordan were enjoying their co-dunkfest last year with shoot-first point guards in Baron Davis and Mo Williams. Replace them with a distributor of Paul’s caliber, and…boy howdy!

The crowded backcourt may be an issue. L.A. suddenly has five guys capable of playing point guard: Paul, Williams, Eric Bledsoe, Randy Foye and Chauncey Billups. Fortunately, Williams, Billups and Foye can also play shooting guard, with Billups likely the starter (assuming no other roster moves are made). The Clippers were reluctant to include Bledsoe in the deal, but with so many other bodies, it may actually be tough to find meaningful minutes for him.

But, in the end, does it really matter? The Clippers just acquired Chris Paul. Feel better? Me too.

Does this deal mean the Clippers are now challenging the mighty Lakers for the collective heart of Los Angeles?

Of course not. The Lakers have won about 25 percent of the championships in the history of the NBA. The Clippers have won exactly zero percent. So, aside from some some extra-ambitious frontrunners, the Lakers are still L.A.’s team, and likely will be forever.

This is a big day for the Clippers and their true fans. Hopefully, for those fans, this trade ultimately amounts to true justification for suffering through nearly 30 years of futility.

Sure, L.A. is a massive market. Conventional wisdom suggests that it’s a no-brainer for a player of Paul’s caliber to want to play under the bright lights of the big city. However, the Clippers are different. The franchise has been in this town since 1984, yet hasn’t even won a division title, let alone a conference or world title. It’s a franchise that has been the butt of every joke as far as anybody can remember.

Today, everything changed.

The bandwagoners and frontrunners will flood Staples Center this year, without a doubt, and that’s fine.

Still, I’ll always know that I liked the Clippers before it was cool.

Today, I’m proud to be a Clipster.