ESPN is reporting that the Bobcats and Hornets are discussing a possible deal centering around Emeka Okafor and Tyson Chandler as the key components. Given Larry Brown’s affinity for big men who play defense and rebound and bring little to the table offensively I am not surprised he would be willing give up Okafor for Chandler. One has to ask why the Bobcats would even consider such a move though.
Okafor represents the only true low post scoring threat on the Bobcats. As it stands right now their front court consists of Okafor, Gerald Wallace, and Boris Diaw as the starters with DeSagana Diop, rookie Derrick Brown, Nazr Mohammed, Alexis Ajinca, and Vladimir Radmanovic on the bench. Diaw is more of a jump shooter than a low post scorer, Diop has never been anything more than a guy who takes up space and blocks a shotr here and there, Mohammed’s career peaked several years ago, Radmanovic is a wing player, Wallace is more of an athlete than a basketball player, and Ajinca and Brown have yet to show they can do anything worth mentioning at the NBA level.
How does one justify to themselves, and to their fan base, that trading your only real post presence on offense for another defender/rebounder is a good thing? Where do you find any scoring now that teams will not have to concern themselves with playing any defense in the post? What is worse is the fact that the Cats do not have anyone on the roster who is terribly adept at creating their own shot or scoring in the half court offense.
The thing is that Charlotte is already a solid defensive team they allowed the 9th fewest points in the league and one really has to wonder how much better they get defensively by swapping out Okafor, who is a solid defender in his own right, for Chandler? Given that the Bobcats struggle to score points as it is one wonders the wisdom of trading a career 14 point per game scorer for one who barely averages over 8 and gets most of point on put backs and running the floor on the break?
From the Hornets’ standpoint the deal makes a lot of sense. They get an offensive upgrade for Chris Paul to play off of and someone who can help take some of the low post scoring load off of David West’s shoulders. The rumored move is a curious one though given recent reports of the Hornets recent financial struggles and Okafor still having five years left on the deal he signed last summer. Paul has gone on record saying he thinks he could be traded because the team is not sure it can afford to pay him the type of money he is sure to command on the open market. With that being the case why are the Hornets interested in taking on a big long term contract like that when Chandler’s is due to come off the books in two years?
The move makes sense from a basketball standpoint for the Hornets as they are afraid of other teams passing them by and it makes them a better offensive team in a conference that values offense over defense. For the Bobcats it is just another misstep in a recent line of them ensuring they had closer to the lottery rather than the playoffs.
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