Wizards trade Rashard Lewis, No. 46 draft pick to New Orleans for Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza

[MR.ballin]

ESPN.com

The Washington Wizards have reached an agreement with the New Orleans Hornets on a trade to acquire Hornets center Emeka Okafor, according to sources close to the process.

The Wizards will get Okafor and Hornets forward Trevor Ariza for Rashard Lewis and Washington's No. 46 pick in next week's draft.

The trade will add two defensive specialists to Washington's roster as the Wizards continue to try to change their culture around prized rookie John Wall. Okafor thus joins Nene to give Washington two veteran big men after the Brazilian was acquired at midseason from Denver in a deal that brought an end to JaVale McGee's stay in the nation's capital.

The move, meanwhile, sheds two long-term contracts from the Hornets' payroll while opening up minutes, through Okafor's departure, for Kentucky star Anthony Davis, who almost assuredly will be selected No. 1 overall by New Orleans in next Thursday's draft.

The Hornets, sources say, are planning to waive Lewis before July 1 to slice roughly $10 million off the $24 million that he is owed in 2012-13. With the resultant financial flexibility, New Orleans is confident in its ability to re-sign restricted free agent Eric Gordon this summer to ensure it doesn't lose the best player it received in exchange for face-of-the-franchise Chris Paul in December.

 

[DJT]

Hmmm not sure about this. I'm guessing Okafor won't be staying long, probably neither will Lewis. Ariza will bring a smarter player/person to the team though.

 

[Elite]

Like this for the Wizards. Rashard Lewis is completely useless now and they all expire at the same time. Okafor and Ariza are at least decent players.

 

[RipCity32]

Yeah, real nice deal for the Wizards IMO.

 

[bosoxlover12]

Am I the only one who when I heard this, thought of Nola saying Millsap and Burks for Ariza and #10 was an equal trade?

 

[Pugz]

well damn, i really like what that washington team can be.

 

[elcheato]

Fuck, they're gonna take Beal.

 

[Mexi]

what the hell trade is this
they could of just bought out Rashard. Ariza and Okafor are due 40+M til 2014.

 

[.infamous]

so nola's gonna tank again?

 

[.infamous]

Also if Rashard Lewis of all people can be traded....Amare can be traded

 

[Pugz]

amare can be traded but they would want too much back. rashard got traded because hes getting waived and they only need to pay half his salary for a year..

 

[CameronCrazy06]

This trade could push the Wizards to playoff contention next year. I like it.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Oh, and if Lewis agrees to a buy out you can save paying him 10M. Either way, a 23M expiring could prove to be a big trade chip. That's a lot of cap room.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress

New Orleans now has unlimited cap space, in addition to the #1 pick, the #10 pick, and Eric Gordon. Not a bad time to be a Hornets fan.

Also hearing Lewis will be bought up by July 1st.

 

[The Young One]

Like this for the hornets

 

[Pugz]

Also hearing Lewis will be bought up by July 1st.

twas the point of the trade. bought out for $13M lol

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Real good Hollinger article:

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.

The deal is classic Grunfeld -- taking a "win now" approach with a team that's not even close to win-now mode, overpaying veterans, mismanaging the cap, and basically throwing slop at the wall and hoping something sticks.

Okafor and Ariza combine to make $42 million this year and next, soaking up all of Washington's cap space for this year and next. The departing Lewis was due $22.7 million, but only $13.9 million of that was guaranteed, so the Wizards ate close to $30 million in salary with this deal.

[+] Enlarge
Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images
Emeka Okafor was once the No. 2 overall pick and Trevor Ariza has a ring, but both come at a hefty price tag.
This effectively takes the Wizards out of any potential free-agent deals beyond the midlevel; additionally, it also takes them out of amnesty auction bids, or cap space trades, or any other maneuvers that rebuilding teams typically take to begin stockpiling talent.
The big impact is a year from now. Okafor has an early termination option for $14.6 million after the season that he'd be nuts to exercise, while Ariza has a similar one for $7.7 million. Barring outrageous improvement by either, we can presume they're on Washington's books for 2013-14 at a cost of $22 million, compared with the $0 the Wizards owed Lewis; this puts them over the cap even if they amnesty Andray Blatche. (Another brilliant Grunfeld maneuver, by the way.) In fact, depending on how they use their exception money the next two summers, they may need to amnesty Blatche a year from now just to avoid the luxury tax.

For that, they get a middling but overpaid starting center, and a grossly overpaid wing defender with perhaps the worst shot selection in basketball. Alas, his only rival in that department will be starting alongside him. Which brings us to another reason to hate this trade: It did nothing to solve Washington's biggest problem, shooting. If anything, it exacerbated it.

This isn't quite as awful as the deal Grunfeld made two years ago when he traded the fifth overall pick to Minnesota for Mike Miller and Randy Foye, thinking those two were the key missing pieces separating his 19-win team from the championship, but it follows the same misguided logic. He has a bad team with a bad coach and obvious, glaring weaknesses, and somehow he thinks blowing his cap space on two middling, overpaid veterans will push the Wizards to the promised land.

By the way, if you're taking the "they had to make John Wall happy" angle, keep in mind that he is a restricted free agent, and that by design the Wizards have all the leverage in this negotiation. Basically, no team has ever lost a player it truly wanted to keep at this stage; it's only years later, when they could become unrestricted free agents, that we've seen players like LeBron James, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Carmelo Anthony force their way out.

This wasn't supposed to happen when Ted Leonsis took over; he had followed a patient rebuilding program with the NHL's Washington Capitals and everybody expected the same for the Wizards. Instead he inexplicably extended Grunfeld's contract based on one halfway-decent month to end the season while half the teams around the Wizards were tanking, and then signed off on this travesty.

He overpaid for the assets, too. Remember, a few weeks ago people were talking about how New Orleans might use the 10th pick to persuade somebody to take Okafor and Ariza off its hands. Instead the Hornets are keeping the 10th pick and got rid of both contracts. How hard do you suppose they laughed when Washington agreed to throw in a second-round pick too?

As for the Hornets, this was a wondrous move that offloaded two problem contracts, cleaned out room in a crowded frontcourt for rookie Anthony Davis, and gives them almost unlimited cap room going forward. Once they waive Lewis, the Hornets will be far enough under the cap that they could amnesty Jarrett Jack, offer Deron Williams a max contract, and still re-sign Eric Gordon.

It's unlikely D-Will would take that bait, but the real fun comes a year later when Jack and Lewis are off New Orleans' books entirely; if the Hornets offer Gordon about $10 million a year, they would still have nearly $30 million in cap space. Of course, they still need to use this space to get actual players, but between trades and free agency they are in position to put a potent team around Davis fairly quickly. Also, some chap named Chris Paul will be a free agent next summer if he doesn't extend his contract.

Grunfeld said the Wizards are better than they were yesterday, and in a very narrow sense he's correct: This deal does incrementally improve his roster. But there are far more efficient ways to produce the same improvement, and instead Grunfeld has essentially handcuffed the franchise to two more years of mediocrity so he could win a news conference.

 

[bosoxlover12]

I dont know what you're talking bout Nola, but with a good coach, Okafor-Nene-Ariza-Beal-Wall makes the playoffs

 

[Pugz]

no shit. thats a decent team and they still didnt commit long-term. helps build a winning atmosphere around a young core. and who is to say shard would have taken a buy-out in washington? maybe they talked about it and he wouldnt..

 

[The Young One]

Can anybody outside of Beal hit a open jumper in that lineup holy shit..Wall and Ariza