This offseason will undoubtedly shape the future of the Los Angeles Clippers.While rumors of LeBron James’ desire to head to one of the LA teams has sparked some excitement, a couple of major questions surround the team.The first: will Chris Paul re-sign?The second: will Blake Griffin re-sign?On Friday, both players took the expected action by officially opting out of their Clippers contracts for next season, thus becoming unrestricted free agents.

The 6-foot, 32-year-old point guard Paul averaged 18.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 9.2 assists in 61 regular-season games for the Clippers last season. In the playoffs, he stepped up his game, posting 25.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 9.9 assists per contest.

As one of the best two-way point guards in the entire NBA who is on his way to the Hall of Fame someday, Paul will likely generate a massive amount of interest across the league, specifically from Western Conference teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets, who have been rumored to be interested in him.

The financial incentive for Paul to remain in Los Angeles is clearly there. As you can see below, he’d break the $200 million mark if he stayed put:

That’d be a tremendous amount of guaranteed money to turn down, especially since he'd benefit from the large contract in Los Angeles into his late 30s, when he'd likely be declining on the court.

Griffin averaged 21.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per contest over 61 games. In the playoffs, he played only three games due to to the fact that he aggravated a toe injury that nagged him throughout the season.

Regarded as one of the most explosive dunkers in the NBA, Griffin’s versatile ability on the offensive end will likely land him a max deal, although he will also have a financial incentive to re-sign with the Clippers, where he has spent his entire career thus far.

If both Paul and Griffin leave via free agency, a nightmare rebuilding scenario will unfold for the Clippers, who would be left with center DeAndre Jordan, shooting guard Jamal Crawford, combo guard Austin Rivers, forward Wesley Johnson, forward Brice Johnson, center Diamond Stone and Luc Mbah a Moute (if he accepts his player option) under contract for next season. 

While the cap space would be appealing in terms of landing another couple high-profile free agents, losing both Paul and Griffin would likely spell trouble for the Clippers, who are looking to retain both players as the main parts of their core, along with Jordan.

It will be fascinating to see how the situation plays out, as an entire franchise hangs in the balance.