New Orleans trades Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza to Washington for Rashard Lewis

[mqtcelticsfan]

Rasheed Lewis is like THE expiring deal. You could use his contract so many ways, and they chose to pick up below average starters with bad contracts? This just doesn't add up to me.

[Kane3387]

WOW..

next year the wizards gonna win the lottery for sure !

With the 1st pick in the 2013 NBA draft, the Washington Wizards select.....

..Nerlens Noel !!

Okafor and Ariza are both starting-caliber players. This trade makes them stronger, not weaker, talent-wise.

They're gonna have a pretty decent unit there.

Wall
Beal
Ariza
Okafor
Nene

Its gonna be pretty solid.

This is all about keeping Wall and improving his development. He should be much better then he is. I guess by putting him around more veterans they hope the locker room is more stable and professional.

[clover]

Two more tweets from Givony:

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
New Orleans now has unlimited cap space, in addition to the #1 pick, the #10 pick, and Eric Gordon. Not a bad time to be a Hornets fan.

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
Rashard Lewis' 23.8 million dollar contract can be bought out for 13.7 million before July 1st. Trade saves New Orleans around 30 million?

[indeedproceed]

Two more tweets from Givony:

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
New Orleans now has unlimited cap space, in addition to the #1 pick, the #10 pick, and Eric Gordon. Not a bad time to be a Hornets fan.

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
Rashard Lewis' 23.8 million dollar contract can be bought out for 13.7 million before July 1st. Trade saves New Orleans around 30 million?

Ha, imagine just a straight up swap with Davis for Howard, signing Deron Williams, resigning Eric Gordon, and keeping the #10 pick.

Oh the places you'll go.

[Lucky17]

Two more tweets from Givony:

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
New Orleans now has unlimited cap space, in addition to the #1 pick, the #10 pick, and Eric Gordon. Not a bad time to be a Hornets fan.

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
Rashard Lewis' 23.8 million dollar contract can be bought out for 13.7 million before July 1st. Trade saves New Orleans around 30 million?

Interesting, didn't realize Lewis' contract wasn't fully guaranteed.

[manl_lui]

Hold up. NO gets out of the Ariza and Okafor contracts without losing the tenth pick, and gets a second rounder for their trouble? Maybe the league IS rigged toward NO.

well its not like it doesn't benefit the Wiz, Okafor/Nene is pretty good. Ariza is pretty athletic to run with John Wall.

I say win win

[StartOrien]

I kinda like it for both teams. Yes, the Wizards gave up their cap space but at the risk of giving up what free agent?

Instead they move forward with a tough as nails front court, John Wall, and can keep their fingers crossed that other prospects or picks pan out.

[mqtcelticsfan]

Hold up. NO gets out of the Ariza and Okafor contracts without losing the tenth pick, and gets a second rounder for their trouble? Maybe the league IS rigged toward NO.

well its not like it doesn't benefit the Wiz, Okafor/Nene is pretty good. Ariza is pretty athletic to run with John Wall.

I say win win

Meh. This is a recipe for mediocrity for the Wizards. Okafor and Nene are not a championship front court, but they will win the Wizards enough games to be about the 9th or 10th best team in the East.

[CFAN38]

I like this trade for both teams. NO now has a very clean slate for the new ownership. My guess is they go with a big to pair with Davis at #10 Zeller? Leanoard?.

Washington now has a well rounded lineup, especially if they end up with beal. Wall just needs to step up his game and they will be in the running for a playoff spot.

[Kane3387]

Two more tweets from Givony:

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
New Orleans now has unlimited cap space, in addition to the #1 pick, the #10 pick, and Eric Gordon. Not a bad time to be a Hornets fan.

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
Rashard Lewis' 23.8 million dollar contract can be bought out for 13.7 million before July 1st. Trade saves New Orleans around 30 million?

Ha, imagine just a straight up swap with Davis for Howard, signing Deron Williams, resigning Eric Gordon, and keeping the #10 pick.

Oh the places you'll go.

Love it. Do they have the cap space to do it?

[Chris]

Hold up. NO gets out of the Ariza and Okafor contracts without losing the tenth pick, and gets a second rounder for their trouble? Maybe the league IS rigged toward NO.

well its not like it doesn't benefit the Wiz, Okafor/Nene is pretty good. Ariza is pretty athletic to run with John Wall.

I say win win

It also (and this is the key to it, IMO), puts more solid veterans around Wall.

Wall is the franchise.  They are going to live and die with his development.  So, they have taken a clear path the last year or so to concentrate 100% on surrounding him with the right kind of guys, and getting rid of the immature kids that were on this team in the past, and concievably have been holding Wall back.

Now, it is certainly not guaranteed to work, and it is a risk as far as building the rest of the team.  But, when you have a talent like Wall, then I think you have to try this.

[indeedproceed]

Two more tweets from Givony:

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
New Orleans now has unlimited cap space, in addition to the #1 pick, the #10 pick, and Eric Gordon. Not a bad time to be a Hornets fan.

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
Rashard Lewis' 23.8 million dollar contract can be bought out for 13.7 million before July 1st. Trade saves New Orleans around 30 million?

Ha, imagine just a straight up swap with Davis for Howard, signing Deron Williams, resigning Eric Gordon, and keeping the #10 pick.

Oh the places you'll go.

Love it. Do they have the cap space to do it?

Honestly, no idea. I believe the cap will be set next year at 'something', and the Hornets will end up with 'lots' of space beneath it.

[mqtcelticsfan]

I will at least concede that dumping Blatche with the amnesty clause will at least make this trade more of a positive for me, and if Beal is as good as projected offensively, this team will be a playoff team. I just don't see how this helps them in the long run. Okafor and Ariza just aren't very good and a team desperate for cap space would have been knocking down Washington's door for Lewis's expiring deal.

[Lucky17]

Two more tweets from Givony:

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
New Orleans now has unlimited cap space, in addition to the #1 pick, the #10 pick, and Eric Gordon. Not a bad time to be a Hornets fan.

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
Rashard Lewis' 23.8 million dollar contract can be bought out for 13.7 million before July 1st. Trade saves New Orleans around 30 million?

Ha, imagine just a straight up swap with Davis for Howard, signing Deron Williams, resigning Eric Gordon, and keeping the #10 pick.

Oh the places you'll go.

Love it. Do they have the cap space to do it?

Trade really only clears about $7 million off of the Hornet's cap for next year (basically, as if they cleared Ariza off the books, since Lewis buyout and Okafor's contract is a wash).

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/hornets.jsp

So, roughly $31 million in salary, without Gordon's new deal, and cap holds for #1 and #10, I think.

[StartOrien]

Two more tweets from Givony:

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
New Orleans now has unlimited cap space, in addition to the #1 pick, the #10 pick, and Eric Gordon. Not a bad time to be a Hornets fan.

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress
Rashard Lewis' 23.8 million dollar contract can be bought out for 13.7 million before July 1st. Trade saves New Orleans around 30 million?

Ha, imagine just a straight up swap with Davis for Howard, signing Deron Williams, resigning Eric Gordon, and keeping the #10 pick.

Oh the places you'll go.

"Basketball reasons, snitches" - David Stern