Could The Hornets Loss Be The Nuggets Gain?

Now that Chris Paul has stupidly followed LeBron James’s advice of asking for a trade, it seems likely that the New Orleans Hornets are going to need to make a move and the Nuggets could benefit from it.

If/when Paul is moved it seems likely that the Hornets are going to need to cut salaries and start rebuilding around second-year point guard Darren Collison. If this is the case, Emeka Okafor’s $52 million/4 year contract could be moved in order to cut salaries. And an offer of Kenyon Martin’s expiring contract, Renaldo Balkman for Emeka Okafor and James Posey ($13.4 million/2 years) works under the salary cap.

Okafor would give the Nuggets a defensive enforcer in the middle and could move Nene over to power forward. Giving Denver enough size to compete with the Los Angeles Lakers. Okafor hasn’t lived up to expectations, with a career average of 13.3 points and 10.3 rebounds. His intensity has been questioned before, recently by former coach Larry Brown, but his defensive stalwart makes him valuable. His post defensive skills are among the best and he is also a physical defender. His offense leaves a lot to desire for, but the same can be said for K-Mart.

Okafor would make many people forget Marcus Camby, due to his excellent timing on blocking shots and his far superior post defense. Okafor is one of the few big man in the NBA that can guard the likes of Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol one-on-one and playing next to another solid big man like Nene would make life a lot easier for Okafor.