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everyoneneedsasmil
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Reports are out that New Orleans is willing to move the 10th pick in the draft if someone will take on Emeka Okafor and/or Trevor Ariza and return a little value. This is an intriguing prospect.
First, let me lay out the facts. We are capped out with bad deals, Okafor is overpaid, and we could not simply absorb his salary. However, the Hornets have a giant, unibrowed reason to move Okafor now - he'll be stealing minutes from Davis. We don't have a lot of value on the team, but we do have one player whose salary could get us close and who actually played up to his contract last year - Rodney Stuckey.
The trade: Rodney Stuckey, Jonas Jerebko, and Austin Daye for Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza and the 10th pick.
Why the Pistons do it: This should be easy, but everything just fits better. We are already in cap hell the next two years, so Ariza and Okafor's contracts change nothing really, we will still drop all our bad contracts in 2014. Okafor is an ideal fit next to Monroe and can be the PF or C. The 9th/10th picks also become much more open with Stuckey moved. We could give more serious looks to Jeremy Lamb and Terrence Ross, or we could package the picks and try moving up with a team not enamored with anyone at the top.
Why the Hornets do it: They need to move Okafor so Davis can take over the position. The deal saves them about 5 million dollars and does just that. Stuckey also is a surprising good fit next to Eric Gordon. Gordon is undersized as a SG, but Stuckey can play PG on offense and SG on defense. Stuckey is also actually worth his contract, having turned himself into a solid scorer and average passer. Ariza-Jerebko is about an even swap, but Jerebko makes less money. Daye is a salary throw in, and the Hornets can just choose not to play him and let him walk next year.
I don't see it as likely, of course. But given the makeup of the team and our salary structure, it could allow us to build a real base for the future. We will be mediocre for the next two years anyway, but all out bad contracts drop off at that point (right as Monroe's second contract will kick in). Hopefully we have hit on Knight, and can hit again with solid players at the 9th and 10th picks, giving us 4 solid starters by 2014, when we'll finally have the cap space to finish building around them.
First, let me lay out the facts. We are capped out with bad deals, Okafor is overpaid, and we could not simply absorb his salary. However, the Hornets have a giant, unibrowed reason to move Okafor now - he'll be stealing minutes from Davis. We don't have a lot of value on the team, but we do have one player whose salary could get us close and who actually played up to his contract last year - Rodney Stuckey.
The trade: Rodney Stuckey, Jonas Jerebko, and Austin Daye for Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza and the 10th pick.
Why the Pistons do it: This should be easy, but everything just fits better. We are already in cap hell the next two years, so Ariza and Okafor's contracts change nothing really, we will still drop all our bad contracts in 2014. Okafor is an ideal fit next to Monroe and can be the PF or C. The 9th/10th picks also become much more open with Stuckey moved. We could give more serious looks to Jeremy Lamb and Terrence Ross, or we could package the picks and try moving up with a team not enamored with anyone at the top.
Why the Hornets do it: They need to move Okafor so Davis can take over the position. The deal saves them about 5 million dollars and does just that. Stuckey also is a surprising good fit next to Eric Gordon. Gordon is undersized as a SG, but Stuckey can play PG on offense and SG on defense. Stuckey is also actually worth his contract, having turned himself into a solid scorer and average passer. Ariza-Jerebko is about an even swap, but Jerebko makes less money. Daye is a salary throw in, and the Hornets can just choose not to play him and let him walk next year.
I don't see it as likely, of course. But given the makeup of the team and our salary structure, it could allow us to build a real base for the future. We will be mediocre for the next two years anyway, but all out bad contracts drop off at that point (right as Monroe's second contract will kick in). Hopefully we have hit on Knight, and can hit again with solid players at the 9th and 10th picks, giving us 4 solid starters by 2014, when we'll finally have the cap space to finish building around them.
