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Wilcox goes to playoff team

The trade of Tyson Chandler to OKC for Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith is pretty interesting.  It's seen as a salary dump, because Wilcox and Smith have expiring contracts.  And NO does clean up its future commitments, but Smith and Wilcox are fairly solid NBA bodies, and it should be interesting to see what Chris Paul makes out of them--especially our old pal Wilcox.

I haven't kept tabs on Wilcox, but one assumes he's a general part of the OKC failure/rebuilding, and it seems like he's missed a fair number of games over the past two seasons, so he's had injury issues. 

The NO thinking must be that they're not going to win a championship while overpaying Chandler.  But if Paul stays healthy they'll hang in for one of the 2nd tier playoff spots, Wilcox and Smith can more or less replace Chandler, and they can find a new big through the draft or free agency, or in a trade.

For OKC, they get a guy who defends well against the quality big men in the league, and who rebounds well.  His limited offensive game will disappear, however, without Chris Paul getting him dunks and layups.  But with Durant, Westbrook, and Green, and with Nick Collison rebounding and hustling, OKC is better.  Chandler is young too, and he might complement the youth movement pretty well.

Still, the shiny object here is one more clean shot for old Wheezy.  Paul could make him look really good in a big hurry, and he could play himself into another healthy deal if it all goes perfectly.  Citizens will remember that he was traded away before the Clippers' 06 playoff run, so he has no postseason experience.  But that's probably going to change.  This could be fun to watch.

And I'm trying to think of former Clips who were traded away or signed deals elsewhere and became successful in the postseason.  You know, besides Sam Cassell and Ron Harper.  Wilcox is still an unlikely candidate to turn into a perennial postseason contributor, but at least he's got a shot at it now. 

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