dumb. why take on a contract like that? should have tanked it for a lottery pick. they would have cleared a gajillion dollars after the '10 season.
The story says other players could be involved in the deal, so I'll wait to see what happens. But straight up, Chandler for Okafur is a pretty good deal. I love what Chandler brings to the lineup, but only bringing it 55 games a year is a major problem. Okafur has been less injury prone, and is more versatile than TC. The AP article questions EO's offensive skills, but he never had a point guard like CP3 creating his opportunities in Charlotte. I think he'll become a better offensive player in NO.
the knock on Chandler was his contract was too fat. So, yeah, let's trade for another guy who is defensive oriented, but this time, let's get a guy with an even bigger contract, but this time, the deal won't expire until 2014. Bad move. The Hornets are getting a player better than Chandler, but they are also now selling their soul to Paul + Okafor winning the NBA Title, because now they have no cap room from now until 2015, whereas had they kept Chandler, or traded him for an expiring deal, they could have tried to be players in the big 2010 free agent market. What will happen now is if this doesn't work for 1-2 years, you will have CP3 as a free agent, looking at a team with no cap room to get better. He could very easily say: "Adios."
there's no way of knowing that until it happens. Okafor has really bad hands. He was in a totally different offense in Charlotte -- an offense that involved crawling the ball up the court and then throwing it into the post. The Hornets style is a lot faster. Time will tell if he fits in. He may. But don't just assume that having the better PG will make him a better player, because Okafor is not a tremendous athlete.
Exactly. Does this make the Hornets better next year? Maybe. It certainly means they are playing for the present - a present that involves Okafor as a key piece...? He is not skilled and he wont get 8 bs points on lobs. They are in a fortunate position that not many teams are in with a young All-Pro on the team. Do what the Heat did -- get rid of some contracts, draft a nice player, and hold your cash for the next couple of seasons.
We will revisit this thread next season to see if he averaged 15 plus ppg. Paul makes EVERYONE around him better. Just look at the talentless West dude. Case in point. Or maybe, "case in point guard", more appropriately.
the talentless West dude was a college POY. I hated on him, but I've come around. That dude is a good player. And whether he does or doesn't average 15 points per game isn't the issue. Even so, he won't average 15 a game. The game's best center (Yao) only averages 19 a game. Okafor is nowhere near the offensive player Yao is. The issue is whether or not this move puts them over the top and makes them capable of beating the Lakers, Nuggets, etc..., because now their roster is locked in with no room for change other than 1 mid level exception every summer. Okafor gets his points in a lot of the same ways Chandler does -- on rebounds and garbage points. Problem is he can't get the 3-4 alley-dunks Chandler used to get, because the dude is an unathletic big. He's a better player than Chandler, but he's not worth taking the huge contract.
