The Los Angeles Clippers took over headlines on Wednesday morning with the massive trade of point guard Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets, who joins forces alongside fellow All-Star guard James Harden.

However, the Clippers have also put forth several other side moves. Brian Windhorst of ESPN is reporting that the team and Paul Pierce have agreed to extend his contract in order to better help the organization before he officially retires:

Paul Pierce and the Clippers have agreed to extend the deadline on his contract to enable him to be traded before he retires, sources say. About $1M of Pierce's $3.6M is guaranteed but he could be traded or aggregated into a larger deal. Gives Clippers another asset if they need to use it.

This is a transaction that could help the Clippers make additional moves following the Paul trade in order to bring in more talent. Pierce is not changing his mind on retirement, but his deal could be used in a trade to help balance the financial situation for the Clips.

All of this could foreseeably help their push to convince All-Star forward Blake Griffin to re-sign with Los Angeles in a couple days when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The team has the ability sign him to a max contract of five years worth $175 million, which would immediately make him the face of the franchise.

The Clippers have many major decisions to make ahead this offseason, and this move involving Pierce gives them more leeway in restructuring the franchise in Paul's absence.