Chris Paul Is A Clipper; Jamal Crawford Is Going To Sacramento Or Portland

Okay, so let’s recap. First, Chris Paul was going to be a Laker, to team up with Kobe and start a domino effect that would eventually land Dwight Howard in Hollywood and reconfigure the world. Then Dan Gilbert donned his five-year-old cap again, David Stern took the advice of Stu Jackson – only the worst basketball GM ever – to cancel the deal, and it was voided. Then the Clippers came swooping in with the best offer you could possibly hope for to get a 26-year-old point guard who already has knee issues. But the deal never went through because Stern negotiated like we were all still stuck in the hotel meeting room on the eighth floor of a Manhattan building during the lockout. Then he started freaking out, realizing when the Clippers pulled out: “Oh my God. Chris Paul is going to have to stay in New Orleans and it’s going to be an absolute PR disaster. And it’s all my fault.” So he smartened up, re-engaged the Clippers, even got the Lakers back involved to give himself some leverage and… got exactly what he wanted for Chris Paul. Huh? Yes, Chris Paul is going to Los Angeles to team with Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Caron Butler, Chauncey Billups (Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted CP met with the team’s brass over dinner to discuss his future) and Donald Sterling (besides that last dude, that’s an AWESOME nucleus), but how did Stern finally pull this off? Los Angeles gets the best point guard in the biz, and two second rounders, but sends out Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota’s unprotected 2012 first-round pick. That’s a hefty price, and wasn’t the hold up all along because they didn’t want to get rid of Gordon? At least now the Hornets may have enough players to actually run a complete scrimmage in practice, and if those picks work out, they have a future. Gordon is going to drop buckets this year and while they won’t win much, this summer’s draft has big potential for them. As for the Clippers, Paul should turn them into a playoff team. You can argue after Dallas, Oklahoma City, Memphis, maybe the Spurs and maybe the Lakers, the Clippers are now better than everyone else. Is there an all time alley-oop record? CP is about to DEMOLISH it if there is one … Can the Clippers trade their coach now too? … How will all of this affect your fantasy team? We have the scoop … And because of this deal, should Eric Gordon climb any higher on our top 10 shooting guards list? … The Orlando Magic have now ended trade talks regarding Dwight Howard, according to Yahoo! Sports. After turning down New Jersey’s latest offer of Brook Lopez and five first-round picks – with four picks going to Portland to entice a Gerald Wallace trade to Orlando – the Magic clearly have no intentions of trading Superman. Lopez, Wallace, Jordan Farmar, a first-round pick and some financial relief? Ehh. None of those players are All-Stars now or any time in the future. Farmar is a backup on a good team, and Lopez is just plain overrated. Howard is still on the fence about what he wants to do. There are conflicting reports out there, but Yahoo! Sports is writing that Howard’s “not a happy camper.” Orlando isn’t ready to give up hope yet, and wants to hold on to Dwight to see if they can win him over. In other words, the Magic intend on starting the season with Howard at center, then doing the good ol’ “Screw it, let’s just wing it and see what happens” move to somehow convince him to stay. The last time they did that they ended up with the cardboard cut-out of Gilbert Arenas and a heavier version of the Hedo Turkoglu who once played for them … The Lakers were privately fuming yesterday about hearing first that Howard is off the table for now, and then losing CP later in the night. Their first order of business better be to talk to Pau Gasol. He still sounds depressed, telling Kevin Ding, “The only thing that will make me feel better is when management approaches me and tells me that they want me to be here and that I can just focus on playing baksetball and helping the team out, not worrying about anything else.” … Miami’s new all-black uniforms are complete trash by the way … Keep reading to hear if Jamal Crawford wants to go to the Knicks …

Sorry Knicks fans, but Jamal Crawford has ruled you guys out as a potential landing spot in a process that is taking way too long because outside of LaMarcus Aldridge, nobody really cares that much. According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, as we reported yesterday, it’s down to Portland and Sacramento. The Blazers tried to free up more space by dealing Gerald Wallace, but couldn’t do it. Apparently, Crawford is really torn between the two, and between winning and money. For our sake, we hope Crossover ends up in Sacramento. Imagine a lineup of Crawford, Jimmer, Tyreke, DeMarcus Cousins and whoever else? Would the ball even make it past mid-court before someone shoots it? … Speaking of the Knicks, we spent a day doing photography with the new New Yorker Tyson Chandler … According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, former Golden State Warrior Reggie Williams has signed a two-year deal with the Charlotte Bobcats worth $5 million. Williams had his qualifying offer rescinded by the Warriors last week (ouch). Even with Williams, who could put up some nice fantasy numbers for MJ, look for Charlotte to become serious contenders along with Toronto and Cleveland and Detroit for the worst team in the league … Baron Davis and his backside have both officially been cut loose via the amnesty clause by the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Twitter. Davis is expected to sign with New York if he gets past amnesty waivers. The problem is he has some serious back problems that could keep him out for around 10 weeks, so it comes down to whether a team wants to pick him up and then wait while he rehabs. Heads up treadmills … The rookies have made their way into NBA 2K12. 2K Sports announced they released a patch with all of the new rookies, as well as Metta World Peace. We also have a list of all their jersey numbers … In college ball, Ohio State beat USC Upstate by 24 behind Deshaun Thomas (23 points) while Baylor won by 27 … And Nate McMillan believes Tupac and Biggie get his team motivated to practice … We’re out like CP trade rumors.