The New Orleans Hornets tried moving Tyson Chandler to a promising situation in Oklahoma City at the deadline. When Chandler botched the physical (supposedly intentionally), the Hornets were forced to retain him and his inflated $11.8 million salary. His punishment for making life difficult for New Orleans? A trade to the Bobcats.

Ouch.

Chandler had high hopes when he and Eddy Curry formed the nucleus of the “Baby Bulls” when they both entered the league as the second and third overall picks in the 2001 NBA Draft. Yet the athletic and long Chandler, who stands at 7-foot-1, never fully achieved his potential. Last season alone, he averaged 8.8 points and 8.7 rebounds, dropping both totals down three notches during his career year of 12 and 12 in 2007-08. With Chris Paul, Chandler was a rim rocking force of nature. But injuries and a lousy work ethic plagued Chandler his whole career. It took the immense talents of Chris Paul to finally get the most out of Tyson Chandler.

Now Chandler has been relegated to NBA Championship hell with Michael Jordan’s Bobcats, a team that is virtually in the cellar every year. With Okafor, the Bobcats were at least competitive. The defensive presence of Okafor, coupled with Gerald Wallace’s explosion as an offensive dynamo made the Bobcats exciting as they finished 47-35 ATS. With Chandler? The only thing they have to be excited about is the summer of 2010, when Chandler has a $12.7 million player option that he hopefully won’t take.

The more exciting part of this trade is New Orleans finally getting serious about surrounding CP3 with the tools he needs to wreak havoc on the title picture in the West. Paul is regarded as one of the best point-guards in the game, if not the very best. With Okafor, New Orleans will boast the inside-outside presences that almost every team builds its foundation around.

Okafor was drafted in 2004 second overall behind Dwight Howard, and has averaged 14.0 points and 10.7 rebounds in an astoundingly consistent career. He has never posted less than 13.2 points or 10 boards in any season. To make things even saucier, Okafor is on contract through 2013/14 and will make $10.5 million this season which is a great value given Okafor’s standing as a premier NBA center, and an outstanding locker room leader. Finally, Chris Paul has a true compliment in the Big Easy.

At +4000, the Hornets are an outside shot at the NBA Title this season, but this is a step in the right direction for New Orleans, which has stood pat all offseason without any significant moves. Now we really see what Okafor can do running the court with Paul…and we can finally see what Paul will do with a reliable rebounder and defender protecting his rim.


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