No Oak Deal Done

[ohara831]

Part of me is OK with it, part of me thinks this was a horrible PR mistake. Maybe Oak and the Bobcats have a gentleman's agreement on how much they will pay depending upon the numbers he puts out this year. Sonething like " we will Max you out if you play 65 games, and are a 20 and 10 producer. If you come up short, you know you have to take less." Honestly though, I doubt that happened. I think that the Cats spending money on Crash, Carroll and J-Rich brought us a lot of good exposure as a team finally willing to pony up the $. I think that most of that good, but hopefully not all of it, was just undone. Just another example of something which will allow the media to paint us as too miserly to pay for the talent to be a contender. Did it make good fiscal sense? I am not sure. Depends on Oak's health and productivity. But, it does hurt our image. And that hurts us fan-wise ($ from ticket sales) and makes it difficult to attract good free agents. I just think it was a mistake. Thoughts?

[x2pacalypse]

can't we still restructure his contract anytime we want during the season though? i thought this was just if we wanted an extension...but now say we can tack on a seperate 5 year 55 million $ contract that starts after his current one ends?

[ohara831]

Tupac: I do not know if that is possible. Is not a restructuring basically a way to skirt the rule that the extension has to be done by 10/31? It's basically the same thing I would think. I think that they are just going to have to wait and see what happens at the season's end. If he has a big year, we can still pony up the money. After all, we can pay more and for more years than anyone else. I would just fear that hurt feelings can lead him to say " I'll take less money to play for a contender now" and stick it to the organization for not having faith in him.

[bobcatsden]

I know spectre disagrees with me, but I maintain that this was a huge mistake.

[spectre]

I know spectre disagrees with me, but I maintain that this was a huge mistake. 

I can't say really, because I don't know what each sides' position was.

*If we drew the line at 10 million per, then absolutely we made a bad mistake.

*If Mek was adamant he wanted a 5 year 85 million dollar extension, then we were correct in not giving in.

Thing is we'll probably never know.  Mek's not one to air this stuff in the media, and you know the 'Cats won't tell Bonnell.

I wouldn't have minded getting Mek at the Jefferson deal (13 per for 5) even though I think that's a little high...but even at that rate I can't fault the organization for wanting to "wait and see".

Would I personally have felt better?  Hell yeah.  I just don't see it as the end of the world, ESPECIALLY since we rewarded Crash as a free agent.  The Bobcats know what Mek's worth to us...in the end they'll pay what it takes to retain him.

BTW..Tupac, can't talk money with Mek anymore until July 1st, 2008 per league rules.

[qchoops]

I will say this about the move: Emeka is still with the Bobcats for this year, and can be easily retained by them for next season as a restricted free agent, by extending the qualifying offer to him (which I believe be in the $7mil range). By not signing him to a large contract extension this summer, it gives the team more flexibility to sign other teams' free agents next summer (like Jamison), and then resign Okafor to a new deal afterwards, circumventing the salary cap. Not saying this is what will happen, but there may be a silver lining?

[spectre]

I will say this about the move: Emeka is still with the Bobcats for this year, and can be easily retained by them for next season as a restricted free agent, by extending the qualifying offer to him (which I believe be in the $7mil range). By not signing him to a large contract extension this summer, it gives the team more flexibility to sign other teams' free agents next summer (like Jamison), and then resign Okafor to a new deal afterwards, circumventing the salary cap. Not saying this is what will happen, but there may be a silver lining?

Brett, doesn't the 150% caphold come into play, or only the QO?

If that's the case, then it'd be absolutely the best thing to do, but I thought the NBA set up the caphold thing to keep things like that from happening.

[Dead_Real]

Sorry if already posted but this is the statement on this situation from the Bobcats.

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/statement_okafor_071101.html

[bobcatsden]

Here's the relevant quote from Bernie:

“Player contracts are very difficult to get done when there is no posturing," Bobcats Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Bernie Bickerstaff said. "Our offer was commensurate with our respect for Emeka as a basketball player, his overall character and what he brings to the Charlotte community. We both had different ideas on economic value, but we both agree that neither were insulting.”

Edit: Is Bickerstaff suggesting that players should posture during negotiations?

[qchoops]

I think the 150% is in play, but 150% of $7mil is still probably going to be less than his new salary will be. Dwight Howard is at $13mil for the first year of his new deal, when it kicks in next year.
It is not a big difference, but with Othella, Primoz, and Brevin's deals all coming off the cap next year, there will be some room to play with.