February 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets small forward Trevor Ariza (1) steals the ball from Washington Wizards power forward Rashard Lewis (9) during the first quarter at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

The New Orleans Hornets acquired Washington’s Rashard Lewis and the 46th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft according to Draft Express. New Orleans will gain about $2 million in cap space with the deal, though that amount will be essentially offset by their future savings and the likely buyout of Lewis’ contract.

New Orleans will cut $10 million of the $24 million Lewis is owed if they buyout his contract before July 1st, according to ESPN. This gives New Orleans an immense amount of cap relief to pursue free agents to build around Anthony Davis next summer. Both Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor have two years remaining on their contracts (Ariza’s second year is a player option worth approximately $7.7 million).

Assuming they retain Eric Gordon and draft a valuable rotation player with the No. 10 pick (say Andre Drummond, Damon Lillard or Dion Waiters), New Orleans suddenly has an impressive core and flexibility to improve their foundation further.

Washington, on the other hand, improves this season but not without hampering their immediate future. I don’t necessarily approve of their decision to acquire older players with bigger contracts — which is exactly the worst kind of contract imaginable — but they do set themselves up with a decent core of John Wall, Bradley Beal (presumably), Nene, Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza and Jan Vesely. Sure, they won’t have any chance of improving via free agency but, at the very least, they’ve given themselves some room to succeed this year.

For what it’s worth, the ESPN NBA Trade Machine predicts this deal will add three wins to Washington’s total while subtracting four from New Orleans.

Keep in mind that the Trade Machine isn’t factoring Davis’ acquisition, who seems to be a pretty good player …

– Hornets injury report: Emeka Okafor (sore left knee) is out. Carl Landry (sprained left ankle) is questionable. Chris Johnson (concussion) is day-to-day.

– San Antonio has taken the first three games of the season series. They have won by an average margin of 5.7 points.

– With a win, San Antonio will extend their league-leading winning streak to 10 games. This would be their second longest streak of the season; their season high is 11 games during Jan. 30-Feb. 20.

– If the Spurs win tonight, this will mark the second time in franchise history with two 10 game winning streaks.

— Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon made his second start with the Hornets during a 94-92 win over the Denver Nuggets. Gordon (knee) missed 47 straight games.

– Gordon on his knee: “(The knee) feels good,” Gordon said. “I just looked forward to winning and my individual game will come as far as stat-wise … I’m looking forward to Friday.”

– Gordon’s line against Denver: 15 points (13 points in the second half), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 3-pointers on 3-of-11 shooting. He made up for his inefficiency by crashing towards the line repeatedly in the second half. He was 7-of-9 from the line.

– A healthy Gordon makes a huge difference: New Orleans is 2-1 with Eric Gordon and 12-39 without him.

– Jarrett Jack (sore right ankle), however, might miss tonight’s game. Jack has averaged 26.5 points, 7.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 56.1 shooting percentage in two games against the Spurs.

– Chris Kaman scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on Wednesday. He also swatted a season-high five blocks.

– Matt Bonner needs six 3-pointers to pass Michael Finley for fourth all-time on the all-time franchise list.

– Bonner and Boris Diaw will probably fight each other for minutes, depending predominately on matchups. Given the Hornets second-ranked 3-point percentage defense and Diaw’s healthy DNP against Boston, I expect Diaw to command more minutes tonight. Just a guess. Patrick Mills and Stephen Jackson were also healthy DNP’s against Boston.

– Tony Parker averaged 16.7 points and 11.3 assists in three games against the Hornets this year.

– Tim Duncan averaged 20.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and a 55.3 shooting percentage in three games against the Hornets.

– In his last three games, Kawhi Leonard averaged 4.3 points, two rebounds, two assists and a 35.7 shooting percentage. Don’t overreact over a possible inconsequential sample size, though. Leonard is entitled to some sort of “rookie wall” considering, well, he hasn’t really experienced one yet. His play should improve and Kawhi will continue to be a valued member of the Spurs rotation.

– The Spurs (24th-ranked offensive rebounding team) have grabbed more offensive rebounds then their opponent in five straight games, marking their longest streak of the season. DeJuan Blair and Duncan are averaging 4.4 offensive rebounds alone over this span.