salary cap this offseason?

[ankle420breaker]

Considering that Charlotte offered him $12MIL per season and he turned it down... I imagine Okafor will not sign a deal for $11MIL per at this point.

I agree, however, Okafor's numbers have regressed from last year to this year and he may find himself at odds with his bargaining chips this summer.

06/07: 14.4ppg, 11.3rpg, 1.2apg, 2.6bpg
07/08: 13.5ppg, 10.6rpg, 0.8apg, 1.7bpg

It even has me a little worried that the guy has regressed in a contract year. I don't think its set in stone that Charlotte would match ANY offer for a guy who isn't really excelling at the pace they had anticipated. Any team that shells out near max dollars for him is taking a risk, but I think its a more worthwhile risk for the Sixers who are a young team on the rise, than it is for the Bobcats who just added J-Rich and are currently 18 games below .500.

[The Guilty Party]

For those who are a fan of the Pistons' model... I think Okafor fits in with that.

Miller
Iguodala
Young
Okafor
Dalembert

Okafor also provides another crucial piece to the puzzle. No team has won an NBA championship in at least the last 30 years without having a Top 3 pick from the draft as a prominent member of it's team.

[bebopdeluxe]

TGP:

And remember - unlike Okafor (who we have to pay $70 mil over 6 years), in a best-case scenario for Randolph, we only have to pay $26 mil for 3 years net - as we trade Evans' and Green's contracts to the Knicks.

If we can get Brand, Smith, Okafor, Biedrins or anybody else better than Randolph, then great! I just think that all of these guys will be either unavailable or unaffordable...that's all.

[The Guilty Party]

TGP:

And remember - unlike Okafor (who we have to pay $70 mil over 6 years), in a best-case scenario for Randolph, we only have to pay $26 mil for 3 years net - as we trade Evans' and Green's contracts to the Knicks.

If we can get Brand, Smith, Okafor, Biedrins or anybody else better than Randolph, then great! I just think that all of these guys will be either unavailable or unaffordable...that's all.

Agreed. The other thing about Randolph is that if for some reason he doesn't pan out here, I'm fairly certain we could move him as an expiring contract after his 2nd season here so it's not as though we would be stuck with him for 5 seasons.

By the way.... here's another name worth keeping an eye on.... wait for it... wait for it.... Channing Frye. Last night was the first time he got over 30 minutes in a game and all he did was go for 22 and 11 on 9 of 12 shooting. Because he's played so little this season, I imagine he could be had for cheap and so he could serve as a nice pick-up if Ed Stefanski wants to keep his cap space for the summer of '09 and bring in another PF.