NBA News: How the Chris Paul trade impacts season-win projections

SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh sees the Houston Rockets as the big winner in the Chris Paul blockbuster deal that broke Wednesday afternoon.

First, here are the details of the deal, as first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The Clippers sent Chris Paul to the Rockets for a package that includes Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker and a 2018 first-round pick.

Beverley and Williams are experienced and serviceable starters, but clearly not franchise-altering players. Dekker, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Wisconsin, showed some upside at the end of the 2016-17 campaign, but is still largely unproven. The 2018 first-round pick will likely be a later one, diminishing the value of that piece as well.

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It's not a massive return for a star such as Paul, and that's reflected in Oh's updated projections.

The SportsLine Projection Model sees the Rockets improving significantly because of the trade, going from a 77.8 percent chance to reach the playoffs to 99.8 percent, with an increased win total going from 45.9 to 55.5.

Houston's title odds also took a nice jump from just 0.87 percent to 6.41 percent – an increase of over 5.5 percent. The Rockets are now projected to finish second in the Western Conference after previously being picked to finish fifth. 

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Conversely, Oh's projections show the Clippers taking quite a hit, as expected. They go from a 79 percent chance to reach the playoffs to just a 39.7 percent probability. They also fall from the projected No. 4 seed in the West to No. 10, and out of the playoffs. 

While this deal in itself doesn't make the Rockets top-tier title contenders, it is clear that Houston now has a backcourt better equipped to battle with the Warriors, Spurs and others in the West.

Houston pushed San Antonio to six games this season, and perhaps Paul, who averaged 18.1 points and 9.2 assists per game last season, could've pushed them over the top in that series, at least giving them a shot at Golden State. It's also a big win from Houston's perspective to keep Paul away from the San Antonio Spurs, which is where Vegas recently projected him to land.

How you evaluate this trade from the Clippers' perspective is very much in the eye of the beholder.

On one hand, they had the ability to re-sign Paul at a higher price than any other team, and still couldn't get him to stay. This clearly hurts their shot at convincing Blake Griffin to stick around as well, perhaps spiraling the team into complete rebuilding mode after six consecutive years in the playoffs that marked the most successful era in franchise history. 

But on the other, the Clippers deserve some credit for getting something for Paul after he'd previously decided to opt out of the final year of his deal and reportedly informed the team that he didn't plan to come back.

After opting back in, Paul gets his $24 million for 2017-18 (and the ability to sign a huge extension with Houston if he chooses), the Rockets get a nice boost to their title odds and the Clippers at least got a few pieces, even if that feels like a small consolation prize after shipping out arguably their greatest player in franchise history.