Hornets come up winners, even with the hefty Rashard Lewis contract By John Hollinger | ESPN.com The good news for Washington Wizards fans is that general manager Ernie Grunfeld is building a winner. The bad news is that he's doing it in Minnesota and New Orleans. Seriously, can anyone explain why this guy is still running a basketball team? Grunfeld engineered yet another numbingly brutal trade today when he sent Rashard Lewis and a second-round pick to the New Orleans Hornets for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza. To continue reading this article you must be an Insider http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/play...ornets-get-better-end-deal-washington-wizards ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Can someone please post the rest of this article.....
The trade wasn't that bad. The contracts aren't long term and Rashard was going to cost either 10 or 20 million anyway. The only downside is they weren't able to jettison Blatche as well.
trade was horrible. They are not contenders with them so why make the deal? All this does is makes them a little better but hurt their cap longer. As the article says, Lewis was only guaranteed 13.9 mil next year. Ariza and Okafor make 22 mil two years from now. The article also says they even if they amnesty Blatche they will be over the cap now. Horrible...
It is entirely possible that the owners goal is to compete and make the playoffs, not win a championship. if that were his goal, this deal makes plenty of sense. each team is a business, after all.
At some point a perputual lottery team that already has their young franchise player needs to start winning. They've got this year's no.3 pick, Vesely, and a host of other first rounders on their roster. Ariza and Okafor only have 1 more year on their contracts than Rashard's. Again they filled positional needs without having to commit to long term deals in free agency or waste resources by using the amnesty on or waiving Rashard.
It was a great trade for Washington, in my opinion. Wall - Ariza - Kidd-Gilchrist - Nene - Okafor Assuming they draft MKG at #3, that lineup is a million times better defensively than the one they put out there this year. If I was a fan, I'd be happy that my organization is trying to win, rather than wasting John Wall away just to get decent draft picks.
They could have used that 30 mil they wasted on those two overpaid players and got someone better. If not they could have waited until Lewis was off the books. Ariza hasnt shown anything since being with the Lakers. Okafor is decent center considering the competition but not for 14.6 mil. Its not like they will be that much better with them. Even if they add MKG, they still wont make the playoffs next year.
I agree that they should surround Wall with a better surrounding cast, but that was still a terrible trade. They could have gotten way more out of Lewis than under-achieving Ariza and injury-prone Okafor. The correct move should have going after Pau Gasol. The Lakers would have loved the enormous cap space gained.
They dumped a guy that won't play and were able to acquire two guys that will almost surely be starters. Also, this frees them up to amnesty Blatche. They don't need cap space over the next 2 years, they need vet's that will be solid players and leaders on the court and in the locker room. You're exaggerating if you think this is "horrible" for the Wiz.
I posted this in another thread - Its still possible for the Lakers to shed Gasol to Washington and not have to take back Okafor's contract either .... but it costs the Bullets (yeah the Bullets) their #3. Gasol to DC Scola to LA Okafor and the #3 to Houston. DC ends up with a top notch frontline of Nene and Gasol ..... what Morey had planned. LA cuts the salary of their PF roughly in half over the next two seasons Houston gets a lotto pick in compensation for taking on an injury prone center with a hefty contract. Win Win Win
Lakers would never do that trade because it clearly makes them worse. They don't give a care about cutting salary in the short-term because it doesn't free them up to do anything. They are ridiculously over the salary cap and luxury tax. The Lakers want to make championship runs the next 2 years while Kobe is still great. Your trade is lopsided in the Rockets favor. Nothing wrong with dreaming. I hope it happens.
Actually, your idea is a good example of a terrible trade. After waiving Rashard the Lakers would remain over the luxury tax, meaning they don't qualify for the MLE. No Pau, no MLE, still stuck.
You realize that front court cannot score. It will be the same thing as this season. John Wall needs help on the offensive end and the team is gonna suck until they make some smarter moves. At least Lewis could have made some threes every once and a while. Who in their right mind would run plays for Okafor, Ariza, or Nene. They all need someone to set them up. Even if they get Beal it still wont be enough.
Thats just the baseline for the deal , You would obviously have to sweeten the pot probably for both LA and DC .... but in shedding ~$10m in the difference between Gasol and Scola allows LA to take back a considerable sum in a the form of other players be that from the Rockets , DC or another team - It just gets too complicated after the base idea to do anything but guess.
To clarify the Lakers situation: The 2011/12 salary cap was $58 million. It may change slightly for 2012/13. For next season, the Lakers are already over $79 million! The only way they can gain enough cap room to sign anyone is to amnesty Kobe ($28 million), which won't happen.
