Important Question for Future

[ohara831]

I was thinking about our future on the Bobcats. Looking at who we have under Contract for next season, excluding Okafor, is about $43 mil. Now, if we sign him to an extension, we have to realize that Ray will be in the same boat a year from now. If we were to sign Okafor to something in the range of $10-13 mil, and them get our 1st rounder and 2nd rounder signed, won't that bring us fairly close to the Luxury Cap? We wont have any significant Contracts expiring the following yr to be able to resign Ray to a significant extension should we want to keep him. that management has taken on some serious Contracts in the past yr should not lead us to believe they will pay Contracts over the Luxury Tax. It wont happen.

If I am correct, then will we not be in a position to HAVE to choose between keeping Ray or keeping Okafor? If we are going to be in that positon, do we look at who is more replaceable, and try to package him on a Draft night trade? What other options will we have? With the Contracts of Nazr and Matt, they are not going to be very tradeable assets. I dont want to give up J-Rich, even if he is a big Contract. We may HAVE to choose between Ray and Okafor.

I am thinking of this because we have played really well over the past 3 games. I am seeing a great deal of promise in Dudley for the future, Carroll is showing us why we signed him long term, Ray is starting to use his PG penetration skills better, and Okafor does at times play like a great #2 pick. J-Rich shows us why we traded for him. I still like Morrison and think he can be a solid bench player of 20-25 minutes per game, and Davidson is a solid bench player as a PF for 10-15 minutes. This team has lots of promise, and next year can be special for us. But I see major decisions having to be made, and I'm curious what my fellow Bobcat fans think of how we approach the decisions.

[dav7z]

I think just signing our own players we have no problem . Even if we add 7 more milion to OKs salery we no where close to Luxery tax , Salery cap yes Luxery tax no. So IF we hit salery cap with OK5O. SALERY CAP NOW ABOUT 56K Luxery tax 68 now [expected to incress the next two years] I like Felton but hes not geting over 12 milion a year. OK will be lucky to get the 13 milion.
Now signing free agents mights present a problem .
Ask Tambs, Slam or Spectra . They understand thease things much better than me.

[spectre]

Putting 12 million in for Mek, I get 57.5 million for 10 players next year...which is right at the salary cap. There's about 10 million difference between that and the luxury tax limit. Lottery pick(s) shouldn't cost us more than 2 million, which leaves us plenty to fill out the roster with.

We won't be playing in FA very much other than one possible MLE deal, but retaining our own shouldn't be an issue.

[bizzlecatz]

I think we should move Nazzy before Mek, Ammo before Hammer, and deal with Felts when the time approaches, because as of today, and after last night, Mek, Felts, and Hammer are our future.

[ohara831]

I don't understand the Contracts issues so well, which is why I brought this up. I just know that Ray is likely to be looking at a Contract extension in the realm of 7-9 mil so I was not sure if we could have both he and Okafor extended. It seems that keeping all this in mind, what we get in the Draft is likely our only major additions except for those coming at league minimums. No way we can add any major FA's with our salary situation unless we do not keep one of Ray or Okafor.

[spectre]

Nor could we per league rules. IMO if we went after a bigger FA (over 6 million) Hammer or Nazr would almost have to be dealt (which means it won't happen unless we add our pick in).

In future years it'll get a little harder. JSwish's deal maxes out at 14.4 I think, but on the other hand Crash's is "flat" and Hammer's contract is front loaded. Most teams flirt with the luxury tax though...I doubt seriously if we'll ever be a contender until we are as well.

BTW, I agree Felts will get between 7 and 9. Nelson got 7, so I'd hope we can get him for that.

And that's why I've always said we need to make a commitment to either start Felts or trade him (no combo/bench guy); 7 million is too darn much to be paying a backup, esp. with a streaky shot.

Hammer and Nazr is pushing it as it is.

[dav7z]

No But you can get some nice pieces with the MLE , Im still think Jamison will be a Bobcat next season. With Arens wanting out so bad. And Jamison wanting to come home.

[ohara831]

It will not be possible to sign Okafor to a long term Contract, sign Jamison, and then still have any $ to pay Ray. Not unless we are up in the NY Knicks salary range. Our club would go bankrupt if our payroll was that high.

[dav7z]

Ive said this two years Jamison will play hear cheap just to finish his carer at home. He's even said the last two summers he wants to finish at home. He even practices with Felton and other Bobcats in our facility the last two summers. Jamison needs no more money Wizzards are not even close to a championship, So a MLE offered to him is not out of the question.

[Chef]

i would rather deal mek than pay him big $ long term. he is in a contract year this year and still does not put up big $ numbers. we can't pay him star (or even borderline star $) when we can't count on him. before this year, he was oft injured and he definitely disappears in most games. his offense (not including putbacks) is atrocious. he looks like he is thinking too much during post moves often leading to travels and losing the ball. if we are confident about jamison, we should trade mek for a 1st and a back up at 4, draft at least one pf to develop and sign jamison. then we can sign felton and develop a drafted pg from this year's 1st.