ESPN Reports Trevor Ariza to Hornets and Darren Collison to Pacers

ESPN.com has reported that a four team, five player deal is close to going down.

According to the report, Trevor Ariza will be traded to New Orleans Hornets, while Darren Collison and James Posey will head to the Indiana Pacers. In return Indiana will send Troy Murphy to the New Jersey Nets. Houston will then receive Courtney Lee from the Nets. 

These aren't big name players but some of them will bring much needed help to their new team. Here are the winners and losers of the trade. 

New Orleans Hornets-Loser

The Hornets have been looking for a talented wing player to play with Chris Paul and might have found it in Trevor Ariza. The acquisition of Ariza was a nice pickup for the Hornets and for Trevor's career because he will now run with a elite point guard. 

If the Hornets decide to adopt their previous system of getting out in the open court, then Ariza will benefit even more. Ariza is meant to be out in the open court and with Chris Paul running the break, it will bring some excitement back to the Big Easy. 

The Hornets are losers in this trade because they decided that Darren Collison was worth so little. I understand that they got rid of James Posey's annoying contract but they could have gotten more for Collison.

Collison proved to be a fantastic fill in for Chris Paul last year. He looked like a mini version of Chris Paul himself but now he will take his services to Indiana. 

New Orleans wanted to keep Chris Paul happy this season and teams took advantage of that. The Hornets also needed a big man to pair with Paul but Ariza will have to do for now. 

Indiana Pacers-Winner

Indiana has needed a point guard for the longest time and now have Collison running the point. He is a young and promising point guard who will add to the core of Granger and Hibbert. 

Like I said before, he looked like a mini version of Chris Paul himself when he filled in for the injured superstar. Indiana had to accept Posey's contract but that is a small cost when they could have a future stud at the point guard position. Granger has been wasting his talents on this team and is now 27, entering his prime. 

Indiana also traded away Troy Murphy, who was hurting them in the pocketbook and had no future with the team anyway. All in all, Indiana came out with a promising point guard they have been coveting all summer and another piece to their young core. 

New Jersey Nets-Winner

Troy Murphy will be a nice addition for the Nets. He will be that stretch four that could not only free up space in the paint for Lopez but also help with the boards. Murphy has proven to be an elite rebounder in this league and will not ask for a lot of touches, which will prove beneficial to Lopez. 

Lopez complained last season about how he and Yi can't really work together in the paint but with the veteran Murphy, there shouldn't be any problems. Murphy knows his role and won't try to be a player he isn't. 

Courtney Lee didn't turn out to their liking and it seemed like he wouldn't be a part of their future anyway. 

Houston Rockets-Winner

Courtney Lee will prove to be a serviceable back-up for the injury prone Kevin Martin. Lee's progression was halted last season because of injury and consistency issues but a change of scenery should do well for him. 

The Rockets are winners because they got rid of Ariza's contract. Ariza is a promising player but was far too inconsistent last season. His shooting percentage plummeted last season as expected with Yao injured and his defense was inconsistent. Battier was the better fit with the then newly formed back court of Aaron Brooks and Kevin Martin. That back court doesn't make you think defense and having a consistent perimeter defender in Battier will probably fit better with the return of Yao. 

All Houston did was get rid of a contract that could have potentially been a burden and pick up a nice bench player. It wasn't too risky but proved to be beneficial to the Rockets.