OFFICIAL: Okafor signs 6 year contract for 72 million

[Mustachio]

I'm still surprised that we signed Hollins. I know he's cheap, but still... I guess LB must see something in him that he'll be able to bring out and turn him into a productive player. I hope they see more than what we've seen in the past with his athleticism. Maybe, though, a actual coach is all needs.

yeah and hopefully its not the same thing we saw in him when he first got here.

good to have Oak on board. but now he has a serious contract to play up to. hope he doesnt disappoint.

[WAM9]

I am extremely excited that we have resigned Okafor for 6 years. I think this will be thought of as a huge positive move in the frachise's history when looked back upon in 10 years.

A couple of random thoughts...

1 ) People constantly question the Bobcats (and MJ) as negotiators. This is a huge win for the Bobcats' front office. The same deal was turned down 1 year ago with Okafor trying to get more money. The front office held out and played their cards perfectly. They lowballed Okafor with $10 million per to reset the market. Even with the complexity of guys like Bogut being overpaid for and, as Bonnell correctly puts it, "comps" showing Okafor is worth more, the FO negotiates him "up" to their original offer. Higgins kept a very level head thoughout. Very good indeed. This should not be missed.

2 ) Previous to today, many people said that if Okafor was resigned, then we would know that basketball minds like Larry Brown and MJ were in charge and that if he signed the RFA offer sheet and walked or was traded that Bob Johnson was in charge (and cheap). The Bobcats have been labeled in the past as cheap but things like the Richardson trade and retaining guys like Wallace and Okafor to long-term deals absolutely are examples of the opposite. At the end of the day, Larry Brown knew he needed a player like Okafor to truly be successful. That leads me to my next point.

3 ) Obviously, after a $12 million per year investment, Okafor will be a cornerstone to our franchise for at least the next 5 or 6 years. Lots of folks are talking about Okafor "earning" his money now and that he needes to step it up. While I don't disagree with the sentiment, who in the hell was he supposed to learn from in the past? He has had no good veteran big men to mentor from. He has had no great big man coaches to learn from and god knows that his head coaching has been lacking (especially, ESPECIALLY last year). Now he has Larry Brown. Larry Brown has supposedly already greatly improved Hollins footwork, just in summer league. Think of what he could do with Okafor. I think of what Ben Wallace was to the Pistons championship team. Okafor could be way better. With Larry Brown plans, he will probably need a "Wallace" and Okafor is more than suited to fit the bill. Think Ben Wallace with twice as many points. I love the possibilities.

If I didn't mention it, I am stoked about Okafor and the team's overall direction. GO BOBCATS!!!!!!!!

[davcbow]

Thats a lot of money but glad to have are original big man back on board for another 6 years. Goooo Bobcats!

[Dead_Real]

I cosign everyone elses thoughts in here this situation was played perfectly by management and shows me they really want a winning product in Charlotte by giving Brown the peices he'll need. I thought they should have just offered the same deal he turned down last year but like I said this was played perfectly by the front office the "Crash like deal" being lower than expected made this one all the more attractive.

Now sign a PF I heard Sean Williams is on the block.

[MattD]

you know what, i am glad this is done. weve got him, he is a corner stone. now its time to address our many other areas of improvement. Glad Mek is back for a while, even if I did get really mad at him often last season. Hopefully with LB, he will get the intensity he needs. That would be deadly

[MattD]

I cosign everyone elses thoughts in here this situation was played perfectly by management and shows me they really want a winning product in Charlotte by giving Brown the peices he'll need. I thought they should have just offered the same deal he turned down last year but like I said this was played perfectly by the front office the "Crash like deal" being lower than expected made this one all the more attractive.

Now sign a PF I heard Sean Williams is on the block.

i do love sean williams, they call him area 51 for his freakish shot blocking. the rookie sophmore game he was awesome

[Alex]

Glad this is over. I'm glad we're keeping Emeka and hopefully he has the best season of his career under Larry Brown to prove to all of us that he is worth the $12 million per year.

[spectre]

This deal is actually LESS than last year's. The previous contract was 5/60 with 5 million in possible incentives; this one is 6/72 with (I assume) no incentives...so we saved a possible 5 million.

IF there are incentives included in that 72 million then we made out even better.

[ReesieNCPantherCatfan1]

Just read the news, so I am late to the Mek party, but that won't keep me from piggybacking on all of the love. Man I am excited that he will be here for the next 6 years! I absolutely dreaded some of the offer brought up in a sign and trade. Today is a good day in Bobcatland!

[tamburello]

We have to wait for the clarification of the situation. You see, Biedrins' deal was reportedly 63 million, however it's said that it's actually 54 million, 9 million is incentives. So we should wait and see the exact numbers. Unfortunately everyone says that the deal is "at least" 72 million, so I guess there will be some incentives.

Anyway, we have MLE and BAE at the moment, we are far away from lux tax limit, we have 13 players under contract + Weaver, so to add depth to PF, we have very limited options. I guess it's no brainer that we have to bring a PF, right?

So, I checked the remaining FA's and I loved none of them. At least, none of them adresses our problems. I'm hearing that we should S&T for Josh Smith. However, RFA S&T's are very very uncommon in NBA because of rules. The last RFA Sign&Trade I remember was back to 2005, when Atlanta acquired S&T RFA Joe Johnson for Diaw + a couple of picks. And as far as I remember, Atlanta was able to absorb the difference between the contracts.

Assuming Smith signs 12 million and agrees to come us and we'd send Hawks 6 million. But since we are now over the cap, how can we absorb the difference of 6 million now? IMHO, RFA S&T are only suitable for under cap teams (spectre, confirm me). So please forget about him.

I don't know very well, but Elton Brown could be considered as well as Nick Fazekas and Josh Powell. These names are by no means flashy, however, I can't see so much options. Moreover, we have not so many good trade pieces, only Wallace. Who would want to take May? A team who wants cap space. Who would want to take Morrison? I guess no-one. David Lee would be wonderful, but he would not solve our low-post scoring drought. He's just a good energy guy, that's all. Not a consistent scoring weapon.