All players experience injury plagued seasons. And even if I did like using the “injury prone” term… I don’t think I’d use it on either of these two players.

I’m happy about the trade. I would have loved to see Tyson stick around and have a bounce back year… but getting Okafor is so much better than a couple of reserves or an expiring contract or some other salary dump. Okafor is a damn fine center… something few teams have, but something the Hornets can still claim to have after this trade. He’s not at the elite defensive level that Chandler is when healthy, but he’s more of shot blocker and isn’t a bad defender at all. And more offense is nice… I’m diggin it.

Cool the jets everyone.

While “injury prone” may have been overstating it, Okafor has missed substantial portions of seasons past due to an ankle injury. In fact his 26 games played in 05-06 and his 67 in the following year were a direct result of this.

Now, obviously I want him to stay injury-free (and his past two seasons point to that being a distinct possibility, but we all know big men are more prone to injury (especially feet/ankle related). And this guy has seen some serious time on the pine in his (still very young) career because of injuries like that.

Clearly a better option than Chandler and I hope he can continue his healthy streak.

Thanks for keeping me honest.

But he plays within himself. And, hell, you’re losing Tyson Chandler, who makes Okafor look like Wilt with the ball.