The Hornets officially announced their acquistion of Ryan Anderson in a sign-and-trade with the Orlando Magic Wednesday.
The Hornets came to terms over the weekend with Anderson on a four-year, $36 million sign-and-trade deal which will send Gustavo Ayon to the Magic.
We broke down the deal this weekend when details first emerged. (Read our Full Analysis here.)
The Hornets get a floor-spacing forward who also rebounds at a high rate to pair with Anthony Davis and most likely Eric Gordon, assuming the Hornets match the Phoenix Suns' max offer sheet for Gordon. There are concerns about how the Hornets will fare with the undersized but extremely long Davis attempting to play center at such a low weight and with such a thin frame. But the Hornets will have a versatile set of players to move forward with.
The Magic appear to be headed in two directions, giving Jameer Nelson a multi-year deal to retain him while letting Anderson, arguably the second-best player on the team behind Dwight Howard, go for only Ayon, who did show things but is not in the same class as Anderson.
Hornets GM Dell Demps said in a press release:
“We are very excited to add a player of Ryan’s caliber to the Hornets Organization and the New Orleans Community,” Hornets General Manager Dell Demps said. “Ryan is a high character person, a good teammate and a player we believe will make the Hornets a better team.”
