Diop could be dropped

In an expected move that will bring joy to ziggy's ears, Diop could be dropped like it's hot.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/features/rumors


The Charlotte Bobcats can increase their 2012-13 salary cap room on Tuesday by using the amnesty provision. ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer list DeSagana Diop as a potential candidate.

Diop doesn't have a future with the team and the removal of his $7.37 million salary makes sense. The Bobcats could amnesty Matt Carroll, however his salary is only $3.5 million for 2012-13

If the Bobcats don't use it on Diop or Carroll, it like means they'll designate Tyrus Thomas in 2013 or 2014.



I say save it we Tyrus does not pan out, just bury Diop so deep on the bench, the towel boy will get more PT than him

I, for myself, defend the idea of not using the amnesty this season, so I agree with Mr. superb. If we will, the only candidate must be TT, but let's give him a final chance. I'm almost sure he'll blow it but, whatever. What else can we lose?

The reason of my belief is too obvious, I think. The player we will bring with the cap space will not make us contenders for playoffs whatsoever (I don't even mention championship). Diop will be a free agent, and can be used as a trade bait as well as Carroll. We are not paying tax now, so amnesty does not save a dollar for MJ. Next summer, with expiring contracts' coming off the books, we'll have a decent cap space, which can be extended with the amnestying TT and we can offer FA's up to maximum. Also we'll have yet another high draft pick (maybe two, from Portland), and we might have a great core to start winning.

The best i can guess is we have about five million left to sign a power foward ?? Thats my guess . Humpries is the only one i can see demanding more than that . If we let TT go we would need to sign two Power fowards. Like others i don't want to anmesty expiring contracts . So put me on board of not going over the 58 mil . Tamb how much do we have left to spend .
Guys thet we might be able to afford . DJ White, A Randolph, A Blanche, may be Landry, Can;t we resign UPS last and go over the 58 milion and be no where close to the L Tax ?

to me it is just silly to use it on diop. he is expiring, so at the very worst he comes off the cap in a year where we aren't trying to be that good anyway. at best we flip him for a player on a two year deal and pick up another draft pick. if i were cho, i would take pleasure in using it on tyrus thomas and i wouldn't even need to wait and see. dude is never going to get it.

I'm with Tam. With the investment we've made in TT, we might as well exhaust every possibility of getting some return on that. I also agree that using it on Diop is a waste, and using it on Carroll doesn't benefit us enough to be worth it. While I've been an ardent TT supporter, even I have come to terms with the fact that he'll never play up to that contract, but by giving him one more year, at least there's a chance he stays healthy and can improve his stock to the point that he's at least tradeable next year (that's doubtful, but one can hope). The only thing that would make me want to use it on him now is if we had a chance at Humphries. He's young enough that he could be a part of our core going forward, but otherwise, save it til next year.

If anything, they might trade Diop for a better forward with an extra year left on his contract.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dav7z

The best i can guess is we have about five million left to sign a power foward ?? Thats my guess . Humpries is the only one i can see demanding more than that . If we let TT go we would need to sign two Power fowards. Like others i don't want to anmesty expiring contracts . So put me on board of not going over the 58 mil . Tamb how much do we have left to spend .
Guys thet we might be able to afford . DJ White, A Randolph, A Blanche, may be Landry, Can;t we resign UPS last and go over the 58 milion and be no where close to the L Tax ?

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Let's calculate the situation together, then?

2012-13 guaranteed salaries:
Gordon, 12.4 mil
TT, 8 mil
Diop, 7.372 mil
MKG, 4.602 mil
Carroll, 3.5 mil
Hendo, 3.101 mil
Biyombo, 2.923 mil
Reggie Williams, 2.612 mil
Kemba, 2.462 mil
BJ Mullens, 2.253 mil
These 10 guaranteed players bring our total to $ 49.228.129

Now, add two newcomers, Ramon Sessions for assumed $ 5 million, and Haywood for assumed $2.05 million, the total reaches $ 56.278 milion. We still have to add Derrick Brown's cap hold to that sum, which is $ 1.085 million, so we end up with a pretty much eaten cap space. Also Jeffery Taylor would probably be signed for minimum.

What do we have other than minimums now? What I understand from the new CBA, we have already used our non-tax payer MLE with Ramon Sessions, so all we have is bi-annual exception, which is $1.957mil and for two years. Thus, we can say goodbye to Landry, Randolph and all the other major PF targets. In another thread, I suggested Kenyon Martin for up to $3 million, but I noticed my mistake, sorry for that.

CBA gurus, please correct me if I'm wrong at something.

haha I tweeted Marc Stein yesterday saying he would be amnestied to make room for signing Humphries to a bigger contract after we lost out on Jamison and he posted it on his twitter, I said "according to a source close to the situation" It seemed real legit, too bad I was just making stuff up haha

Things we know:

Diop and Thomas are the only real candidates to use the amnesty clause on. Carroll is to some degree, but only if we had a deal in place today that required less than $3.5 M of Cap space (which is Carroll's cap hit). I'd be surprised if that was the case.

Diop will never exist in Dunlap's system. Diop offers no benefit in an up-tempo offense, nor does he offer any benefit in a pressing defense that requires the Bigs (Haywood, Biz and Mullens) to sprint back on Defense. Diop would take 6-7 seconds minimum to get back on D.

Diop's contract actually has value this season. As an expiring contract, for the first time since he was on our roster, Diop's contract actually has some value this season.

Buying time-Everything else being equal-without a deal in place, waiting 1 more year to use our amnesty option might be a good thing, gives Dunlap a year to wake Tyrus' butt up.

Reasons Cho may pull the trigger and Amnesty Diop/Thomas today

Flexibility-we were able to make the trade for Ben Gordon (also known as "getting a first round draft pick trade") because we had Cap flexibility. If we sign one more player (Landry) we further limit the flexibility we'd have in future trade situations (like partnering whenever Howard is actually traded from Orlando). This would be a good sign that an early season trade is more probable than not. Remember, these decisions have nothing to do with putting the best possible roster together for this season, and everything to do with accumulating the best pool of assets (roster, draft picks & cap flexibility) for the team moving forward.

Reality-Diop is not getting any minutes this season. We would actually be more productive on the court with MKG, Hendo or a 10-day contract guy getting minutes at the Center position (if our Bigs were hurt or in foul trouble) than we would with Diop on the court.

The checkbook-Amnesty on Diop today would send a message to the players-be in shape or your are gone. Diop is in a round shape. MJ has to pay Diop this year anyway so, it's not really going to cost him more money to amnesty his this season or not.

X-factor-Tyrus Thomas: it's possible the Bobcats have already decided that Dunlap can or Cannot rehabilitate Thomas. The sooner we figure that out, the better. If we amnesty Thomas today, it's a demonstration of our lack of faith in TT's ability to accept responsibility for his obligations to work hard and play smart.

I'm not at a computer to look it up and share but I believe I saw this morning on ESPN.com that we are close to the cap and have used our MLE. Only team with cap space was the Cavs. So I believe if we amnesty anyone there is a plan behind it if immediately known to us

sent from the pseudo GM offices of the Charlotte Bobcats.