Paul Preferred Trade To Clippers Over Lakers

Chris Paul preferred a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Paul was initially dealt to the Lakers in a three-way deal involving five players, but the trade was vetoed by David Stern.

"They were talking about the possibility of where I might be traded to," Paul said. "I really hoped and wanted to come here and try to build something and do things that have never been done here."

Paul compared the situation to his college choice, when he committed to Wake Forest over more storied programs such as Duke and North Carolina.

"Wake Forest beat Duke after a big game, and I was a junior or senior in high school," Paul said. "And Skip Prosser came up to me and said, 'See, we're trying to build something.' We wanted Wake to be like the Dukes and North Carolinas. Obviously we have a long way to go but that had a lot to do with why I went to Wake."