Hornets willing to give up lotto pick to dump Okafor

[LarBrd33]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

[BballTim]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

  How many of the players that you listed are locks to be among the best at their positions for most of their careers?

[Geo123]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

  How many of the players that you listed are locks to be among the best at their positions for most of their careers?

What's that got to do with anyting?  They aren't going to trade a lottery pick in this draft.  In fact Ken Berger from CBS confirms that...

"•The Hornets aren't interested in packaging Emeka Okafor with the first-round pick they acquired from the Timberwolves, even if it means saving the $28MM+ left on his deal."

http://www.hoopsrumors.com/

[OnyxCashew]

if it's just the wolves pick they're sending, no thanks. even if this draft is supposedly deep, a late lotto pick is no sure thing.  that okafor contract is really bad.

[florida dodger]

So the original rumor is false?  Darn, who comes up with this stuff.

But if it were true, I think you have to think about it because the way FA is looking it could be a challenge to reach the floor, unless you want to overpay KG on a 1 year deal or so.

But if we had only Okafor and Rondo, we could still afford Howard (if he wanted to come)  We could shift Okafor to PF or have a pretty good rotation with him coming off the bench.

If we are going to be buyers at the deadline, then we need a center; so I think Okafor and Kaman have to be candidates at this point.

And if teams are lowballing us as badly on the Big 3 as the Nets are lowballing the Magic, maybe we have no choice but to be buyers for one more run?

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

  How many of the players that you listed are locks to be among the best at their positions for most of their careers?

What's that got to do with anyting?  They aren't going to trade a lottery pick in this draft.  In fact Ken Berger from CBS confirms that...

"•The Hornets aren't interested in packaging Emeka Okafor with the first-round pick they acquired from the Timberwolves, even if it means saving the $28MM+ left on his deal."

http://www.hoopsrumors.com/

[ManUp]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

  How many of the players that you listed are locks to be among the best at their positions for most of their careers?

What's that got to do with anyting?  They aren't going to trade a lottery pick in this draft.  In fact Ken Berger from CBS confirms that...

"•The Hornets aren't interested in packaging Emeka Okafor with the first-round pick they acquired from the Timberwolves, even if it means saving the $28MM+ left on his deal."

http://www.hoopsrumors.com/

Sadly, I have no doubt this is the truth.

if it's just the wolves pick they're sending, no thanks. even if this draft is supposedly deep, a late lotto pick is no sure thing.  that okafor contract is really bad.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine#

I'd do this deal(including the Minny pick) if It looked like the Minny pick would end up in the top ten. Capspace isn't that valuable if there's no one worth spending it on. I don't see us chasing any free agents this summer so the pick and a young prospect might be worth it.

[tyrone biggums]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

1) The draft class isn't the 2003 class, not even close to the same level. In that draft you had guys who you knew while they might not carry a franchise that they would be star players.

2) That being said there is no way in hell the Hornets trade that pick to get rid of a guy that they can amnesty anyways.

The draft has great depth, but it lacks that game changer. Anything can happen and who knows maybe there are 3 or 4 hall of famers sitting in the lottery, but I just don't see it.

[LarBrd33]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

1) The draft class isn't the 2003 class, not even close to the same level. In that draft you had guys who you knew while they might not carry a franchise that they would be star players.

2) That being said there is no way in hell the Hornets trade that pick to get rid of a guy that they can amnesty anyways.

The draft has great depth, but it lacks that game changer. Anything can happen and who knows maybe there are 3 or 4 hall of famers sitting in the lottery, but I just don't see it.

Look up Anthony Davis.

He's unbelievable.  No team is giving up the 3rd best odds of getting him.  I don't care how much money it saves them.  Team's mortgage their entire future for a shot at getting a guy like that.  You could even argue that teams give up a shot at a title or two for a shot at a guy like that... as in the celtics trading their center to make room for cap space in an ill-advised attempt at signing Dwight HOward.

People are comparing Davis to Tim Duncan.  You can build a franchise around him.

[tyrone biggums]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

1) The draft class isn't the 2003 class, not even close to the same level. In that draft you had guys who you knew while they might not carry a franchise that they would be star players.

2) That being said there is no way in hell the Hornets trade that pick to get rid of a guy that they can amnesty anyways.

The draft has great depth, but it lacks that game changer. Anything can happen and who knows maybe there are 3 or 4 hall of famers sitting in the lottery, but I just don't see it.

Look up Anthony Davis.

He's unbelievable.  No team is giving up the 3rd best odds of getting him.  I don't care how much money it saves them.  Team's mortgage their entire future for a shot at getting a guy like that.  You could even argue that teams give up a shot at a title or two for a shot at a guy like that... as in the celtics trading their center to make room for cap space in an ill-advised attempt at signing Dwight HOward.

People are comparing Davis to Tim Duncan.  You can build a franchise around him.

Unlike a lot of the posters here, I don't need to look up Davis. He has a great skill set and he has the ceiling to be an absolute game changer but he's not there yet, I did mention that its possible there are 3-4 hall of famers in the draft. However, at the beginning of the season people were saying that about quite a few of the guys in this draft. But comparing the 2003 draft to this one is off the mark, depth wise it could be deeper with role players etc...but aside from one to two guys...who would you feel comfortable building your franchise around?

Never the less, the Hornets will not make a deal where they get rid of that pick.

[bfrombleacher]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

1) The draft class isn't the 2003 class, not even close to the same level. In that draft you had guys who you knew while they might not carry a franchise that they would be star players.

2) That being said there is no way in hell the Hornets trade that pick to get rid of a guy that they can amnesty anyways.

The draft has great depth, but it lacks that game changer. Anything can happen and who knows maybe there are 3 or 4 hall of famers sitting in the lottery, but I just don't see it.

Look up Anthony Davis.

He's unbelievable.  No team is giving up the 3rd best odds of getting him.  I don't care how much money it saves them.  Team's mortgage their entire future for a shot at getting a guy like that.  You could even argue that teams give up a shot at a title or two for a shot at a guy like that... as in the celtics trading their center to make room for cap space in an ill-advised attempt at signing Dwight HOward.

People are comparing Davis to Tim Duncan.  You can build a franchise around him.

Unlike a lot of the posters here, I don't need to look up Davis. He has a great skill set and he has the ceiling to be an absolute game changer but he's not there yet, I did mention that its possible there are 3-4 hall of famers in the draft. However, at the beginning of the season people were saying that about quite a few of the guys in this draft. But comparing the 2003 draft to this one is off the mark, depth wise it could be deeper with role players etc...but aside from one to two guys...who would you feel comfortable building your franchise around?

Never the less, the Hornets will not make a deal where they get rid of that pick.

But the T-Wolves pick is a possibility right?

[tyrone biggums]

the hornets aren't trading anthony davis and okafor for cap space.  Sorry

No lottery pick no matter how high is likely to be the number one pick itself, you know that.

The Clippers sold their lottery pick for a similar chunk of monetary savings. I don't think the Hornets would do it, but we've seen it before and probably will again.

Let me rephrase that then...

The Hornets aren't trading Okafor + Anthony Davis/Andre Drummond/Harrison Barnes/Thomas Robinson/Jeremy Lamb/Austin Rivers/Arnett Moultrie/Michael Kidd-Gilcrest/Jared Sullinger for cap space.

I know a lot of Celtic fans probably aren't too familiar with the depth of this upcoming draft.  Perhaps they don't even yet realize how incredible Anthony Davis is.   But when you start throwing out names and realizing the Hornets are currently sitting with the 3rd best odds of landing the top pick in a draft people are comparing to the Bron/Wade/Bosh/Melo 03' crop... no way are they giving up Okafor and their pick for cap space.

Remember when we stunk in 07 and had the 2nd worst record... in a draft where Greg Oden and Durant were projected to go #1 and #2... prior to the lotto would you have given up that pick for free if someone simply took Wally Sczerbiak off your hands?... nah.  And beyond those 2 guys (oden was a bust... still...) the draft was considered weak.    This draft has a superstar at the top and plenty of depth... the entire HOrnets franchise could hinge on that pick.

1) The draft class isn't the 2003 class, not even close to the same level. In that draft you had guys who you knew while they might not carry a franchise that they would be star players.

2) That being said there is no way in hell the Hornets trade that pick to get rid of a guy that they can amnesty anyways.

The draft has great depth, but it lacks that game changer. Anything can happen and who knows maybe there are 3 or 4 hall of famers sitting in the lottery, but I just don't see it.

Look up Anthony Davis.

He's unbelievable.  No team is giving up the 3rd best odds of getting him.  I don't care how much money it saves them.  Team's mortgage their entire future for a shot at getting a guy like that.  You could even argue that teams give up a shot at a title or two for a shot at a guy like that... as in the celtics trading their center to make room for cap space in an ill-advised attempt at signing Dwight HOward.

People are comparing Davis to Tim Duncan.  You can build a franchise around him.

Unlike a lot of the posters here, I don't need to look up Davis. He has a great skill set and he has the ceiling to be an absolute game changer but he's not there yet, I did mention that its possible there are 3-4 hall of famers in the draft. However, at the beginning of the season people were saying that about quite a few of the guys in this draft. But comparing the 2003 draft to this one is off the mark, depth wise it could be deeper with role players etc...but aside from one to two guys...who would you feel comfortable building your franchise around?

Never the less, the Hornets will not make a deal where they get rid of that pick.

But the T-Wolves pick is a possibility right?

[ForexPirate]

i would make the trade for okafor and noh pick in exchange for our pick or clipper's pick and whoever we need to trade to balance salaries.

[LarBrd33]

i would make the trade for okafor and noh pick in exchange for our pick or clipper's pick and whoever we need to trade to balance salaries.

JO, Wilcox, Dooling (all expiring) + both of our first rounders for Okafor and their unprotected lotto pick (it's going to be top 5)

Even then, the Hornets say no.

But if they didn't it would give us a center this year that we so badly need (Okafor) and something to cling to for the future (top 5 pick).  Tell them to buy out Kaman too so we can have a shot at him.

[joey_sorensen]

While I don't think the Hornets would do this trade, we have to remember that the Hornets are still league owned and would be looking to drop as much salary as possible in order to make them more attractive to a potential buyer.

They know they aren't going to be contending anytime soon, and from what I've heard/read most people believe that Eric Gordon will sign with the Pacers once he gets a chance.

Just some food for thought.

[goCeltics]

Always though if danny really wanted to get paul he should of being offering to pick up okafors contract, he could of done this by offering rondo+o'neil+green+bradley+s&t someone for the min(i.e arroyo) it would of worked out, i have have done the maths, even with green hurt if he made the baby and wafer sign and trade into a 3 way with NO getting rondo, o'neil, bass, bradley. Again works out if you do the maths. I guess alot of the get paul appeal was getting howard in the offseason, which I doubt he would of come even with paul here. If he was determined to trade rondo away I much rathe he gotten paul then a soon to be 32 year old power forward making 20+ mill a year.