NBA History: 5 Trades that changed the NBA forever

#4 The New Orleans Hornets trade Chris Paul to Los Angeles

Paul joined the Clippers after another initial deal

This trade changed the NBA but not for the seasons; some of the others did. This trade happened after former NBA commissioner David Stern voided another deal. So, this deal is unique because it finally happened after a previous one was stopped.

In 2011, the Los Angeles Clippers acquired Chris Paul. They gave up Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, and a first-round pick to get Paul. This deal happened after Paul was set to go elsewhere. In fact, he was set to go to the Clippers' Staples Center rival. He was on the verge of going to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Initially, the New Orleans Hornets agreed to a three-team deal that sent CP3 to the Lakers. The teams came to terms on the deal, but the NBA blocked the deal.

At that time, the NBA owned the Hornets rather than the organization having an owner (such as Mark Cuban with the Mavericks). The NBA's commissioner vetoed the deal, as he thought it would be in the Hornets' best interest to keep him. The league eventually let another deal happen, but it had to meet their demands. So, Paul ended up on the Clippers rather than the Lakers.

After the trade, CP3 went on to play for the Clippers for six seasons. He was a part of their core that consisted of players such as Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. The team known as Lob City went on to become a consistent playoff team. But, that version of the Clippers came to an end as Griffin, Paul, and Jordan went elsewhere. Paul joined the Rockets in 2017-18 and stayed with them for two seasons. He was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this summer.

Paul's trade to the Clippers was an interesting situation. The deal happened only after the Lakers deal was blocked. While this trade changed the NBA in a different way than others, it still caused a "what if" situation and impacted the league.