The L.A. Clippers made a franchise changing move this offseason when they had to trade away one of the best players the franchise has ever seen in Chris Paul. Following five seasons as an All-Star (would've been six had it not been for an injury last season), L.A. was forced to accept the fact that Paul wanted to move on from Los Angeles, and recovered quickly by engaging in a huge trade with the Houston Rockets that brought back tremendous assets.

Clippers' owner Steve Ballmer, who is one of the most, is not the most, involved and energetic owners in the league, came together with Clippers President of Basketball Operations and head coach Doc Rivers as well as the rest of the organization in recovering to give the Clippers a different and interesting feel about the team. In an interview with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Ballmer opened up about the trade with Paul and how he felt about losing one of the best point guards in the league.

“I've put in and the organization has put in enormous energy on that topic,” said Ballmer. “When somebody chooses to leave, you have to ask yourself what could we have done better. Now, there are situational things. We've been together a long time and haven't had the success in the playoffs that all of us, including Chris, might've wanted, but it's still our job to get best talent in the world to play for the L.A. Clippers.”

In exchange for Paul, the Clippers got back a major package consisting of Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Lou Williams, and Montrezl Harrell, while also going out and grabbing Danilo Gallinari in a sign-and-trade with the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks.

“For us, it made more sense to say, ‘Okay, let's accept that this is where we are, what Chris wants to go do, it's gonna happen one way or the other,'” added Ballmer. “And if you say what did we get out of that trade, it's really quite remarkable. Montrezl Harrell, Lou Williams is outstanding, Sam Dekker, we think, has all the potential in the world. Pat Beverley, man, that guy has got a certain kind of energy that I really like, and Danilo Gallinari. Gallo really came out of that trade, so if you take a look and say we got those 5 players in return for a guy who was probably gonna leave anyways… ‘Punchdown!' is what I would say.”

One of the main goals for the Clippers this offseason was to find long, two-way wing players, and after years of being undersized and without much solid depth at the shooting guard and small forward positions, the Clippers got a number of players that will give L.A. a completely new look. No one knows what the ceiling for this team is yet, as All-Star Blake Griffin, who just re-signed on a five-year, $173 million deal, still has to come back from toe surgery and the team has yet to practice together, but the 2017-18 season will make for an interesting one.