I remember going to a Bulls game years ago and witnessing Tyson Chandler get booed to the bench. He was on the floor for total of 4 minutes and accumulated 5 fouls, no points, no rebounds, and 1 turnover (box score). To my relief, the Bulls traded him to the Hornets after they signed Ben Wallace for P.J. Brown's expiring contract.
Chandler had 2 decent years in N.O., averaging double digit rebounds, before injuries ruined his last two seasons. Last summer he was shipped to Charlotte for fellow #2 overall pick Emeka Okafor. Today he was traded from Charlotte along with Alexis Ajinca for Eduardo Najera, Matt Carrol and Erik Dampier's unguaranteed contract. This is a pretty low risk trade for Dallas. Chandler will be motivated to stay healthy and crash the boards seeing as this is a contract year for him, and Ajinca is a project at C. With Dallas being a perennial playoff team, Chandler should see some meaningful minutes off the bench behind Brendan Haywood. If he doesn't mesh well, his expiring contract will be attractive to many teams come the trade deadline.
Ajinca was drafted 20th overall in the 2008 draft because.... well no one really knows why. Before playing in the NBA he averaged 5 ppg in France. What hurts is that he was drafted ahead of rotation players such as Ryan Anderson (Magic), Courtney Lee (Nets), Serge Ibaka (Thunder), Nicolas Batum (Blazers), and George Hill (Spurs). Hell, the Spurs are thinking of trading Tony Parker because Hill has developed so nicely. It's difficult to decipher what direction Michael Jordan and Larry Brown are taking this Bobcats team. Today they basically traded a prospect and a respected defensive center with an expiring contract for Najera and Carrol's onerous contracts.
At the end of the day it's a head scratching maneuver by Charlotte and a savvy move by Dallas (sorry Mavs fans, Al Jefferson would not have been a good fit in that offense).
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