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

[Lucky17]

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=57221.msg1245388#msg1245388

[lightspeed5]

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.

wiz just went from bottom of the barrel 3 worst teams to possibly a play off team (according to you)

thats not a "meh" trade, you know it but you dont want to admit it.

[Galeto]

New Orleans is really setting themselves up nicely.  If Davis comes along like people think, it wouldn't surprise me if they're good fairly soon.  Even last season, they became a decent team after Gordon returned and that was with Ariza and Okafor missing most of those games. Gordon is a very good player.

Their front court of the future could be set after this draft with Davis and potentially Zeller or Myers Leonard with the 10th pick.  If they select Zeller, the speed of their bigs is going to be outrageous. Put them together Gordon, the solid reserve players they have and the ability to spend big in free agency in the future, they're not looking too bad.

[ianboyextreme]

Watch out for the Wizards. Them getting another frontcourt piece kinda makes me think they are really feeling MKG. If they do get him they are gonna be a real up and coming team.

[Kane3387]

Watch out for the Wizards. Them getting another frontcourt piece kinda makes me think they are really feeling MKG. If they do get him they are gonna be a real up and coming team.

Beal

[Galeto]

Washington has to take Beal over MKG as a hedge to Wall not developing his jump shot or only to a minimally acceptable level.  If they were to start Ariza, MKG and Wall together, that'd be one of the worst shooting perimeter trios of all time.  It's hard to imagine there could have been or ever will be one worst.  If they ever put out Wall, MKG, Ariza, Vesely and Nene together, goodnight, opponents will have the chance to set rebounding records.

[LarBrd33]

I'm not seeing this from the WIzards perspective at all.  Rashard Lewis was a massive expiring contract... shouldn't they have held onto him until the deadline to see if they could land something actually substantial? (like if the Knicks continue to struggle and decide to dump Melo or Amare for cap space so they can sign some help the following summer)  Instead they take on Okafor and Ariza?  Weren't we just reading that the Hornets were so desperate to get rid of those guys (and their bloated contracts) that they were willing to give up the 10th pick to anyone who would take them?...  You mean they just dumped both of them on the Wizards and earned a draft pick in the process?? 

Granted, I think Okafor and Ariza are definitely capable basketball players who can help a team win... but from a financial perspective it seems to go against everything we were expecting.

Here's how I guess the Wiz see it:  Ariza and Okafor are not locked up long term, just 2 years versus Lewis' 1 year. 

Ariza and Okafor are serviceable players, and certainly not the disaster that is Rashard Lewis.  If you just take Okafor's salary and forget about it for a second, he is the type of player nearly every team in the NBA would want in their rotation.  Washington now has a strong(if overpaid) frontcourt of Nene and Okafor.  They upgrade their defense and rebounding, and surround John Wall with character guys and winners (Ariza in the pros, Okafor in college). 

The Wiz become competitive in the East, probably a 6 or 7 seed.  Fans come to see their games.  Wall gets playoff experience. The owners get some more ticket and concession revenue. Then in 2013/2014, Okafor and Ariza are expiring deals that, when combined, can grab the same type of player you are referring to, and push Wiz up the ladder in the East.

That's my spin.

I agree with everything you and everyone else is saying... Okafor and Ariza are capable players. 

The thing I disagree with is that I don't believe Rashard lewis is a "disaster" at this point.  He's only on the books through this upcoming season.  In other words... he's a 20 mil expiring contract.  Couldn't they have made better use of that had they waited until the trade deadline (as the hornets can now Potentially do)?  Again, it's probably a long-shot, but had they waited until the trade deadline in the middle of the season... a team like the Knicks might be in desperate need of dumping contracts.  You could theoretically snag an Amare or maybe even a Melo depending on the circumstances... having a 20 mil expiring contract could be pretty valuable.  I don't think Ariza and Okafor was their best option.  I think they could have landed a player (or multiple) that would would have been better than those two. 

Maybe not, though.  Meh... whatever.  Good for the HOrnets.