In terms of name recognition, Emeka Okafor-for-Tyson Chandler has a little wow factor to it.

Both were the second players taken in their respective drafts, toiling at a center position where there is a noted absence of game-changing talent available. They're each just 26 years old, though both Libras will have birthdays before officially taking the court for their new teams.

Okafor and Chandler are at an age most consider to be the midst of an athlete's prime, which is one reason both have huge contracts.

But, please, if you find yourself wanting to call this a blockbuster, stick your head in the nearest freezer and cool off.

The bulk of the wow factor that exists does so only because nobody saw this coming, and by this, I mean New Orleans taking on salary.

This is not a blockbuster move. Doesn't a deal have to involve at least one superstar to earn that label? This transaction has none. It has nice players -- when healthy. It also has, in abundance, what drives most NBA deals these days: question marks and salary cap concerns.

Mind you, this isn't on the Larry Hughes-for-Ben Wallace level of mistake-for-mistake, but if you want a point of reference for what this center swap is going to be like, it would be similar to the Jermaine O'Neal/Shawn Marion trade that the Heat and Raptors made in February. Even that is a stretch, as neither Okafor nor Chandler can hold a candle to what J.O. and Marion have accomplished in their careers, but there are similarities in the circumstances surrounding both deals.

Miami and Toronto were both hoping for better fits for their highly paid, high profile underachievers, players they had each independently acquired in the hopes of capitalizing on one last surge chalked up to change of scenery. They traded them for one another when it didn't happen, with the Heat gambling that they won't regret paying O'Neal for an extra year since they gain cap flexibility when he comes off the books next summer, as well as a conditional first-rounder between 2010-15.

Marion is now in Dallas after giving the Raptors a bit of a boost. Miami has one more season of signing checks and worrying that O'Neal will be physically able to anchor the middle. One throw-in, Jamario Moon, is gone, while the other, Marcus Banks, remains in Toronto with a salary no one wants to touch. Although it freed up the cap space to sign Hedo Turkoglu, Toronto is now unlikely to keep Chris Bosh, making the Marion-for-O'Neal about as inconsequential as a big deal gets.

Only Okafor can prevent this deal from heading down that same road.

This deal is fiscally irresponsible for a market that has to agonize over the bottom line, but New Orleans is apparently of the belief that you have to spend money to make money. The Hornets will be paying Okafor $62.5 million dollars over the next five years to prove to Chris Paul that they're committed to winning, so it would be great to see him earn his keep the way Peja Stojakovic hasn't been able to.

Professionally, Okafor will be into it. A Houston native, he knows what the people on the Gulf Coast have been through and what a great product they deserve. It just remains to be seen whether his back and ankles, problem areas in the past, hold up. It should supply extra incentive that after he's managed to play in all 82 in consecutive seasons, he's now been dealt for someone who comes with his own massive warning label.

Okafor is making strides, but has to do it at a quicker pace. His value hinges on his improvement. He's got to develop into a better offensive weapon than he's been over his career, especially now that he's playing with Paul and will get easier looks than he's ever had in his life. If you're going to command a salary averaging over 12 large per season, you've got to score more than 13.2 points per game.

Unless he wants to be labeled as overpaid in a city that can't really afford him, Okafor is going to have to turn the corner and make a David West-like jump. If he does that, Paul will be happy, which means everyone will be happy. Owner George Shinn, too, though maybe a little less around payday.

If Okafor fails, this deal is going to be remembered as bad for both sides.

In the short term, it's already awful for the Bobcats, making it look to their fans as if they're starting over.

After pledging to go hard after that elusive first playoff berth at this time last year, it's hard to see what the team is doing now. Raymond Felton still doesn't have his security, Gerald Wallace's name is constantly in trade rumors and now Okafor, face of the franchise since its inception, is gone.

In his place arrives a center who no one can honestly believe will be able to stay healthy over the next two years, which means the odds of Charlotte reaching the postseason with him as the starter are slim-to-none. Larry Brown can still coach, but it seems like the Bobcats are on a treadmill for now, killing time by jogging in place until the ownership situation is more secure.

Oklahoma City's medical personnel felt that Chandler's toe could have recurring issues, leading the Thunder to rescind a deal that netted them the Hornets center for next to nothing back in February. They didn't want to get stuck paying for damaged goods.

The Bobcats are willing to take that risk, suffering from a severe case of buyer's remorse over giving Okafor a six-year, $72 million extension last offseason. Although it costs them a little in the short term, the Bobcats will be rid of Chandler's deal by the summer of 2011. With the franchise up for sale, that's reassuring to potential buyers.

It should be disconserting to everyone else. The highest draft pick in Bobcats history just got shipped out of town having never made the playoffs, discarded for a contract the team already can't wait to be rid of.

Nope, not quite a blockbuster.

Tony Mejia is senior writer for Pro Basketball News. He can be reached at mejia@probasketballnews.com.

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