Okafor makes sense only if he would help us this season win a championship. That is not the case. He is gone after the season, to sign with someone who is willing to pay more than we can, as we would not be getting his Bird rights.
Depends if he were released and signed or if he were traded for.
Re Bird rights? Can you elaborate?
If he were released, we could a) sign him to a two-year minimum deal, or b) sign him for up to the full DPE ($8.4 million) for 1 year.
The two-year minimum is unlikely, but if Ainge were able to sell him on the possibility that the Celtics could help turn around his career, a la Evan Turner, it’s not impossible. Accordingly, we would not be outbid next summer, because he wouldn’t hit free agency. In the case of the DPE, the Celtics would be able to pay him up to 120% of this year’s salary in free agency next year. With the full DPE of $8.4 million, the Celtics could offer him a little over $10 million in year 1 of a deal next summer. It’s highly unlikely any team is going to offer Okafor that next summer, so even though another team could technically outbid the Celtics, practically speaking the Celtics would be able to match or exceed reasonable offers Okafor might obtain next summer in such a situation, if it made sense for them to do so.