Chris Paul Traded to Clippers: Fantasy Impact

Categorized as: Author: Erik, LA Clippers, New Orleans Hornets, Trades
Posted on: December 14th, 2011

It’s done. The drama is over. We can be pretty sure that the NBA head honchos are not egg-headed enough to veto TWO Chris Paul trades in the same month, right? It’s a safe assumption that this deal is good. ESPN’s Marc Stein reported via Twitter that the Chris Paul is finally getting traded to the La Clippers.

The Hornets (the NBA) found the right tweak they wanted to finally seal the deal. In the end, they still get Eric Gordon (who the Clippers initially did not want to part with) along with Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, and Minnesota’s unprotected 2012 first-round draft pick. The Clippers were only able to salvage Eric Bledsoe among the trade assets they wanted to preserve (whoopty-do!).

Chris Paul will be opting-in the last year of his contract, effectively giving the LA Clippers, and the rest of the NBA’s fans two years of Paul-Griffin, alley-oop hoopgasms! Yup, I’m as excited and speechless as this guy.

Let’s get right to the nitty-gritty  bits of this deal and how it affects fantasy basketball.

Winners

“A happy and healthy all-star is a productive all-star” Chris Paul’s Top 3 value remains unshaken by these developments and in fact should quash any doubts that he’ll remain this season’s number point guard in fantasy.

Chris Paul’s departure immediately moves Jarrett Jack into the Hornets’ starting lineup and should receive starters minutes unless they somehow trade for a better point guard. Until that time, Jack should be considered as a viable draft pick and pick-up (if you’ve already drafted) in all leagues.

Blake Griffin now has the benefit of playing alongside a top tier PG. This only serves to catapult his already high FG% into the upper stratosphere. He could be taking a leak in the locker room and still finish a fast-break slam thanks to a Chris-Paul-assist. Fine, maybe not, but that would blow-up Youtube wouldn’t it?

Chris Kaman’s departure means DeAndre Jordan will get a ton of minutes at center for the Clippers. While Paul’s presence won’t improve his atrocious free-throw-shooting, we should see improvement in his points, blocks and rebounding this year. He should steadily rise in the rankings. He’s now an official middle-round draft option if you’re looking for a center.

For now Eric Gordon will be the focal point of the New Orleans offense. Everything flows through him and will end with him finishing the play. He was who the NBA wanted to land in the lap of the Hornets franchise and for good reason. He’s an elite guard and should be expected to bring all-star-caliber performances night in and night out for the Hornets. Assuming he can stay healthy, Gordon has a chance to finish the season as a Top 12 player. Grabbing him in the early stages of the second round of your draft looks like a good move right now.

I bet you didn’t expect Chris Kaman in this end of the spectrum, did you? While his potential timeshare with Jordan is now a thing of the past, you would expect to cringe knowing that he will be sharing the paint with Emeka Okafor now that he’s going to be a Hornet. The thing is, there’s no Blake Griffin in New Orleans. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Kaman spend some time at four. His situation is not ideal, but because the Hornets will likely need his scoring ability he doesn’t drop too far down the rankings. As it has been the case in previous seasons, Kaman’s issue will be more about his ability to stay healthy than anything else.

Losers

No one’s fantasy value takes a bigger hit than that of Chauncey Billups. The Clippers snagged him off the waivers only to have him come off the bench behind Paul in the foreseeable future – kind of the opposite Mr. Big Shot had in mind for his future. However, with Gordon gone, it will be remotely possible to see Billups play a bit of the two along with Paul, but those situations may be few and far between. This situation sees Billups’ value plummet to that of a late-round pick. Value him the same way you would a guy if you were eying him to be your third-string PG.

Mo Williams falls farther down the pecking order, but unlike Billups he’s likely going to be moved by the Clips. Stay away from him for now, but be sure to keep him in your watch lists.

Marco Belinelli was initially happy to remain loyal to the Hornets. Now, probably not as much. Expectations of him improving into a stream-able three-point shot contributor can now be flushed down the drain. Gordon’s not going to be playing less than 34-35 minutes at SG. Stay away from Belinelli even in deep leagues.

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• Day 102 of 124: the Return of Eric Gordon (18)
• Fantasy Basketball Injury Update – 3/31/12 (5)
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Tags: Blake Griffin, Chauncey Billups, Chris Kaman, Chris Paul, eric gordon