NOT good Clippers talking to OK50

[dav7z]

Bad news all day for the Bobcats , First the Bucks sign Bogut for over 72 milion and now the Clippers talking to OK50 driving the price up.
I don't care what you guys think but i would NOT offer him a pennie over 13 milion a year. If he signs with another fool so be it. Hes not worth a max deal.
We might need to start exploring some sign and trades for him.

http://www.realgm.com/

[Muttley]

I'm just not sure who we get if it's not Emeka. I think we'd be foolish to not try and keep him, or at least get something out of him. A sign-and-trade would be the best of the worst-case scenarios, but I'm betting we're the team that "loses" on any deal like that.

[Proudiddy]

That sucks... I was hoping that they would just offer Smith a deal and everything would fall into place for us to easily keep Okafor. I really hope that still happens. If not, we'll either end up with plenty of cap space to sign some other quality players (perhaps Josh Smith) and trade for someone to fill Okafor's shoes. Perhaps the front office anticipated this as well and that is why we are hearing the rumors of Wallace and May for Boozer?

[tamburello]

Let's pretend that you're Clippers. Would you prefer an -at best- undersized power forward and real small forward while you also have an up and coming talent in Al Thornton or would you replace your big offseason loss with a real power forward-center, who has no offense but defense while this offers a great chance to complement Kaman's offensive game?

I hope they prefer Smith, but I'm not hopeful. Because common sense orders that they should get Okafor. And sadly we have nothing to do but wait the Clippers decision.

[ammofan]

Maybe that is why the boozer rumor is around...hmmmmmm

Maybe we dont wanna give Mek that much or even get him back at all.


Would you rather have..

Boozer/ Mohammed/ Ajinca/ Twiggy

or

Emeka/ Mohammed/ Ajinca/ Twiggy

[countryboi]

man meka agent wouldnt be doing his job if he didnt have meka listen to all offers

[dav7z]

Maybe that is why the boozer rumor is around...hmmmmmm

Maybe we dont wanna give Mek that much or even get him back at all.


Would you rather have..

Boozer/ Mohammed/ Ajinca/ Twiggy

or

Emeka/ Mohammed/ Ajinca/ Twiggy


I would much rather have Boozer than Mek if we could just lock him up for the next six years. We still have Nazz til Ajinca learns . And we have the cash to sign Boozer long term.

[Slam]

Maybe that is why the boozer rumor is around...hmmmmmm

Maybe we dont wanna give Mek that much or even get him back at all.


Would you rather have..

Boozer/ Mohammed/ Ajinca/ Twiggy

or

Emeka/ Mohammed/ Ajinca/ Twiggy

Emeka/ Mohammed/ Ajinca/ Twiggy by a mile.

[MattD]

what is this boozer rumor? the thing that fans on message boards made up?

[dav7z]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53511/19691231/okafor_hears_from_clippers/#


Seems as hes been offered a contract

[Slam]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53511/19691231/okafor_hears_from_clippers/#


Seems as hes been offered a contract

Naaaaa dav. They just made contact. Their 1st choice is Josh Smith. They are just covering bases.

[MattD]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53511/19691231/okafor_hears_from_clippers/#


Seems as hes been offered a contract

"preliminary contact "

Contract???

[spectre]

contact

Meaning Baylor has called and said "whasup".

[Alex]

Emeka/ Mohammed/ Ajinca/ Twiggy by a mile.

You're crazy. Adding Boozer would instantly make us a playoff team. He's an All-Star and he's got low post moves galore not to mention his sweet midrange jumper. Last time I checked points is what counts in basketball now blocked shots.

BTW, people who are saying that we will suffer on defense if Emeka leaves need to realize that we've been horrible on defense in all four seasons that we've been in existence.

Once again though, the chances of Boozer coming here are 0% because he went to Duke.

[Icky Thump]

Again if we are forced to offer some ridiculous contract I'd rather do a sign and trade but our front office better have something in the works. As usual we let others affect what we do... this team is stupid.

We could have gotten a post player, made a move before now but no!!!! Now our hand is forced to either pray somehow to do a sign and trade, sign Okafor to some crazy deal or go without any post player. Great to have a backup freaking point guard though! :)

[BIGCatBobcat]

Again if we are forced to offer some ridiculous contract I'd rather do a sign and trade but our front office better have something in the works. As usual we let others affect what we do... this team is stupid.

We could have gotten a post player, made a move before now but no!!!! Now our hand is forced to either pray somehow to do a sign and trade, sign Okafor to some crazy deal or go without any post player. Great to have a backup freaking point guard though! :)

exactly this is why i don't like this situation at all...

[MattD]

well if we swing boozer like ammofan reported in the rumor thing, we must keep mek at center for better interior d. Whatever the price. Mek+Boozer=one of the best frontcourts in the nba

[dnbman]

well if we swing boozer like ammofan reported in the rumor thing, we must keep mek at center for better interior d. Whatever the price. Mek+Boozer=one of the best frontcourts in the nba

True. Also, if our other guys blossom as we expect, Boozer might be more than happy to stick around after this year. We might have one of the better built teams in the league if our young guys pan out and Felton continues to develop. Boozer is exactly the kind of player we need to go along with the core sans Wallace.

I'd hate to see Wallace go, but Boozer is one of the few players I'd want straight up for him.

[jpf_v2.0]

I hate the thought of Mek playing somewhere else, but at the same time I can't see giving him more than the same amount that Bogut got.

[King Taharqa]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53511/19691231/okafor_hears_from_clippers/#


Seems as hes been offered a contract

If the Clippers go crazy with the contract, I say let Emeka walk.

[dav7z]

acordinng to Bonell MEK is in the waiting game . Bonell all so says our chances of keeping Mek is good

Good read



http://www.charlotte.com/507/story/708305.html

[Loh_14]

I hope Emeka doesn't demand too much because I don't think Bogut deserved the amount he got anyway. I still think we should go all out to retain him and I suppose paying a little above last year's offer is reasonable enough. He's an important part of the team's core and if he does leave, I don't see the remaining bigs in the team having his kind of presence.

[Brad]

The only way Okafor could be replaced is via a trade. Perhaps that is why they were exploring a trade for Felton and Wallace before the draft, gauging their values in case this scenario unfolds.

[spectre]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-clippers11-2008jul11,0,616194.story


Dunleavy had dinner with Atlanta Hawks restricted free agent Josh Smith on Wednesday. Charlotte Bobcats forward Emeka Okafor, also a restricted free agent, is among their primary targets.

However, no offer sheet for either player is imminent. Also, the Hawks and Bobcats are expected to be eager to match any offers to retain their services. The Clippers can dissuade them from that by front-loading any offer and including hefty bonuses.

"We are going to take a step back and evaluate everything," Clippers President Andy Roeser said.

[dnbman]

The Clippers can dissuade them from that by front-loading any offer and including hefty bonuses.

I got a sock full of quarters and a piece of pipe that says that's a bad idea.

Anybody want to take a road trip to the land of angels? Get in the van.

[ohara831]

Clippers just traded a future 2nd to Denver for Marcus Camby. Dont think they will be going after Okafor now.

[tamburello]

Yes, definitely Clippers are no longer threat to Okafor. So I guess Okafor will sign the qualifying offer with us. Because apparently he will not be satsified with our offers no more.

[polarcat]

as glad as i am that the clips are off the eo50 train, i'm quite disappointed at our front office. yet again, we blunder on a deal that we easily could've pulled off that would have improved our team. i don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but the clips didn't even give up a 2nd round pick, rather the deal just included that the two teams switch places in the 2nd round. so the clips got a big post defender that can play the 4/5 spot for switching places with denver in the 2nd round. camby would be great here and would look good beside okafor and we wouldn't have to lose a single player.

felts
swish
wallace
camby
okafor

looks like a team vying for a 7/8 spot in the eastern conference. oh well, i guess the more it happens with our front office, the less surprising it is.

[jstar5]

If/when we sign Okafor to a long-term deal, w/o giving up any salary we couldn't have taken on Camby's contract. I've read conflicting reports but he's due somewhere between 10 - 11.2 mil each of the next two seasons.

He's old and has durability issues, but w/ that said last year he played the most games in a single season that he has in his entire career and averaged 13.1 reb and 3.6 blocks.

Still his contract made him untouchable.

[jstar5]

Plus, we need a PF that is a reliable scoring threat

[aznjustice14]

i dont see much benefit with having camby with us. i mean he does have more range than okafor but he is definitely not an offensive threat in my opinion. that is what makes boozer with okafor so tempting because of how they would compliment each other offensively and defensively. that WOULD however definitely up our bpg with wallace, camby, and okafor all swatting shots...

i just don't see camby/okafor with a jrich and wallace being any much better than iverson, anthony, camby, nene/martin. it would probably boost us to playoff of course but would leave us with even less financial options and just maybe barely get us past first round...with a huge big IF of whether or not wallace, camby, and okafor can even play 82 games combined with all 3 of their injury histories

[tamburello]

We could not have acquired Camby for a 2nd rounder. Because we did not have the cap space that Clippers had. Maybe we would have added some filler pieces, maybe very valuable ones, but Nuggets had aimed at taking no salary back and having a 10 million $ trade exception. Please don't put the blame on our front office in Camby issue.

[polarcat]

actually, i didn't realize how much camby cost. so yeah, no way we could afford his services. as for the front office part, i didn't take into account the salary, so yeah not their fault on this one. however, our front office has been lackluster when it comes to making deals that benefit us and this initially reaked of a typical deal that never happened for the cats. honestly, outside of the jrich deal and moving up to take okafor, i think there's been more negative than positive in their abilities. sorry, i'm not trying to steer this topic off into a "rant about the front office" thread so i will stop there.

[boobcats]

You have got to be kidding me. How can we not put the blame on the front office?

We had plenty of cap space to acquire Camby.

Four years ago we had $50 million worth of cap space.

We've just blown it all on stupid signings like Matt Carroll and trades like Nazr. You let him walk last year and we've got Camby, period.

You can't say you are going to build through the draft and then "build" by picking guys who suck like Morrison at #3.

And then blow your cap space on rotation players like Carroll and Nazr.

The Richardson deal was a cap killer but at least he's productive for gods sake.

[tamburello]

You have got to be kidding me. How can we not put the blame on the front office?

We had plenty of cap space to acquire Camby.

Four years ago we had $50 million worth of cap space.

We've just blown it all on stupid signings like Matt Carroll and trades like Nazr. You let him walk last year and we've got Camby, period.

You can't say you are going to build through the draft and then "build" by picking guys who suck like Morrison at #3.

And then blow your cap space on rotation players like Carroll and Nazr.

The Richardson deal was a cap killer but at least he's productive for gods sake.

When did we have "huge" cap space? If you mean two years ago, you're right. But here the discussion is not about our "horrible" moves in the past.

If you mean one week ago and now, we don't have any cap space. Even we had not traded for Nazr, we didn't have the enough space to absorb Camby's contract. And even if we had not re-signed Carroll and didn't fill his space with anybody, we still would not have the enough space for Camby. After renouncing Hollins, probably yes then. I'm not defending Mohammed trade, all I say is it could not help us now.

On the other hand, how could they predict that Denver would put Camby for sale for nothing a year ago? Is it logical to save cap space for some future thoughts which could not be seen by even Nostradamus?

By the way, 4 years ago we didn't have 50 million space. In 1st year, we had 66%, in 2nd year 75% of salary cap are allowed for us.

[boobcats]

Denver has been trying to shed payroll the past two seasons.

There are always teams looking to get under the luxury tax.

The point is you don't blow cap space on rotation players until you've filled out a lineup.

Everyone knows this. We botched this thing big time.

We have got to blow things up and start over. It's a great sign that they weren't dumb enough to make a mistake like Milwaukee did with Bogut.

Let Okafor walk if he commands more than $10 million/season. Who cares he's not taking anyone to the playoffs as the best or even 2nd best player on a team. Therefore, his market value should be ~$10 million.

An interesting thing is happening in the NBA right now. Teams having been making brutal cap decisions for years and overpaying to retain their own players because they are scared to take one step backwards to make two steps forward in the future.

Well, its almost like the housing market. Everyone is freaking tapped out. They've already pulled the equity out of their home and maxxed their credit cards. No one has any cap space to throw at free agents anymore. That means if you HAVE cap space people will just dump talented players like Camby or Richardson at you for almost nothing.

The other thing it means is that good but not great players like Igoudala, Okafor, Gerald Wallace, etc hit the open market and feel they command max (or near max) money. And even though some GM's would be dumb enough to give it to them they can't because they've already thrown $10 mil/year at Nene or $19/year at Stephon Marbury.

So the players can sulk all they want but when it comes down to it if no one has the cap room to offer you more than a mid level exception then you are better off staying with your old team and taking the $8-$10 million they are offering.

I mean Okafor could always take the one year tender offer and hope things are better next offseason. But will the landscape really change all that much in one year? And is it really worth risking $50 million when you're an oft-injured player?

The players are out of leverage for once.

[dnbman]

You made some good points, but you're also forgetting that most teams resign the best talent, the guys you can rely on to take your team to the playoffs. Because their respective teams have Bird rights, they can offer higher contracts for longer duration. So, there's very little chance you're going to get a marquee player through free agency unless you are a big market team like New York or LA.

What that means is that all of the other teams are trying to get the best players they can, usually second tier players, and overpaying to get them. That's why Rashard Lewis got his deal. That's why any big who can get 10 rebounds a game will get $10M a year.

The other possibility is that you trade for that big dollar player. However, usually teams only do that if the player is declining, the team is reducing payroll, or both.

You make it sound like it's easy to build a contender and it's not. We've had terrible luck with the lottery, and we haven't maximized picks. But, the lottery is a crap shoot. You rarely can tell if a guy is going to be a franchise player outside of one or two obvious picks, which we have not had the fortune to have with the exception of Okafor, who was the second best player in that draft.

The other thing about our squad is that we're evaluating it based on pretty poor coaching. We have a ton of talent on this squad, the kind of guys you need to win a championship. We do need a solid, consistent PF, but otherwise we have most of the pieces. Now, we need to see if Brown can put it all together and make it work.

Letting Okafor go isn't going to give us the financial freedom to make a huge difference next year, as we're going to have to pay Felton if he plays well. Rather, we need to sign Okafor to the $13-14M contract he'll probably demand and be glad that we have a defensive anchor for a few years.

[bfer]

Still not good. I didnt realize how aggressive we were for Diop.

From ESPN.com
"Okafor, meanwhile, continues to be mentioned by chatterers as the restricted free agent most likely to leave his current employer via sign-and-trade. Although new Bobcats coach Larry Brown recently said he hopes Okafor is re-signed -- because Okafor played for Brown on the Olympic team in 2004 and "plays a position that is very hard to find" -- Charlotte's interest in bringing him back has been questioned ever since it offered what sources say was a five-year contract starting at the $5.6 million midlevel exception to DeSagana Diop earlier this month. Diop preferred to return to the Dallas Mavericks when the Mavs matched Charlotte's offer"

[tamburello]

Still not good. I didnt realize how aggressive we were for Diop.

From ESPN.com
"Okafor, meanwhile, continues to be mentioned by chatterers as the restricted free agent most likely to leave his current employer via sign-and-trade. Although new Bobcats coach Larry Brown recently said he hopes Okafor is re-signed -- because Okafor played for Brown on the Olympic team in 2004 and "plays a position that is very hard to find" -- Charlotte's interest in bringing him back has been questioned ever since it offered what sources say was a five-year contract starting at the $5.6 million midlevel exception to DeSagana Diop earlier this month. Diop preferred to return to the Dallas Mavericks when the Mavs matched Charlotte's offer"
If that is really true, that means some basketball gods protected us. I can't believe how hilarious our front office can sometimes be. My honest thanks to Mark Cuban.