Welcome to New Orleans, Mr. Eauxkafor
Somehow, the Hornets actually managed to convince strapped-for-cash Charlotte to swap Emeka Okafor for Tyson Chandler. I don’t know how, but I do know Bower needs a raise for concocting such an idea.
Financially, the trade benefits both teams. The Hornets save now and the Bobcats save later. Both are primary concerns for their respective clubs. Charlotte owner, Robert Johnson, wants to get rid of long term contracts because he’s trying to sell the team after losing a lot of money since the team’s inception in 2004. Okafor is owed $62.5 million over 5 years versus a 2 year, $25.5 million contract for Tyson Chandler. Good for Charlotte. New Orleans’ payroll for the upcoming year was almost $78 million, but the trade brings it down to $76 million as Okafor’s contract this year pays him $2 million less than Chandler in each of the next 2 seasons. That’s a savings of $8 million dollars for the Hornets because of the luxury tax. Good for New Orleans.
But what happens after 2 seasons? Why aren’t the Hornets worried about Okafor’s long term contract? As a lot of you know, when Peja Stojakovic comes off the books at that time it will be like Christmas for George Shinn. Shedding his contract in 2 years will alm
ost certainly put the Hornets under the luxury tax threshold.
So how do these two centers compare against one another? Tyson Chandler, at 7’1”, is 3 inches taller than Emeka Okafor. He’s played better against premiere big centers likes Dwight Howard (Howard against Chandler: 31.6 FG%, 12 pts, 11.5 reb, 2 blk, 2 t.o., Howard against Okafor: 56.8 FG%, 18 pts, 13.5 reb, 5.3 blk, 3.5 t.o.) Seems like Chandler might be edging Okafor out, but the key in Okafor’s value against star post players lies with the team, not these players as individuals. Okafor has always been the center of attention on his Charlotte team. He has also been the only legitimate post player on the team for offense and, for the most part, defense. Opposing teams can single Okafor out in the post because they know he doesn’t have any quality help beside him. David West changes all that. Okafor’s defense is on the same level as or better than Chandler’s though. Last season, he averaged 2.4 rebounds and 0.5 blocks more than Chandler throughout the season. With David West playing alongside him, Okafor will be just fine. That is unless there’s a night where the Twin Towers themselves, Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon, come out to play and we have to deal two 7-footers (the Lakers are the only team with 2 legitimate 7-footers starting and they’re both skinny enough that Okafor and West shouldn’t have very much trouble defending them). Okafor’s offensive production is undeniably better than Chandler’s. Okafor scored 4.4 points more per game and without the help of Chris Paul. One can only dream of the possibilities next year…
Here’s a look at how these players’ stats for last season compare:
Emeka Okafor 08-09 averages:
33 min, 56.1 FG%, 59.4 FT%, 13.2 pts, 10.1 reb, 0.7 ast, 0.6 stl, 1.7 blk, 1.8 t.o.
Tyson Chandler 08-09 averages:
32 min, 56.5 FG%, 57.9 FT%, 8.8 pts, 8.7 reb, 0.5 ast, 0.3 stl, 1.2 blk, 1.6 t.o.
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