[UPDATE] Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweeted that a source told him Eric Gordon was not in the deal.
We never knew Eric Bledsoe was so important. The Clippers and Hornets worked furiously through the night to try to get a deal done for Chris Paul, and while they were successful in agreeing upon a trade, they are still waiting for approval from the league. As ESPN reports, there is one small thing that could be problematic. The league asked for Bledsoe to be included. ESPN says the Clippers wouldn’t give him up (while the Los Angeles Times says he was eventually included in the deal). If we are taking anything away from the league’s actions in these last few days, I think we can safely predict Bledsoe will eventually be thrown in to complete the trade.
As for the rest of the trade, the Clippers would be giving up Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and Al-Farouq Aminu along with Minnesota’s first-round draft pick in 2012. In terms of talent right now, I’d have a hard time accepting any argument that New Orleans is getting as much as they did in the original trade last Thursday when they would’ve ended up with three (and possibly four) very good NBA players. But in this one, they’re ending up with a player (Gordon) who’s better than anyone they would’ve received in the first deal. That, along with a pick that has a very good chance of ending up anywhere in the top five in June, makes all the difference (although the Clippers can add protection to the pick).
As for the salaries, Kaman has an expiring deal for nearly $13 million while the other players (Bledsoe included) are all still on their rookie deals. Originally, New Orleans would’ve been agreeing to pick up $74 million in salary to Lamar Odom (last year unguaranteed), Luis Scola (last year unguaranteed), Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic. Big difference there as well.
CP is rumored to have agreed to pick up the option of his contract for next season as part of this deal, meaning at worst he would be a Clipper through 2012-13.
Is this a better deal than the original agreed upon trade?
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