Dell Demps: Trades with Toronto Raptorts benefit New Orleans Hornets' short- and long-term goals

The fastest start in franchise history and the best record in the NBA isn’t enough, apparently, to satisfy New Orleans Hornets General Manager Dell Demps.
Demps on Saturday acquired point guard Jarrett Jack, center David Andersen and combo guard Marcus Banks from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for forward Peja Stojakovic and backup guard Jerryd Bayless, whom the Hornets had obtained from Portland five days before the start of the regular season.

The move should ensure that three-time All-Star Chris Paul has a backup with many of the same skills in Jack, who could be a starter on many NBA teams.

It also helps that Paul and Jack, both products of ACC basketball schools (Wake Forest and Georgia Tech), are close friends off the court.

Paul is 25; Jack is 27 and has two years remaining on his contract. Jack is being paid $4.86 million this season, $5.2 million next and $5.5 in the final year of the deal. Banks’ contract ($4.75 million this year) expires after this season, and Andersen ($2.5 million) has a team option next season.

“We are excited about the players acquired today and feel that our short-term and long-term goals will benefit from this move,” Demps said in a press release. “Peja has been a valued contributor as a Hornet for years, and we wish both Peja and Jerryd all the best in their future and thank them for their recent contributions in helping us get off to a strong start.”

The trade was complicated by the fact league rules mandated that Bayless could not be part of a multi-player deal until Dec. 23 because he recently was acquired by the Hornets. Therefore, the teams negotiated a Bayless-for-Andersen man-for-man swap.

Economically, the Hornets have unburdened themselves of the final year of Stojakovic’s bloated contract, which was paying him $15.3 million this season, and the Hornets took on no expensive long-term contracts in return.

The moves reflect a total payroll savings of $5.5 million, bringing the Hornets’ salary outlay to $66.644 million this season, well under the luxury-tax threshold of about $70 million.

More important, though, it also makes good fiscal sense because Stojakovic, 33, was unlikely to contribute much this season because of the complexion of the Hornets’ roster, which is currently made up of younger, more athletic players who are able to play tighter defense and run the floor as Paul pushes the tempo.

Stojakovic was inactive for four games this season — earning $188,000 per game for sitting on the bench in a suit. He also had one DNP-coach’s decision before going on the inactive list. He recently worked his way back into the rotation in New Orleans’ past four games, although he said two weeks ago during his inactive status that it was clear to him he was no longer in the team’s long-range plans.

The trading of Bayless was somewhat of a surprise because the Hornets shipped a future first-round pick to the Trail Blazers to acquire him in the days leading to the regular-season opener.