Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 2:33 pm  |  140 responses

Trade: Tyson Chandler to the Thunder

by Marcel Mutoni

Besieged by injuries all season long, Tyson Chandler’s year has just gone from crappy to ultra-crappy.

Welcome to Oklahoma City, Tyson. We hope you enjoy your stay here. From Thunder Ramblings:

The Thunder has acquired center Tyson Chandler from New Orleans in exchange for Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith, according to a league source with knowledge of the negotiations.

The Thunder will also include the draft rights to Devon Hardin, the 50th overall pick in the 2008 draft.

As Wilcox and Smith are both set to come off the books this summer, this can reasonably be classified as a cash-saving move for the Hornets.

Thoughts?

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  • http://www.where-basketball-b-longs.blogspot.com/ B. Long

    The Hornets are done. I know Tyson was having a down year and doesn’t hardly play a lick of D but this was a give up move. I bet Chris and David are pissed.

  • Jam

    Wow what a retarded move for New Orleans

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    This is only the beginning. I don’t think anyone’s gonna be signing two marquee free agents in the Summer of Free Agent Dreams.

  • http://www.where-basketball-b-longs.blogspot.com/ B. Long

    On the bright side, OKC’s alley-oop rate just skyrocketed!

  • Bear

    Holy S**t. Poor Hornets.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    FREE CHRIS PAUL.

  • riggs

    *sigh* :(

  • http://docfunk.blogspot.com Doc Funk

    I’ll trade my underachievers for your underachievers and we’ll expect something other than under achievement in the future?

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ TADOne

    How good can Chris Paul make Chris Wilcox and Joe smith look? He has done wonders for that scrub David West.

  • http://www.twitter.com/SeanEMitchell Homie

    Bleh. Good move for the Hayseeds, but as someone else said CP3 must be pissed. Now who’s going to start in the middle – Hilton Armstrong?

  • http://www.alloutblitz.com cordeazy

    OKC extends their lead in players who need to lift weights.

  • http:www.myspace.com/linkstigatorkevin Kevin Wilson

    New Orleans wasn’t winning the title, Chandler or no Chandler. The deal’s all about cap space, so we’ll have to look at this deal if and when the Hornets use that cap space. I imagine the cap’s going down next season, so being capped out now is now very forward-thinking.

  • http://www.alloutblitz.com cordeazy

    now all they have to do is trade for Livingston

  • http://www.stonesthrow.com/ Michael NZ

    Totally ready for more Sean Marks.

  • http://nba.com tealish

    Disgusting. No reason for this move. I feel for CP3.

  • http://www.bbl.org.uk Josh D

    I told you all(just look on the VC to San Antonio story bottom comment and my name)

  • http://slamonline.com/ Ryne Nelson

    Sam Presti is doing big things for OKC. Chandler just needs to play defense and rebound. He needs to be a better-than-average center. And, if he can accept this role, the Thunder have added a nice piece to the puzzle.

    Some luck in the lottery and this team could be very serious.

  • http://nba.com tealish

    Wilcox is an alright player. Paul will definitely make him better. But this move is still horseshiat.

  • http://myspace.com/arodakaroman and1ballermj2350

    wow now all the hornets have is CP3, West only matters because of cp3. It’s gotta suck to know that your squad is only going downhill from here for a minute

  • http://slamonline.com/ Ryne Nelson

    Oh, and a year ago, this trade never would have occurred. With the exception of Chris Paul, the Hornets are vastly underperforming and no longer are contenders. New Orleans is giving up on its Playoff aspirations with this deal.

  • http://idunkonthem.blogspot.com/ albie1kenobi

    did chandler play at all this season? he made CP3 even more difficult to defend last year because your bigs had to worry about Tyson screen-and-rolling for oops. Tyson was their only (skinny) paint presence last year also with his boards and blocks.

  • Dark

    Damn, the Thunder have 5 first-round picks in the next two drafts?!? If they get hometown guy Blake Griffin, they’ll have quite a young core – Westbrook, Green, Durant, Griffin, and others by then, with Chandler in the middle.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ TADOne

    Westbrook-Green-Durant-Blake Griffin-Chandler. That will be a hellacious lineup for OKC.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ TADOne

    Dark beat me to it.

  • http://idunkonthem.blogspot.com/ albie1kenobi

    if they get blake griffin, this team is STACKED with young talents and it’s not out of question for them to make the playoffs in 2 years. just look at the blazers, a young all-star swingman leading a talented & hardworking squad.

  • http://idunkonthem.blogspot.com/ albie1kenobi

    i’ll have to end my OKC boycott by then.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    Uhm….haven’t we said that about Portland for a couple of years now. The Blazers are solid….but eventually these young cats have to get paid and there won’t be enough time to get them to gel and get their paper too. Let’s not go crazy.

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Bet the Hornets wish they could un-sign James Posey. Wow, was that a mistake.

  • Clockwork

    Wow, so much for the Hornets alley oops…

  • Jackie Moon

    The Supersonics are going to be good next season.

  • Dark

    Yeah, not to take anything away from James Posey, but your team has to be REALLY good for him to take you over the hump.

  • http://slamonline.com/ Ryne Nelson

    Just what I was thinking, Russ. He’s not bring New Orleans a championship. I remember asking a year ago who was better: New Orleans or Orlando. The Hornets were the favorite…this year, there’s no comparison, even without Jameer Nelson.

  • http://danchamb.com.br/Home/ Lz – Cphfinest3

    Mostly on Posey’s part, his shot at more Horryesque moments just diminished.

  • http://danchamb.com.br/Home/ Lz – Cphfinest3

    (@ Russ, 2:54)

  • Dark

    That is something I’ve been wondering, I haven’t really been following the Hornets – why have they dropped off so much this year? Did losing Pargo really hurt that much?

  • Michael

    I hope OKC doesn’t release Joe Smith, because if they do he more than likely will sign with the Celtics,

  • http://ittakesanationofmillionstoholdthissac.blogspot.com ciolkstar

    Chris Wilcox is a more atheletic David West w/o a jumper and Joe Smith is still Joe smith. Looks like the Spurs will cruise to the top of SW division now.

  • http://danchamb.com.br/Home/ Lz – Cphfinest3

    I think this was a bad move by OKC, they have a nice young trio in Westbrook-Durant-Green (+ all them draftpicks), they should have let Smith and Wilcox contracts run out, and used the money to sign some free agents. Instead they get an often injured Chandler, who’s at best a poor man’s Camby.

  • http://ittakesanationofmillionstoholdthissac.blogspot.com ciolkstar

    Also, the Thunder are now officially scary.

  • Michael

    I mean New Orleans.

  • John

    Good trade, since like everyone else has already said, they weren’t winning with Chandler or without him.

    I thought he was finally showing potential 2 years ago, but he has crapped the bed since.

    Is is just injuries???

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Oh well, at least they only signed him for five years.

  • Joe

    Isn’t Joe Smith just an exact same version of David West? I mean both only shoot 15-18 foot jumpers, Pick-and-Pop players, shooting about 48% from the field, solid defender………..oh wait, no, thats just Joe Smith, um….semi-athletic……oh, uhh, thats only Joe Smith again.

  • http://slamonline.com/ Ryne Nelson

    Chandler just seemed to get better while playing with one of the best point guards of all time. He’s essentially the same player that he was in Chicago, in a different system.

  • matt

    although the hornets needed the money, they are done. with this, the jazz will be the 4th seed in the west when the playoffs start.

  • http://ittakesanationofmillionstoholdthissac.blogspot.com ciolkstar

    I think you’re way off LZ. The Thunder got a defensive big man who can run. Which is exactly what their lineup and style of play needed. Chandler was a disappoitment this year, partly because people expected him to score and NO needed him to, OKC will not. Also, i think some of chandler issues this year have (reportedly) been caused by having an infant keeping him and wifey up all night. Sam Presti is a Spurs guy and he knows waht he’s doing.

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    F*ck the Tuff Kats. I hope Tyson refuses to report.

  • riggs

    cot damn tuff katz

  • Caleb

    I’m a Hornets fan and I’m absolutely stunned and disgusted by this move. The New Orleans Front Office just gave up on this season with this move. Stupid, stupid, stupid… The Paul/West/Chandler core should have been kept intact. Aaaaarrrgghhhhhh

  • http://danchamb.com.br/Home/ Lz – Cphfinest3

    Ciolkstar; Fair enough. I acknowledge that Presti has done a good job up until now. But Chandler might be able to run and jump (if he’s healthy) still do not underestimate what CP3 did for his game. Chandler will go back to his Chi-town level in OKC, and that’s just not worth the money – was it 5 years? Also Chandler is an adequate defensive big because of shotblocking and rebounding, but don’t be fooled he’s average as a 1 on 1 post defender. Btw how many infants was keeping him up in Chicago. NBA players have kids all the time, probably have stay-at-home wifes/girlfriends/leeches, and for sure have money to get their bedroom sound isolated. Tyson dealing with a newborn is a very lame excuse imo.

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