Okafor An Upgrade Over Chandler In The Big Easy?

The New Orleans Hornets, truth be told, had some personnel issues this past season. Chris Paul, as you’d expect, was not one of them. But it is a safe assumption that they were pretty deficient at center as they struggled in keeping Tyson Chandler healthy.

Which brought the team to a dilemma: do they keep the eight-year veteran or make some type of deal in order to upgrade at the 5? As it turned out, they traded Chandler to the Charlotte Bobcats for Emeka Okafor. Initially, the Hornets’ fan base was unhappy – and prerhaps rightfully so. After all, he was quite popular in New Orleans, both on and off the court. But because the NBA is a results-driven business, no player – with perhaps the exception of the league’s marquee players – is guaranteed long-term security with the team they’re with.

Having said that, let’s examine the numbers, Chandler vs. Okafor:

• Chandler averages 67 games a season, while Okafor has averaged 66.
• Chandler has averaged 8.2 PPG, Okafor is at 14.0 PPG.
• Chandler has grabbed 9.0 RPG in his career while Okafor has averaged 10.7 boards during his career.
• Chandler has averaged 1.4 BPG while Okafor is at 1.9 BPG during his career.

I think that on paper alone, Okafor has the edge overall, plus the fact that Okafor is in his 5th year in the NBA while Chandler will start his 8th season in the league. Now let’s throw recent injuries into this mix.

Chandler has foot issues which kept him out of a good chunk of last season; meanwhile, Okafor is currently dealing with a toe injury. As a result, Okafor has not played at all during the exhibition season thus far and the Hornets are hesitant to put him out there for fear of aggravating the injury.

Chandler still has a few good years – assuming he stays healthy – ahead of him, but just know that Okafor brings a bigger upside to New Orleans. His defense and occasional scoring (expect between 12-15 PPG from Okafor this season) cannot be understated here as after Chris Paul and David West, it is between Peja Stojakovic and Okafor to provide some scoring spark.

So when the smoke clears, the Hornets got the better part of this deal, yet both teams got what they wanted. Okafor with the Hornets, assuming everything goes according to plan, should reach the playoffs; Chandler with the Bobcats will have it tougher as Charlotte will struggle with guard Raja Bell out for the immediate future.