http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/807748...Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Sources: Emeka Okafor to Wizards
By Marc Stein
ESPN.comThe Washington Wizards have reached an agreement with the New Orleans Hornets on a trade to acquire Hornets center Emeka Okafor, according to sources close to the process.
The Wizards will get Okafor and Hornets forward Trevor Ariza for Rashard Lewis and Washington's No. 46 pick in next week's draft.
The trade will add two defensive specialists to Washington's roster as the Wizards continue to try to change their culture around prized rookie John Wall. Okafor thus joins Nene to give Washington two veteran big men after the Brazilian was acquired at midseason from Denver in a deal that brought an end to JaVale McGee's stay in the nation's capital.
The move, meanwhile, sheds two long-term contracts from the Hornets' payroll while opening up minutes, through Okafor's departure, for Kentucky star Anthony Davis, who almost assuredly will be selected No. 1 overall by New Orleans in next Thursday's draft.
The Hornets, sources say, are planning to waive Lewis before July 1 to slice roughly $10 million off the $24 million that he is owed in 2012-13. With the resultant financial flexibility, New Orleans is confident in its ability to re-sign restricted free agent Eric Gordon this summer to ensure it doesn't lose the best player it received in exchange for face-of-the-franchise Chris Paul in December.
Good for both teams. Wall has Nene and Okafor to help him out finally, and Gordon and Anthony Davis make a nice young tandem.
Side note: What will Washington do with there extra PFs? Will they amnesty Blatch or trade him?
Who are the Hornets targeting in FA next year?
Also would you spend the vet min on Lewis? Can he come of the bench or is he done?
yellowboy90 wrote:Also would you spend the vet min on Lewis? Can he come of the bench or is he done?
That is the million ($1.4 mill?)dollar question...
Dang..The Wiz just got better in a hurry.
PG-Wall
SG-?
SF-Ariza
PF/C - Nene and Okafor
Now if they get lucky in the draft...say they draft Jeremy Lamb with the 3rd pick(is that too high for Lamb?) then get a couple more shooters with the 32nd and 46th pick then they are in business. Let Wall run wild and have the defensive troika af Okafor/Nene/Ariza protect him. They would be fun to watch.
was hoping we could have acquired those 2 for Amare, probably needed a 3rd team, but oh well.
Just imagine if Orlando kept Lewis, instead of the horrible trade they made.
With all the tweeners at the Forward positions in Washington I wonder what they will do,
with
Ariza although he can probably play some SG
Chris Singleton
James Singleton
Jan Vesely
Their PF/C/s are very solid with
Nene
Trevor Booker
Serephin
OK4
Blatche will probably be the odd man out, either with a trade, if not amnesty target or a buyout being an option. Leaving some more room to acquire talent in FA this year.
Looks like its a great trade for both teams. I think Washington's days of being a beat around team are finally over, being playoff contenders this year.
I think they will probably get a PG, combo guard, or SG/SF with their 3rd pick.
PF can be ruled out and Center, could still be a possibility, but they have a pretty solid rotation right now, assuming OK4 is healed.
I have a feeling they will target DJO with their 2nd round pick (2nd pick of the round 2, 32 overall pick)
Now New Orleans will have plenty of $ to resign and/or players to target with FA.
With 2 1st round picks(1st and 10) this year, and many picks their own 1st round picks of their future, and much $ to spend on FA, they can turn their franchise around quickly.
NYKBocker wrote:Dang..The Wiz just got better in a hurry.
PG-Wall
SG-?
SF-Ariza
PF/C - Nene and OkaforNow if they get lucky in the draft...say they draft Jeremy Lamb with the 3rd pick(is that too high for Lamb?) then get a couple more shooters with the 32nd and 46th pick then they are in business. Let Wall run wild and have the defensive troika af Okafor/Nene/Ariza protect him. They would be fun to watch.
I see Beal because they need a shooter.
ChuckBuck wrote:yellowboy90 wrote:Also would you spend the vet min on Lewis? Can he come of the bench or is he done?
That is the million ($1.4 mill?)dollar question...
No way- he's done and has been for the past few seasons. Plus his attitude stinks- he quit making any effort at all- that game he played vs us this season was pathetic (remember when he made no effort to get the ball when it was going right by him).
A shame because if he hadn't lost his interest in basketball, he would have been a nice shooter off the bench at the vet minimum.
I wonder if we could of dealt Amare to them for their lottery pick and Lewis
NYKBocker wrote:Dang..The Wiz just got better in a hurry.
PG-Wall
SG-?
SF-Ariza
PF/C - Nene and OkaforNow if they get lucky in the draft...say they draft Jeremy Lamb with the 3rd pick(is that too high for Lamb?) then get a couple more shooters with the 32nd and 46th pick then they are in business. Let Wall run wild and have the defensive troika af Okafor/Nene/Ariza protect him. They would be fun to watch.
Seraphin is the starting PF, dude is big bodied and can score. OK4 is Nene's back up
yellowboy90 wrote:NYKBocker wrote:Dang..The Wiz just got better in a hurry.
PG-Wall
SG-?
SF-Ariza
PF/C - Nene and OkaforNow if they get lucky in the draft...say they draft Jeremy Lamb with the 3rd pick(is that too high for Lamb?) then get a couple more shooters with the 32nd and 46th pick then they are in business. Let Wall run wild and have the defensive troika af Okafor/Nene/Ariza protect him. They would be fun to watch.
I see Beal because they need a shooter.
Word!
PG: Wall
SG: Beal
SF: Ariza
PF: Seraphin
C: Nene
That's a very well rounded starting 5.
Amare for Nene
Amare for Okafor, Blatche, and Ariza
I can dream.
Also Rashard Lewis for the minimum would be sweet. I thin khe goes to Miami though.
I didn't even know that only 13.4 of Lewis' money was guaranteed. Couldn't the Knicks have made a deal for Lewis and do the same thing the Hornets will do and save 7 million this year and be free next off-season?
ChuckBuck wrote:http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/807748...Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Sources: Emeka Okafor to Wizards
By Marc Stein
ESPN.comThe Washington Wizards have reached an agreement with the New Orleans Hornets on a trade to acquire Hornets center Emeka Okafor, according to sources close to the process.
The Wizards will get Okafor and Hornets forward Trevor Ariza for Rashard Lewis and Washington's No. 46 pick in next week's draft.
The trade will add two defensive specialists to Washington's roster as the Wizards continue to try to change their culture around prized rookie John Wall. Okafor thus joins Nene to give Washington two veteran big men after the Brazilian was acquired at midseason from Denver in a deal that brought an end to JaVale McGee's stay in the nation's capital.
The move, meanwhile, sheds two long-term contracts from the Hornets' payroll while opening up minutes, through Okafor's departure, for Kentucky star Anthony Davis, who almost assuredly will be selected No. 1 overall by New Orleans in next Thursday's draft.
The Hornets, sources say, are planning to waive Lewis before July 1 to slice roughly $10 million off the $24 million that he is owed in 2012-13. With the resultant financial flexibility, New Orleans is confident in its ability to re-sign restricted free agent Eric Gordon this summer to ensure it doesn't lose the best player it received in exchange for face-of-the-franchise Chris Paul in December.
Good for both teams. Wall has Nene and Okafor to help him out finally, and Gordon and Anthony Davis make a nice young tandem.
The Wiz have added a lot of defense. - Nene, Okafor, Ariza, Singleton last draft. And have the #3 this year. They'll be tougher next year.
It looks like the Wiz are going too amnesty Blatche too. I'm not sure how I feel about this trade. It's starting to look like the Wiz gave up Blatche and McGee for Nene, Okafor and Ariza. Yeah, the Wiz are a little bit better now, but they probably pushed themselves back a couple of years in terms of building a contender.
BigDaddyG wrote:It looks like the Wiz are going too amnesty Blatche too. I'm not sure how I feel about this trade. It's starting to look like the Wiz gave up Blatche and McGee for Nene, Okafor and Ariza. Yeah, the Wiz are a little bit better now, but they probably pushed themselves back a couple of years in terms of building a contender.
I think they have a better mix of players - young and veterans. More intelligent players, and more focus on defense. Actually, more focus, period by adding Nene, Okafor, Ariza.
Their young players who can develop into starting/star players:
John Wall (#1 pick 2010)
Jan Vesley (#6 last yr)
??XYZ?? - #3 pick this year
Other young players on the Wiz who were drafted in first round in the last 2 years.
Chris Singleton (#18)
Kevin Seraphin (#17)
Jordan Crawford (#27)
Trevor Booker (#23)
I skinned through the thread, but i just wanna say i would make thus trade for A'mare or Chandler if it were available
They have multiple players they can throw at defending Lebron
Ariza
Singleton
the other singleton
Vesely
Booker
with a player that can post up with good overall game Nene.
Those are the 2 ingredients with shooters (washingtons current weakness) to space the floor, with penetration in countering what Miami is doing to countering OKC.
and great help defenders rebounders in
Serephin, Ok4, Booker being all double double players in PTS and RBs.
With
John Wall
Jordan Crawford
#3 pick
# 32 pick
FA, cap space *if they amnesty Blatche*
they are not done but have a pretty nice balanced core with ways of still improving their roster.
Markji wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:It looks like the Wiz are going too amnesty Blatche too. I'm not sure how I feel about this trade. It's starting to look like the Wiz gave up Blatche and McGee for Nene, Okafor and Ariza. Yeah, the Wiz are a little bit better now, but they probably pushed themselves back a couple of years in terms of building a contender.
I think they have a better mix of players - young and veterans. More intelligent players, and more focus on defense. Actually, more focus, period by adding Nene, Okafor, Ariza.Their young players who can develop into starting/star players:
John Wall (#1 pick 2010)
Jan Vesley (#6 last yr)
??XYZ?? - #3 pick this year
Other young players on the Wiz who were drafted in first round in the last 2 years.
Chris Singleton (#18)
Kevin Seraphin (#17)
Jordan Crawford (#27)
Trevor Booker (#23)
I agree they are better, but the reason I'm iffy on this trade is that they've lost the ability to get significantly better down the road because their cap space is being held hostage by three overpaid players. Plus, they still have to sign Wall. You don't take on contract like Omeka and Trvor unless you think they can put you over the top.
they were a much better team with the addition of Nene alone, being an offensive threat vs McGee, with his ability to post up, run the floor, mid post, hit a 17footer, and open up the game for the rest of the team. Adding OK4 and Ariza, if they are healthy, provides them with players that are defensive minded, while their they continue to run, and push the tempo.
They can finally form an tough defensive identity, with an uptempo offense, and chemistry for the team.
With the 3rd pick and 32 pick in this draft, they can find great players to continue to build on.
Their payroll is something that they will eventually have to face, when their rookie contracts are up.
But till then, they have many assets to work with, with the ability to add salary, use the MLE next year, continue to draft players, and decide who to keep or move till then.
