The Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday morning made the surprising trade of All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets.

It has immediately brought up questions as to what transpired over the last several days for things to quickly go this route. According to Chris Broussard of Fox Sports, recently added special consultant Jerry West was not in the personal meeting between the Clippers and Paul on Tuesday afternoon.

This is quite an interesting decision to leave West out of the mix as he was brought in to help with major decisions such as this. For him to not even be present in the room is a bit of a head scratcher given his reputation as being a convincing voice in the front office.

However, what has to be taken into consideration is that Paul may have very well had his mind made up that he wanted to leave the Clippers and was looking to see what he could do to help the organization on the way out.

The loss of Paul may have set the franchise back, but it doesn't leave them empty-handed as they acquired proven veteran help in the backcourt in Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams along with some young talent in forward Sam Dekker and a 2018 first-round pick.

With the Clippers taking on a whole new sense of direction this offseason, it has to be believed that West will play a big part in shaping what may come about the rest of the summer.