Acquiring Vasquez the final piece in the offseason puzzle

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Published: December 24, 2011

Analysts like to dissect each trade individually, but moves are usually connected to other moves, so looking at each one individually in a vacuum is somewhat pointless. On the surface, the Quincy Pondexter for Greveis Vasquez trade seems somewhat debateable, but if you take a step back it is easy to see how this small move brings everything together.

While Eric Gordon and the Minnesota pick were the highlights of the Chris Paul trade, the player that can turn that trade from a good one to a great one is second year forward Al-Farouq Aminu. He can be the next Shawn Marion or the next Julian Wright, and the sooner the Hornets find out, the better off they will be. In order to find out, the Hornets need to get Aminu consistent minutes and that just got a heck of a lot easier without Pondexter taking reps in games or practices.

Meanwhile, the Hornets had a glaring need at point guard after refusing to accept Mo Williams back from the Clippers in the Paul trade. Vasquez gives the team a young guy to develop at a very reasonable price of 4.5 million dollars over the next three years. Vasquez isn’t a pure point, but there aren’t many of those in the league anyway. He is an oversized point guard who could look really good next to an undersized shooting guard who, like Vasquez, can play on the ball or off of it depending on the situation.

Add Ayon into the mix (he technically is a rookie) and all of a sudden you have prospects to develop at positions 1-4, two likely lottery picks, and two frontline players in Kaman and Landry who should be hot commodities at the trade deadline. Whether or not these guys will reach their potential is a separate issue, but what is clear is that Dell Demps is giving this franchise every opportunity to succeed by paying attention to the pieces that this specific puzzle needs.

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