The Wizards and Hornets made the first trade of draft season, with Washington sending wildly-overpaid veteran Rashard Lewis to New Orleans in exchange for forward Trevor Ariza and forward/center Emeka Okafor.
Lewis is slated to make $22,152,000 in this, the final year of his contract; only Kobe Bryant will make more next season. He'll almost certainly get a buyout and become a free agent.
The Hornets are basically dumping the salaries of Okafor and Ariza and freeing up playing time for Anthony Davis, who they'll pick first overall in this year's draft. They'll also get the 46th overall pick in the upcoming draft.
The Wizards will be significantly better on defense, but the offensive implications of this trade are troubling. Ariza is a notoriously inconsistent three-point shooter, and John Wall is just awful from long range. The Wizards' point guard hit just three of 42 three-point attempts last season; that's an .071 shooting percentage.
Seven percent.
Seven.
Okafor is an excellent rebounder. Sounds like he'll have an awful lot of opportunities to show it.
Washington management is saying the trade won't alter their plans for the upcoming draft, but they'd better plan on adding a shooter. Without someone - Florida's Bradley Beal, perhaps - to space the floor, Wall, Ariza and Jan Veseley won't have much space for dribble penetration.
SBNation's Tom Ziller notes that, with this trade, Washington is essentially saying they don't have a shot at signing anyone better via free agency for at least the next two years.
- Wizards trade Rashard Lewis, No. 46 draft pick to New Orleans for Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza - The Washington Post.
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