Last night, the New Orleans Hornets traded star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers for a package of three players and a first-round draft pick. After a week of uncertainty in which the NBA’s front office made a bizarre series of decisions regarding the Hornets (which the league owns), Paul finally looks to be on his way to L.A.

To recap: Last week, the Los Angeles Lakers announced they’d secured Paul in a three-team trade with Houston and New Orleans that, by all accounts, seemed fair, and was negotiated by New Orleans’s supposed general manager Dell Demps. Hours later, the NBA announced that their front office had killed that deal, for reasons unknown. Over the weekend, the Lakers announced they’d submitted to the league another potential deal for Paul involving Houston and New Orleans, and received word that their second attempt was rejected as well. Frustrated, the Lakers announced they were done trying to make moves with the NBA and wouldn’t be pursuing Paul any more.

It was whispered that other NBA owners, who are officially co-owners of the Hornets, killed the deal for fear of the kind of team that the Lakers would have. Some suspected that, with the NBA looking for a buyer for the Hornets, they didn’t want to deal Paul for fear that the team wouldn’t be attractive enough.

Today, it looks as though Paul is on his way to the other Los Angeles team, the Clippers. Despite the mass criticism of the league’s actions over the past week, New Orleans is getting a better deal than they would have with the Lakers. Coming to the Hornets is Eric Gordon, a soft-spoken budding star who could become an All-Star, as well as other useful pieces and a high draft pick. The Hornets are in a better long-term position than they were before.

And if the league’s other owners were concerned about an L.A. dynasty, they should now be downright terrified of the Clippers. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are going to be the best inside-out combo in the NBA for years to come — if they stay healthy (an important caveat in this case). DeAndre Jordan is a young defensive stalwart who has little semblance of an offensive game other than alley-oops — but Chris Paul is the best alley-oop passer of his generation. Chauncey Billups is a veteran field general who will be the perfect point guard off the bench to spell Paul’s knees. Eric Bledsoe will be a solid wing player for them. The Clippers are arguably better positioned than the Lakers would have been for the next five or six years with this roster.

So at the end of the day, the NBA created a powerhouse in L.A. with a Chris Paul trade and got a decent deal in the process. It’s just a surprise that he ends up with the other L.A. team.