After ESPN’s Marc Stein reported about the possibility of a Tyson Chandler/Emeka Okafor swap between the New Orleans Hornets and the Charlotte Bobcats, SLAM Online is saying the deal is done. This makes the Hornets the fourth team in the Western Conference to better themselves via trades, the draft and free agency this off-season. Los Angeles added Ron Artest, San Antonio added DeJuan Blair and Richard Jefferson, and Dallas added Shawn Marion, Rodrigue Beaubois, but not Marcin Gortat.
Although Tyson was a true center and was a very good defensive presence, this deal should workout great for the Hornets. Sure, your losing a guy that could get you 10 rebounds and a couple of blocks a game, but he was also a guy who struggled to get four points on any given day. And even if he did get that, it was probably off of alley-oops, meaning all the work was done by Chris Paul. In return, the Hornets get a a 26-year old center who, though undersized, has averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and 1.9 blocks over his five year career. All of those numbers top Chandler’s career stats. Okafor also gives the Hornets a maturing center that is signed through the 2013-2014 season, while Chandler gave them an injury prone one with an expiring contract.
Okafor now gives the Hornets a very physical worker in the paint, allowing West to stay out on lines with his finesse jump shot instead of forcing him under the basket and out of his comfort zone. Add Thorton will CP3 in the backcourt, and you have four players that can score in double-digits every night.
Now New Orleans should feature a starting line-up that looks like this: Chris Paul, Marcus Thorton, Julian Wright, David West, Emeka Okafor. Now I know Thorton is a rookie, but I would rather have him be a scorer as a starter than as a scorer off the bench. Now think about these players coming off the pine in rotation: Darren Collison, Antonio Daniels, James Posey, Peja Stojakovic, Mo Peterson, Rasual Butler, Sean Marks, Melvin Ely and Hilton Armstrong. Now, that is an old bench with Peja, Daniels, Peterson and Ely, but if the Hornets can get one more young player at the trade deadline (passing along Antonio Daniels to any suitors; Joe Crawford of the Knicks would be my choice), this team has a legitimate title shot thanks to this move.
In my opinion, the Hornets have three All-Stars on that roster. CP3 will be one until John Wall is in his prime, David West has two more all-star caliber years in him, though he will probably never start, and now Okafor. This may be ludicrous to some, but at 26, Emeka just played two straight full seasons, averaging 14/10/2. Who’s to say that can’t go up as he gets into his best years of basketball?
The small forward position will be the biggest question mark for the Hornets besides their aging bench, which probably isn’t a question but more of a concern of injury. You have Peja, who at one point in the past few years was the best shooter in the NBA. However, during his time with the Hornets, injuries have stolen that title from him. If he were ever to return to form, Peja could actually bring some value to the Big Easy, though I doubt he will ever earn the money he is getting paid. Then you have James Posey, who was brought in the play lockdown defense on the better wing players in the NBA and hit big shots when he needs to. If he comes close to those expectations, then he can start. Lastly there is Julian Wright. At 22, Julian just completed another Summer League session and did fairly well, averaging 14 points and five boards. I like his game, but we will see if he can translate Summer League play to the NBA.
On the other side of the spectrum, can anybody tell me why Charlotte made this deal? This deal will most likely go down as the biggest steal of the off-season. The easiest way to look at this act of theft: Hornets traded Chandler to the Thunder for Joe Smith (34 years old) and Chris Wilcox before the deal was rescinded. Instead they get Emeka Okafor. Nice move, Jeff Bower.
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