Hornets willing to give up lotto pick to dump Okafor

[bfrombleacher]

Who do we give up?

In an ideal world, JO + Wilcox + Dooling.  To me, that package is preferable to giving up Ray.

Wait...don't they want cap space? Might be a possibility. I'd be fine with giving up Bass instead of Cox even.

[Chris]

Wait wait wait...

If N.O. could just amnesty Okafor, why would they give up a lottery pick just for expiring contracts? Couldn't they just get out from the entire contract through the amnesty and keep their lottery pick? Why would they want Ray?

Exactly.  It is a vague rumor that doesn't make sense given the value of quality big men in the NBA (which Okafor is).

[jdz101]

Who do we give up?

In an ideal world, JO + Wilcox + Dooling.  To me, that package is preferable to giving up Ray.

I understand that new Orleans want to shed cash...but trading a big pile of nothing for a legit center and a lotto pick seems ridiculously lopsided to me...contracts or no..

[StartOrien]

Kind of surprised he's available in a dump. I see this playing out similar to Tyson Chandler, where we all kind of forget how valuable Okafor can be until he's put on a contending team.

Wait wait wait...

If N.O. could just amnesty Okafor, why would they give up a lottery pick just for expiring contracts? Couldn't they just get out from the entire contract through the amnesty and keep their lottery pick? Why would they want Ray?

Exactly.  It is a vague rumor that doesn't make sense given the value of quality big men in the NBA (which Okafor is).

They'd still have to pay him under amnesty rules.

[EDWARDO]

Its way too good to be true... No way this makes any sense... unless the pick is lotto protected for years... even then, it still makes no sense...

[jdz101]

Kind of surprised he's available in a dump. I see this playing out similar to Tyson Chandler, where we all kind of forget how valuable Okafor can be until he's put on a contending team.

Wait wait wait...

If N.O. could just amnesty Okafor, why would they give up a lottery pick just for expiring contracts? Couldn't they just get out from the entire contract through the amnesty and keep their lottery pick? Why would they want Ray?

Exactly.  It is a vague rumor that doesn't make sense given the value of quality big men in the NBA (which Okafor is).

They'd still have to pay him under amnesty rules.

Yeah if they amnesty him they still have to fork out the 28 million bones....maybe they don't want to pay the money...

[pennant_fever]

Kind of surprised he's available in a dump. I see this playing out similar to Tyson Chandler, where we all kind of forget how valuable Okafor can be until he's put on a contending team.

Wait wait wait...

If N.O. could just amnesty Okafor, why would they give up a lottery pick just for expiring contracts? Couldn't they just get out from the entire contract through the amnesty and keep their lottery pick? Why would they want Ray?

Exactly.  It is a vague rumor that doesn't make sense given the value of quality big men in the NBA (which Okafor is).

They'd still have to pay him under amnesty rules.

They'd have to pay him, but he wouldn't count against the cap. Not typically a huge deal for owners...AND they'd still have to pay Ray or the other players we send back to them for the rest of the year.

So it'd be like $25 million to cover the rest of the contract. I would think the team is more valuable to a potential buyer with a great lottery pick costing $25 million more rather than the $25 million savings and no lottery pick.

[Roy H.]

Wait wait wait...

If N.O. could just amnesty Okafor, why would they give up a lottery pick just for expiring contracts? Couldn't they just get out from the entire contract through the amnesty and keep their lottery pick? Why would they want Ray?

Exactly.  It is a vague rumor that doesn't make sense given the value of quality big men in the NBA (which Okafor is).

Well, with amnesty, they'd still have to pay Okafor the money.  They'd essentially be selling their lottery pick for $28 million (and wouldn't be on the hook for the rookie's salary).  That's not such a bad return.

Has the NBA lined up an owner yet?  $28 million less in future commitments could be a nice selling point.

[wdleehi]

Wait wait wait...

If N.O. could just amnesty Okafor, why would they give up a lottery pick just for expiring contracts? Couldn't they just get out from the entire contract through the amnesty and keep their lottery pick? Why would they want Ray?

Exactly.  It is a vague rumor that doesn't make sense given the value of quality big men in the NBA (which Okafor is).

Well, with amnesty, they'd still have to pay Okafor the money.  They'd essentially be selling their lottery pick for $28 million (and wouldn't be on the hook for the rookie's salary).  That's not such a bad return.

It also makes the team more attractive when selling it. 

[bfrombleacher]

Who do we give up?

In an ideal world, JO + Wilcox + Dooling.  To me, that package is preferable to giving up Ray.

I understand that new Orleans want to shed cash...but trading a big pile of nothing for a legit center and a lotto pick seems ridiculously lopsided to me...contracts or no..

How 'bout Bass? Fair enough?

[jdub1660]

Expirings plus some youth for Okafor and pick?

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6p3z5n2

Okafor and unprotected 1st for Bradley,JJJ,JOneal,Steisma,Quis

Saves Hornets/David Stern almost 10 mil over 3 years, nets them a young PF with tons of a potential and solid defensive guard with room to grow

Celtics then have one of the best starting 5 again, plus a nice core to still build around and contend for a few years with Big 3 in reserve roles

[jdz101]

Surely they'd want to make the deal larger and include Ariza aswell...if they were in the spirit of getting rid of cash commitments...

[pennant_fever]

Wait wait wait...

If N.O. could just amnesty Okafor, why would they give up a lottery pick just for expiring contracts? Couldn't they just get out from the entire contract through the amnesty and keep their lottery pick? Why would they want Ray?

Exactly.  It is a vague rumor that doesn't make sense given the value of quality big men in the NBA (which Okafor is).

Well, with amnesty, they'd still have to pay Okafor the money.  They'd essentially be selling their lottery pick for $28 million (and wouldn't be on the hook for the rookie's salary).  That's not such a bad return.

Has the NBA lined up an owner yet?  $28 million less in future commitments could be a nice selling point.

True...but it's not like the Hornets are looking at the possibility of the #9 or #10 pick...they're in the #3 slot right now. They could pick lower, but also could pick higher. I think it would look pretty bad to end up trading away the #1 or #2 pick plus Okafor for simple money savings.

But maybe they're really struggling to find someone to meet the asking price, and could really use the savings. Suppose it's hard to know for sure.

[CFAN38]

i would take on Okafors contract for the lower of NO's two 1st round picks in a heart beat. Right now that would give us the 14th pick in the draft along with our own 16th pick and Clippers 23rd pick. The cap space is only as good as the FA you can sign with it. With 3 first round talents to add the the potential shown by Avery and JJJ we have a young stock pile of talent. We could just resign this years roster using bird rights and then integrate the youth into the rotation. That is rebuilding on the fly, then Okafor and Pierce come off the books together making the celtics FA players 2 years from now.

[Chris]

Wait wait wait...

If N.O. could just amnesty Okafor, why would they give up a lottery pick just for expiring contracts? Couldn't they just get out from the entire contract through the amnesty and keep their lottery pick? Why would they want Ray?

Exactly.  It is a vague rumor that doesn't make sense given the value of quality big men in the NBA (which Okafor is).

Well, with amnesty, they'd still have to pay Okafor the money.  They'd essentially be selling their lottery pick for $28 million (and wouldn't be on the hook for the rookie's salary).  That's not such a bad return.

Has the NBA lined up an owner yet?  $28 million less in future commitments could be a nice selling point.

I just don't believe that they couldn't find a taker for Okafor without having to include a lottery pick.  

But maybe they are that desperate...