The fact that if Felton is not traded is followed by a statement:
"The Bobcats may lose him for nothing" - this alone is scary enough.
This reminds of the Florida Marlins - a team with no sufficient budget. They used to have like a million top prospects, but as soon as the prospects become stars, they couldn't afford them.
Let's hope Charlotte is not a franchise like the one above.
I'll be disappointed if something doesn't happen involving either Felton, Mohammed or May by Thursday.
Agreed. We can't be stuck with Mohammed and/or May for another season. Well for May he has one more season but I'm pretty sure that Nazr's contract spans another couple of years. But what do you all think about Ajinca? We need a bench. Think we can count on just using him in the 4th quarter or should his contract be liberated too?
Agreed. We can't be stuck with Mohammed and/or May for another season. Well for May he has one more season but I'm pretty sure that Nazr's contract spans another couple of years. But what do you all think about Ajinca? We need a bench. Think we can count on just using him in the 4th quarter or should his contract be liberated too?
acidbasesalt, in detailing the Marlins you also described the Charlotte Hornets. Fortunately the Bobcats so far have not let the stars (Mek, Crash) get away. Is Felts a star? He certainly has a lot going for him, but his sub-500 shooting so far has limited his potential. I think dealing him and getting rid of Nazr's contract at the same time will greatly help the team move forward. The question is will anyone take Nazr in a deal? I guess we have 4 days to find out.
OWL, I think we're gonna have Ajinca for the foreseeable future. He's Larry's pet project and he doesn't cost us much for the next 2 years.
Hmmm, guess I'll go against the grain here. Unless Felton's agent is totally unrealistic...and Crash type money IMO is totally unrealistic...then we should keep him. I'd draw the line at Jameer Nelson type money (7.6 flat @ 5 yrs...last being a player option) and would go to 6 years at a slightly lower rate or a declining deal.
Sean May is expiring this year, so there is no push to move him. Management could very well offer him a minimum contract and I'd support that; we've invested enough in him where 700k-800k won't kill us.
I would try to swing him now tho for a SG type player (Dorell Wright type).
Nazr has 2 more years after this one (last is a PO) at the MLE. All we have to do is get thru next season and he becomes an ASSET (expiring contract). I don't agree with giving up an asset (Felton) just to get out of his deal.
In regards to this "lose him for nothing"...we did the same with Crash & Mek and we didn't lose either. Of course there's some risk, but with the declining cap and the financial situation of the NBA in general there's risk for both sides.
Anyone want to guess the odds of Ben Gordon getting more in FA this year than what he declined with the Bulls this past summer?
When talking about affording players, you can't really compare between leagues because the rules are different.
MLB has no logical salary cap. That is why the Yankees can afford to pay A-Rod $252 million, Sabathia $180 million, Burnett $60 million, along with Jeter and the other guys on that team. All the while the Tampa Rays have about a tenth of the Yankees payroll if that much. It all depends on how much dough the owners have and are willing to shell out.
The NFL is structured, though somewhat skewed.
The NBA however, is more like a business than sport or entertainment. All of the contractual rules and limits is confusing. But the real problem is that, while there is a salary cap, some teams don't care (LAKERS). They're going to go miles over the luxury tax and not worry about it because they have the market and revenue to pay for it. The NBA is about marketing. The NFL and MLB is about the teams.
So in a round about way, though it may be similar, its different altogether. Charlotte wouldn't be able to afford certain players because of market, not necessarily money.
All that is very true, though even a lot of those teams with bigger markets like Chicago...who BTW I think is the most profitable...refuse to go over the luxury tax limit.
It'd be a shame tho if we'd draw the line with someone like Felton and yet we just traded for a guy who does a lot less in Diop (not to say he's not needed) who's averaging around 6.5 over the next 4 years after this one.
Which is a point: management offered Diop that same contract this summer...is Felton worth what Diop got? More than that?
All that is very true, though even a lot of those teams with bigger markets like Chicago...who BTW I think is the most profitable...refuse to go over the luxury tax limit.
It'd be a shame tho if we'd draw the line with someone like Felton and yet we just traded for a guy who does a lot less in Diop (not to say he's not needed) who's averaging around 6.5 over the next 4 years after this one.
Which is a point: management offered Diop that same contract this summer...is Felton worth what Diop got? More than that?
No way man...Felton's agent will definitely ask something close to $10 million per year fixed over half a decade, or a first year of $7-8 million with 10% raise for at least four years. I'd say the latter's more likely simply due to the current economic situation. In fact, if NBA doesn't have a strict rule on contracts (i.e. no more than 10% increment per year), Charlotte can resign him and pay little for the first few years and postpone most of the money until a later date (for example, Vernon Wells of the Toronto Blue Jays signed a seven year-$126 million deal in 2006, and the interesting part is that he gets a singing bonus of $25 million, yet the salary of the first 3 years combined is no more than $14 million, which means the rest $87 million will be paid over four years. I'm not an accounting expert, but I'm guessing saving money early allows a corporation to utilize that money and make more money, and NBA is not very corporate-friendly.
BTW I absolutely hate corporations cus they care no more than their own profit instead of general and social welfare.
Anyway, NBA's NBA. Felton's likely a lost cause, so I say just trade him.
Diop's no more than a sixth man and is a pure defender, while Felton can pass, drive, and defend bigger guards. The difference between the two is huge.
We've got until Thursday to hold our collective breaths. Now, once past this trade deadline what's the next trade deadline? There seem to be so many of them that how can one take any one deadline seriously?
And BTW I wouldn't be surprised if we see some friction between Felts and his agent down the road a bit. I think that the agent is acting 100% in his own interest. Sure Felts wants a more lucrative contract but how high will the bidding go? and at what non-monetary cost?
Something starting around 7.5-8.0 going up to like 10 for the 5th year is what I think he'll get. Its hard to compare him to Diop's deal as any 7 footer gets a big chunk added to salery over their 'real value' as there is such a small market of players for teams to recruit from.
He compares to the other combo guards like Gordon who you'd be more than happy backing up both PG and SG spots but just doesn't fit the NBA standard 'type' of player in a set position so becomes a combo guard (utility player). The other kind of utility player is the like of Odom, Diaw and Radmanovic type and coach seems to love this type so hopefully he'll make the most of Felts :)
Re: Felton or Augustin
11%
