Tyson Chandler to the Bobcats for Emeka Okafor?
Talk about going from zero to sixty. I knew Jeff Bower knew what he was doing. He followed the rule that all good GMs follow. Refuse to trade players at a discount. The Hornets just went from surefire offseason inactivity to maybe making one of the best improvements of the summer. A Chandler for Okafor swap with the Bobcats could vault New Orleans to the top of the best division in basketball. The Hornets and Bobcats are in “advanced talks” that have been ongoing for about a week. Something could happen as soon as tonight, people.
I should have seen it coming, too. Part owner and President of Basketball Operations, Michael Jordan, while an incredible basketball star, isn’t all that good at assessing talent. This could be the Hornets’ chance to fleece their previous city’s team in a huge trade. Other players are sure to be involved, but when it comes to getting a talent like Emeka Okafor on your team, you give them whatever they want with the exception of anyone nicknamed CP3 or DX. Apparently the price tag isn’t very high though because Chandler’s value has to be bottoming out for most teams at this point. Not MJ though.
The remainder of Okafor’s contract is worth about $62.5 million over 5 years. A lot more guaranteed money than the $25.5 million owed to Chandler over the next 2. This financial commitment is a massive turnaround from Shinn’s shying away from spendin
g money, but you may be able to thank Chris Paul for the sudden change of heart. He’s treated the organization and the New Orleans community better than any normal person would have, and it’s because of his character and desire to help the team in any way he can that may cause Shinn to show some love back by honoring CP3’s silent call for improvement. When asked about the lack of offseason activity by the Hornets, CP3 had this to say: “It’s a crazy situation, but that’s why the people in the front office get paid the big bucks to make those decisions. I control what I can control. That’s how I go out and perform. When we get to team camp, we’ll see what we have, and we’ll go from there.” Well, Chris, your silent call for improvement over the past week or so has worked.
If this proposed trade goes through, which there is a 99.9% chance of that being the case, the Hornets can once again be legitimate contenders for the NBA title. Let’s bring Okafor to town and then bring that Larry O’Brien Trophy to good ole New Orleans. Good job, Jeff Bower and Chris Paul for making a move like this turn from message board fantasy into reality.
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