The Los Angeles Clippers have acquired guard Chris Paul in a trade with the league-owned New Orleans Hornets.

The Clippers will send guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round pick to the Hornets for Paul. The Clippers will also receive two future second-round picks.

On Thursday, Paul tweeted a goodbye to New Orleans.

"THANK YOU NEW ORLEANS for 6 of the BEST years of my life," an entry on his Twitter account read. "To the organization, my teammates, coaches, and the fans you will always be my family and have a special place in my heart!!!"

The deal required the approval of NBA commissioner David Stern.

The move puts an end to a tortured week in which the Hornets' season sat in limbo while the NBA took a public relations beating over everything from potential conflicts of interest, to stunting the Hornets' pursuit of free agents, to disrespecting the New Orleans fan base.

"I knew we were doing the best thing for New Orleans and that was my job," Stern said. "You have to stick with what you think was right. I must confess it wasn't a lot of fun, but I don't get paid to have fun."

Stern said he never allowed other owners' opinions or considerations of large and small markets to determine where Paul, one of the NBA's biggest stars, would end up. He said his only focus was on getting the best deal for the Hornets.

The Hornets at last have a measure of certainty about the roster they'll have when the regular season begins in less than two weeks.

Paul, already a star with international appeal, gets to play in one of the NBA's biggest markets, even if his new team plays in the shadow of the Los Angeles Lakers. That's the club Paul was almost traded to last week, only to have Stern nix the deal and unleash a torrent of bad publicity on his league just as it was trying to generate good will following a nearly five-month labor dispute that has already caused a shortening of the season.

"I didn't know it was going to happen. I was told yesterday that it wasn't going to be done," Kaman told ESPNLosAngeles.com. "Everybody thought it was nixed, that it was dead. Then I guess something came back up today.

"I don't know what to expect, I don't know what to anticipate. I'm just going to try to move forward and play basketball like I'm capable of doing."

The 26-year-old Paul, a four-time All-Star, averaged 18.7 points and 9.8 assists last season, his sixth in the NBA. His move to the Clippers means he'll now be able to make alley-oop lobs to a young star famous for dunking over a car. That would be forward Blake Griffin, who averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds last season, his first as a pro.

The Hornets, meanwhile, get a prolific young shooting guard in Gordon, who turns 23 on Christmas Day and averaged 22.3 points last season. The 6-foot-9 Aminu is a second-year pro who averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds as a rookie.

According to NBA.com, Gordon was on a bus with Clippers season ticket holders, making fan stops when he got word of the trade. Gordon told ESPNLosAngeles.com the deal was "disappointing."

"People in the organization were telling me I was going to probably stay here, stick around," he said. "But you don't know who to trust or follow, give you a lead on anything. I'm just going to take it for how it is. It is kind of tough to swallow, but I'm just a basketball player. I'm not going to have any hard feelings about it."

Hornets general manager Dell Demps said the team reloaded for both the present and the future.