Okafor to the Kings?

[Cman]

Saw this on hoopshype this morning: Kenny Thomas for Okafor
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sports/kings/archives/2009/11/kings-consideri.html?mi_rss=Kings%20Blog%20and%20Q&A

Is NO really that desperate to cut salary?  Holy mackerel!  Any chance the Cs could pry away Chris Paul?

[lon3lytoaster]

Wow.. Hornets are falling apart bad.. Maybe it won't be long befpre they trade Paul.

[wdleehi]

Everyone not named Paul.


How about West?

[Who]

I don't think there's any truth to that rumour.

That said, if I'm NO, I'm making that trade. If I'm Sacramento, I'm not. That's not a contract you want on your books when you're looking to retool which both squads should be doing.

New Orleans could do a brilliant rebuilding job in 2011 if they got Peja, Okafor, Songaila and Mo Pete off their books. That's why I'd be interested in the deal. I'd also be trying like crazy to get James Posey off the books if Okafor was dealt. Oh, and I'd trade David West, for talent not cap flexibility (has become a hugely overrated player and the single most responsible player for the Hornets struggles this season).

[RebusRankin]

Rondo for Paul. 

[PosImpos]

Wow, Chris Paul would basically give up if they did this.

Kenny Thomas is about 10 times less valuable a player than Okafor.

[Fan from VT]

Saw this on hoopshype this morning: Kenny Thomas for Okafor
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sports/kings/archives/2009/11/kings-consideri.html?mi_rss=Kings%20Blog%20and%20Q&A

Is NO really that desperate to cut salary?  Holy mackerel!  Any chance the Cs could pry away Chris Paul?

Can you tell I'm procrastinating Homework?:

Here's an intricate "Save New Orleans Money" Trade (works after dec. 15th):

Golden State:

Give: Azubuike, Acie Law
Receive: Perkins


New Orleans:
Give: Paul, Peja, Okafor
Get: Rondo, Ray Allen, Tony, Scal, Acie Law, Baby, Giddens


Boston:
Give: Perk, Rondo, Ray Allen, Tony, Scal, Acie Law, Baby, Giddens

Get: Azubuike, Okafor, Peja, Paul


GS gets a cheap center for 2 more years and gives up one of their many wing players, opening time for others. They could also do this deal giving up morrow and claxton, or some similar combo.


New Orleans immediately saves $10,000,000 and receives only expiring deals to get them under the tax; they can then go forward with some nice pieces and rebuild the team: Rondo, Wright, West, Baby.

Boston:
Sure, it's taking on money, but it really adds a dimension to the team, and there's no realistic flexibility in the foreseeable future anyway. Azubuike is nearly as good a shooter as Ray, and much cheaper/athletic. Okafor is a bit of an upgrade from Perk and is a more dynamic athlete. Peja provides another bench floor spacer. And you have Chris Paul anchoring your team, which is a surefire way to stay competitive:

Paul/House
Azubuike/Daniels
Pierce/Peja
KG/Wallace
Okafor/Williams

Tell me that team is not scary?



BTW, this trade also works with just the C's and Hornets. Same idea, except that i'd rather not start Peja while still having Okafor, KG, Perk, Wallace and Williams all together, so I figured a simultaneous trade of Perk for a shooting guard would help even out the team. Targets included: Azubuike (would love the C's to get him if they could), Morrow, Ronnie Brewer (but Utah has no 2 depth), Rudy Fernandez (would Portland want another center for a Perk/Oden/Aldridge rotation? if so, I'd take Rudy back and put him in instead of Azubuike), Barbosa (but not sure if Perk would fit with phoenix's plans), etc.

[KCattheStripe]

Saw this on hoopshype this morning: Kenny Thomas for Okafor
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sports/kings/archives/2009/11/kings-consideri.html?mi_rss=Kings%20Blog%20and%20Q&A

Is NO really that desperate to cut salary?  Holy mackerel!  Any chance the Cs could pry away Chris Paul?

Can you tell I'm procrastinating Homework?:

Here's an intricate "Save New Orleans Money" Trade (works after dec. 15th):

Golden State:

Give: Azubuike, Acie Law
Receive: Perkins


New Orleans:
Give: Paul, Peja, Okafor
Get: Rondo, Ray Allen, Tony, Scal, Acie Law, Baby, Giddens


Boston:
Give: Perk, Rondo, Ray Allen, Tony, Scal, Acie Law, Baby, Giddens

Get: Azubuike, Okafor, Peja, Paul


GS gets a cheap center for 2 more years and gives up one of their many wing players, opening time for others. They could also do this deal giving up morrow and claxton, or some similar combo.


New Orleans immediately saves $10,000,000 and receives only expiring deals to get them under the tax; they can then go forward with some nice pieces and rebuild the team: Rondo, Wright, West, Baby.

Boston:
Sure, it's taking on money, but it really adds a dimension to the team, and there's no realistic flexibility in the foreseeable future anyway. Azubuike is nearly as good a shooter as Ray, and much cheaper/athletic. Okafor is a bit of an upgrade from Perk and is a more dynamic athlete. Peja provides another bench floor spacer. And you have Chris Paul anchoring your team, which is a surefire way to stay competitive:

Paul/House
Azubuike/Daniels
Pierce/Peja
KG/Wallace
Okafor/Williams

Tell me that team is not scary?

Perk is better than Okafor.

[KCattheStripe]

Am I the only one who thinks building around a core of Paul/Okafor/West isn't a bad thing? Someone with salary knowledge breakdown how this is possibly bad for me.

[Who]

Am I the only one who thinks building around a core of Paul/Okafor/West isn't a bad thing? Someone with salary knowledge breakdown how this is possibly bad for me.

It's a fine strategy if the Hornets can

• Find a way to acquire a perennial All-Star to All-NBA level talent on the wing
• David West recovers his form from two years ago back when he played some defense and bothered to rebound the ball once in awhile.
• Then, after those two happen, rebuild their supporting cast and bench

The Hornets best way to get that other high level talent will either be by trading expiring contracts (Peja + Mo Pete + Songaila in 2010/11) for an overpaid star or getting far enough below the salary cap to sign that star. I think this is possible but also unlikely -- more likely to get a Richard Jefferson type (borderline All-Star caliber player) who simply isn't good enough to make the Hornets a legitimate contender.

Either way the Hornets have to tear apart their supporting cast and clear out all those midlevel contracts (Posey, Mo Pete, Songaila). And jettison some of those non-performing pieces like Hilton Armstrong. Bring in some flesh blood on the wings who can defend, run, finish and shoot. Then add a high quality backup big man to help out West + Okafor (or new starting bigs).

Personally, I'd rather see them start from scratch than try this method ... but it's a fine strategy.

I don't trust David West anymore. He has lost his focus on non-scoring contributions (tunnel vision on jacking up shots) and frankly I think his best days are behind him. More value as a trade asset (which I think is still very high given his All-Star status/reputation + contract) than as a player at this point. Even if the Hornets choose to keep Emeka, and rebuild around Meka and Paul, I'd be inclined to move David West.

[KCattheStripe]

Am I the only one who thinks building around a core of Paul/Okafor/West isn't a bad thing? Someone with salary knowledge breakdown how this is possibly bad for me.

It's a fine strategy if the Hornets can

• Find a way to acquire a perennial All-Star to All-NBA level talent on the wing
• David West recovers his form from two years ago back when he played some defense and bothered to rebound the ball once in awhile.
• Then, after those two happen, rebuild their supporting cast and bench

The Hornets best way to get that other high level talent will either be by trading expiring contracts (Peja + Mo Pete + Songaila in 2010/11) for an overpaid star or getting far enough below the salary cap to sign that star. I think this is possible but also unlikely -- more likely to get a Richard Jefferson type (borderline All-Star caliber player) who simply isn't good enough to make the Hornets a legitimate contender.

Either way the Hornets have to tear apart their supporting cast and clear out all those midlevel contracts (Posey, Mo Pete, Songaila). And jettison some of those non-performing pieces like Hilton Armstrong. Bring in some flesh blood on the wings who can defend, run, finish and shoot. Then add a high quality backup big man to help out West + Okafor (or new starting bigs).

Personally, I'd rather see them start from scratch than try this method ... but it's a fine strategy.

I don't trust David West anymore. He has lost his focus on non-scoring contributions (tunnel vision on jacking up shots) and frankly I think his best days are behind him. More value as a trade asset (which I think is still very high given his All-Star status/reputation + contract) than as a player at this point. Even if the Hornets choose to keep Emeka, and rebuild around Meka and Paul, I'd be inclined to move David West.

Any chance they can move those to make room for Joe Johnson?

[Who]

Am I the only one who thinks building around a core of Paul/Okafor/West isn't a bad thing? Someone with salary knowledge breakdown how this is possibly bad for me.

It's a fine strategy if the Hornets can

• Find a way to acquire a perennial All-Star to All-NBA level talent on the wing
• David West recovers his form from two years ago back when he played some defense and bothered to rebound the ball once in awhile.
• Then, after those two happen, rebuild their supporting cast and bench

The Hornets best way to get that other high level talent will either be by trading expiring contracts (Peja + Mo Pete + Songaila in 2010/11) for an overpaid star or getting far enough below the salary cap to sign that star. I think this is possible but also unlikely -- more likely to get a Richard Jefferson type (borderline All-Star caliber player) who simply isn't good enough to make the Hornets a legitimate contender.

Either way the Hornets have to tear apart their supporting cast and clear out all those midlevel contracts (Posey, Mo Pete, Songaila). And jettison some of those non-performing pieces like Hilton Armstrong. Bring in some flesh blood on the wings who can defend, run, finish and shoot. Then add a high quality backup big man to help out West + Okafor (or new starting bigs).

Personally, I'd rather see them start from scratch than try this method ... but it's a fine strategy.

I don't trust David West anymore. He has lost his focus on non-scoring contributions (tunnel vision on jacking up shots) and frankly I think his best days are behind him. More value as a trade asset (which I think is still very high given his All-Star status/reputation + contract) than as a player at this point. Even if the Hornets choose to keep Emeka, and rebuild around Meka and Paul, I'd be inclined to move David West.

Any chance they can move those to make room for Joe Johnson?

Joe Johnson would the dream guy and perfect example for what I reckon they need to turn that core (Paul/West/Emeka) into a title worthy core. His ability to create for himself + for others would give that offense that versatility is sorely needs. Plus he's a very good defender and solid rebounder. Joe would take that team to the next level.

Unfortunately the Hornets cap flexibility won't kick in until the summer of 2011. That's a year too late to make a move on Joe Johnson via free agency + the Hornets definitely don't have the assets to get him in a trade.

The Hornets have about $35 million tied up in role players in the summer of 2010 -- Posey ($6.5mil), Songaila ($4.9mil), Peterson ($6.5mil), Stojakovic ($14.3mil), Wright ($3mil) -- before you even get to Chris Paul ($15mil) or David West ($8mil) or Emeka Okafor ($12mil) -- which gives the Hornets a total $35mil for core + $35mil for role players + a few mil more for draft picks (Collison, Thornton, 2010 picks) and a few minimum contracts to round out roster (say $4-7mil) which brings us up to somewhere around $75 million in salaries in 2010/11.

Getting all of those role players off the books a year early is the Hornets problem. Pretty close to impossible. The Hornets have no realistic chance at getting below the cap in 2010. Their first good chance will be 2011. Except for Posey, all of those role players will expire that summer, and, they can clear even more room by moving Okafor and/or West if the wish too.

More likely than not, if the Hornets look to trade their way out of their problems, the Hornets will be looking at a desperation move for someone older than a Joe Johnson (28 years old) type ... more akin to the Magic with Vince Carter (32 years old). Which would create a short window of opportunity for the Hornets (and ensuing rebuilding/retooling period). And, that's if they can get someone of that ability which is unlikely to happen (more likely to be an RJ type or a J-Rich type).

All of the Hornets problems are from GM Jeff Bower handing out/acquiring too many midlevel type contracts. He actually did pretty well with Chris Paul, the Tyson Chandler trade, and the David West contracts. The core of the team. All good contracts given to talented players.

He took a shot on Peja Stojakovic back when the squad was a losing team which didn't work out, but besides that move, he did very well with the core. As bad as Peja is right now he'll be off the books in less than two years and will be a very good trade asset as soon as this season ends. It was the contracts given to the supporting cast that put the Hornets in the situation that they're in now.

On a Joe Johnson note

If the Hawks manage to maintain their early season success throughout the year then I think every team that was hoping to have a shot at Joe in Free Agency is going to be left disappointed.

Hard to see the Hawks letting him leave -- same GM gave Ray his max deal, Ray I think was older at the time too -- and ... hard to see Joe wanting to leave with Atlanta's continued progress. Especially since the Hawks have JJ's bird rights and can offer an extra year of guaranteed salary which will allow them to outbid everyone else.

The Hawks winning ways could ruin several teams hopes for free agency this summer.