Bobcats Offseason Targets

[DirtyU11]

Here on the forum we all need to stop looking to trade the players we have and start looking for players we can add to make our team better.

Here are some that I like for our team.

Elton Brand - he is a great player but the is a chance he might not opt out of his deal with the Clippers

Shawn Marion - A little older than Brand but still productive and plays that 4 spot that crash has said he has no desire to play. Great defender and will be a great addition to Okafor down low. WE DON'T TRADE FOR HIM! He is making 16 mil this year so we only get him as a FA or a sign and trade.

Sabastian Telfair - Only 22, great passer and would be an excellent backup pg to Ray for years and maybe even a starter someday. But what would his price tag be?

These are some of the players i like for the Bobcats to look to sign in the off season. What to you guys think and do you have any players you think would help us that are available via free agency.

[dnbman]

Here on the forum we all need to stop looking to trade the players we have and start looking for players we can add to make our team better.

Here are some that I like for our team.

Elton Brand - he is a great player but the is a chance he might not opt out of his deal with the Clippers

Shawn Marion - A little older than Brand but still productive and plays that 4 spot that crash has said he has no desire to play. Great defender and will be a great addition to Okafor down low. WE DON'T TRADE FOR HIM! He is making 16 mil this year so we only get him as a FA or a sign and trade.

Sabastian Telfair - Only 22, great passer and would be an excellent backup pg to Ray for years and maybe even a starter someday. But what would his price tag be?

These are some of the players i like for the Bobcats to look to sign in the off season. What to you guys think and do you have any players you think would help us that are available via free agency.

The problem is the rules of the league. A player makes much more money staying with his own team because of the amount they can pay him per year and the length of the contract. So, unless a player really wants to leave, the rules favor a player staying with his team. Also, we don't have enough salary cap space to sign one of these big FAs without trading a player. Okafor still counts against our cap until we resign him or let go of his rights. So, we don't have a lot of space to simply sign a player.

I agree that we don't want to get rid of our guys. However, if we want to make a big veteran improvement, we're probably going to have to make a significant trade. Otherwise, we're looking at the Mid-Level Exemption, which doesn't include guys like Brand and Marion.

[DirtyU11]

If we re-sign Emeka we will be at around 55 to 56 mil on our payroll. The luxury tax limit is at 67.8 mil. We could sign Brand or Marion to a contract that is backloaded or trade away may or morrison. We could sign either of them to this kind of contract if the Bobcats are wiling to pay some money to get a better team.

[mrtarheel]

I think we could get Charlie V for a pick maybe next years first. They have players and don't need more but if so we could give up Harrington and a pick. Harrington isn't part of our core group and his contract would probably be dropped by them anyway. That way we have our pf and could go after a backup or combo guard in the draft inwhich would help our team without moving our core. He is basically a younger Rasheed with less of a contract that would allow us to be more competative signing free agents.

[dnbman]

If we re-sign Emeka we will be at around 55 to 56 mil on our payroll. The luxury tax limit is at 67.8 mil. We could sign Brand or Marion to a contract that is backloaded or trade away may or morrison. We could sign either of them to this kind of contract if the Bobcats are wiling to pay some money to get a better team.

You're right about the luxury tax limit, but that's a different number than the salary cap.

The salary cap is the limit that teams can reach in signing new players. After they reach the salary cap, they can resign their own players or use a couple of exemptions, like the mid-level exemption.

The luxury tax limit is when the teams start paying a dollar for dollar tax on the money they are spending on salary.

See http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#1 for more info.

The salary cap is reset each year, but usually increases by a couple of million. Next year, the salary cap will probably be around $58M. So, we really only a few million dollars to use to sign players, and that can't be used in addition to an MLE contract. Plus, we'll have a guaranteed 1st round salary for this coming draft to pay before free agency officially begins.

So, our best chances of acquiring veteran talent would occur through one of the following:

1. We trade salary for salary.
2. We renounce Okafor's contract, losing any Bird rights in signing him, then go after another free agent with about $14-$15M to work with.
3. Keep our talent. We could then sign a veteran to a $2-3M contract, a player to the full MLE, and then fill out our roster with players at the league minimum.


Our hands are pretty tied in signing free agents, although so is almost every other team. That's why Jordan made his comment about signing players being very hard, but trading players being a lot easier at the draft last year.
3.

[ohara831]

Honestly, 2 Contracts that are hurting us the most are Carroll's and Nazr's. They are a few years each, and both a little above what they should be making. Not horribly overpaid, but overpaid nonetheless and for too many years. I really dont think J-Rich's Contract is too bad given his output, and Crash's is great. If we sign Okafor long term, I just think we have to get rid of one of the other long term Contracts, just to keep us from being hamstrung for the next 5 years. Remember, if Ray continues to improve and we decide to keep him long term, that decision is just around the corner. I cannot see both Carroll and Nazr being here long term and either Ammo or May will have to be sent packing as well in the next year or two. No way we can pay both of them with long term Contracts. Just not enough $ to fit into the Salary Cap/Luxury Tax limits.

[dnbman]

Honestly, 2 Contracts that are hurting us the most are Carroll's and Nazr's. They are a few years each, and both a little above what they should be making. Not horribly overpaid, but overpaid nonetheless and for too many years. I really dont think J-Rich's Contract is too bad given his output, and Crash's is great. If we sign Okafor long term, I just think we have to get rid of one of the other long term Contracts, just to keep us from being hamstrung for the next 5 years. Remember, if Ray continues to improve and we decide to keep him long term, that decision is just around the corner. I cannot see both Carroll and Nazr being here long term and either Ammo or May will have to be sent packing as well in the next year or two. No way we can pay both of them with long term Contracts. Just not enough $ to fit into the Salary Cap/Luxury Tax limits.

You're probably right. However, I think management knew that we wouldn't be making any huge free agent signings for a while after we traded for Richardson, thus making them lock up Carroll. I think Nazr's contract will actually be pretty well justified once we have a coach who can utilize talent.

Assuming we do a good job of the draft and get a legit PF and backup pg, I feel pretty good about things. We can continue to develop Davidson and Dudley, maybe even get something out of Hollins. We'd have depth and youth to build over the next few seasons.

I actually fill good about our talent. We just need to connect the dots and bring everybody together into a cohesive unit.

[x2pacalypse]

i've always been a fan of telfair, i think he can do combo guard yea? but all in all i think our best option right now would be getting villanueva, we wouldn't have to sacrifice our 4 main guys (felts, jrich, crash, okafor) for him, and we could afford him...and in the draft get the best combo guard available if we don't get rid of the pick

[mrtarheel]

I think we could get Charlie V for a pick maybe next years first. They have players and don't need more but if so we could give up Harrington and a pick. Harrington isn't part of our core group and his contract would probably be dropped by them anyway. That way we have our pf and could go after a backup or combo guard in the draft inwhich would help our team without moving our core. He is basically a younger Rasheed with less of a contract that would allow us to be more competative signing free agents.

Enough said. Make this happen and go bobcats. Charlie V will be our Rasheed and Okafor will be or Wallace. Wallace will be our Prince and J Rich would be our Hamilton, while Felts will be our Billups. These comparisions aren't that bad off all except Felts. He could be better but at this point of his career he is not MR BIG SHOT BILLUPS??

felts-----------billups
j rich----------hamilton
crash---------prince
charlie v-------wallace
okafor---------wallace

To think LB won championships with that lineup and we wouldn't be that far away if our bench could step up alittle. We could bring in a hardnose defensive stopping pg like Lidnsey Hunter and maybe bring back Hermann for scoring alongside if we could keep this years pick get someone like Westbrook. Go after some free agents like Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, try and pry Leon Powe from the Celtics and we are contenders if not champions in the east. You see how we played the Celts this year it was no fluk add in coaching this could honestly be a true statement. After thinking alittle about the statement of Telfair, LB might be what he needs.

[amour217]

I think we could get Charlie V for a pick maybe next years first. They have players and don't need more but if so we could give up Harrington and a pick. Harrington isn't part of our core group and his contract would probably be dropped by them anyway. That way we have our pf and could go after a backup or combo guard in the draft inwhich would help our team without moving our core. He is basically a younger Rasheed with less of a contract that would allow us to be more competative signing free agents.

he'd be a lot like Rasheed Wallace: a jump shot-happy PF who barely rebounds....BUT I think he could be had for a lot less. And I doubt he'd bring the attitude problem that Sheed would bring and he's like 10 years younger. I think Charlie V could be a MONSTER if he uses his athleticism to his advantage...I've seen him rebound well at UConn and block lots of shots...but he got to the pro's and got soft and settles a lot for the jumper. If he could be had for a pick and some filler and he learns to grow a pair, I think he'd be a very good fit for us