The New Orleans Hornets have traded Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza to Washington for Rashard Lewis and the 46th pick, per ESPN. The Hornets apparently plan to waive Lewis before July 1st. Full link here:
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 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.
Props to OnPointLikeCP3 for having the FanShot first. More as it comes..