Push the Detonator Already

[dmutombo321]

All it took was one year of poor occupancy for Stern/League's owners to approve Bennett's relocation.

For the final time, attendance in Seattle’s final lame duck season in no way led to their impending relocation. Nor did their decision to rebuild their roster when they decided to mail in the 06-07 season.

Their relocation was all but certain prior to that final year which is exactly why it was defined at the time as a lame duck season. Bennett had all the board of governor’s votes for relocation in his pocket and Stern’s tacit approval. The eventual hearing was only a formality. The poor attendance the final year was the result of the franchise’s impending exit, not the cause.

Bennett pursued arbitration to break the Sonics lease in September of 2007, BEFORE the final lame duck season. The basis of the arbitration?, Key Arena being antiquated: “The Sonics ownership group said that they will “live up to their financial responsibility for the duration of the lease," which expires on September 30, 2010, "but don’t believe they are legally bound to continue playing at an outdated facility that is costing them money.”

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/115156

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/s ... ote18.html

Our 4 lotto picks had such high value throughout the league because of what excellent players they yielded...

Keep the time period in perspective here. We aren’t talking about 2010, this was mid 2006. Team’s were still enamoured with Felton’s potential and he had more value than he does now. Morrison had yet to play a game and his draft rights, had they wanted to trade them could have netted another lottery pick.

Right, because trading for a player that doesn't want to be on your team works out ALL THE TIME!! [

Walt, to illustrate what I’m talking about, Jason Richardson had no desire to play for Charlotte. He was devastated when he was traded here if you recall and for awhile, refused to even take phone calls. Once he reported, warmed up to the city/team and became comfortable, he fit right in. Jrich never would have given us the time of day had he been a free agent, but we were able to acquire him using our free cap space via a trade.

We don't really have much room to improve and I think our future looks pretty bleak right now, but it's come a long way from how worried I was about this franchise even a year ago.

Again, as far as fan support is concerned we agree. They really have a difficult balancing act to perform with fan support vs. roster feasibility for the future.

MJ would also love to have 43 seasons of history, 22 playoff appearances and a championship victory attached to his club.

I was responding the Paydro’s post in which we were discussing the relative significance of 16,222 as an average attendance number. I simply pointed out that this number is still better than what we posted this year at the cable box. The probable reasons why Seattle’s attendance was higher, which you correctly cite, are irrelevant to the point I was making.

This is flabbergasting. Okafor and Felton had value comparable to Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen?

Just like I was accused earlier of touting Terrence Williams as a franchise player, you’re putting words into my mouth again. I never said 2006 Felton and Okafor alone were > value wise than Lewis Allen. The point I was making was that our roster as a whole at the time including Wallace et al, coupled with our cap space painted a picture for our future which was IMO rosier than Seattles.

The following offseason, Allen and Lewis were effectively turned into the #5 pick in the draft and two future late first rounders by Seattle. In summer of 06’ Morrison and Okafor alone could have theoretically been parlayed into that.

if you use the argument that ammo had value because he hadnt proven yet to be a bust you must apply that same logic to sene, swift, collison and petro.

I'll concede this to be a very valid point. It crossed my mind also as I was looking at their roster. I would however note that petro, swift and sene were all considered to be raw projects at the time in the ajinca mold while morrison was still projected as a potential 17-20 point scorer

[Walt Cronkite]

For the final time, attendance in Seattle’s final lame duck season in no way led to their impending relocation. Nor did their decision to rebuild their roster when they decided to mail in the 06-07 season.

Their relocation was all but certain prior to that final year which is exactly why it was defined at the time as a lame duck season. Bennett had all the board of governor’s votes for relocation in his pocket and Stern’s tacit approval. The eventual hearing was only a formality. The poor attendance the final year was the result of the franchise’s impending exit, not the cause.

Bennett pursued arbitration to break the Sonics lease in September of 2007, BEFORE the final lame duck season. The basis of the arbitration?, Key Arena being antiquated: “The Sonics ownership group said that they will “live up to their financial responsibility for the duration of the lease," which expires on September 30, 2010, "but don’t believe they are legally bound to continue playing at an outdated facility that is costing them money.”

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/115156

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/s ... ote18.html

Until this season, Charlotte residents were very apathetic towards the Bobcats. They have a nice arena, but haven't embraced the club. Seattle residents were equally apathetic towards the Sonics. They have the Mariners and Seahawks, who IIRC had massive renovations to their facilities pretty recent to when Bennett was sold the franchise, so they weren't very tolerant to the suggestion they needed to go through the process again with their basketball team. Their attendance numbers were limited by the size of the arena, but that definitely contributes to their home attendance % looking very good, so I don't think you can so easily dismiss attendance as an issue. It's not like they were selling out every game or anything, they just didn't have as much space, so an average turnout looked great. Fan apathy is fan apathy. You want to say that it's all about the arena, but it's not. The Sonics were moved because Oklahoma City was a better location for an NBA franchise, the arena's capacity limitation was the excuse that the Bennett's group rallied behind, but this was not the sole factor or the parties figure out a way to make it work.

Heisley got the Grizzlies to Memphis because of poor attendance in Vancouver. Shinn moved the Hornets from Charlotte because of complaints about an outdated arena. You find something to rally behind if you're an owner that wants to move a team, but you don't move them unless there are issues with fan support.

Walt, to illustrate what I’m talking about, Jason Richardson had no desire to play for Charlotte. He was devastated when he was traded here if you recall and for awhile, refused to even take phone calls. Once he reported, warmed up to the city/team and became comfortable, he fit right in. Jrich never would have given us the time of day had he been a free agent, but we were able to acquire him using our free cap space via a trade.

Right, it worked out, barely. This is different from being able to draw free agents, which is something that an established franchise can do based on location, team success, coaching styles, etc...

Again, as far as fan support is concerned we agree. They really have a difficult balancing act to perform with fan support vs. roster feasibility for the future.

They really had a difficult balancing act to perform with fan support vs. roster feasibility in the past.

I was responding the Paydro’s post in which we were discussing the relative significance of 16,222 as an average attendance number. I simply pointed out that this number is still better than what we posted this year at the cable box. The probable reasons why Seattle’s attendance was higher, which you correctly cite, are irrelevant to the point I was making.

Put they are relevant in the discussion of the Bobcats. How is that lost on you?

Just like I was accused earlier of touting Terrence Williams as a franchise player, you’re putting words into my mouth again. I never said 2006 Felton and Okafor alone were > value wise than Lewis Allen. The point I was making was that our roster as a whole at the time including Wallace et al, coupled with our cap space painted a picture for our future which was IMO rosier than Seattles.

The following offseason, Allen and Lewis were effectively turned into the #5 pick in the draft and two future late first rounders by Seattle. In summer of 06’ Morrison and Okafor alone could have theoretically been parlayed into that.

I'm not misrepresenting you, I'm just selecting the two greatest assets each of the teams you were trying to compare had. You think that they drew comparable value, I think that's ridiculous. Rashard was a stud at the time. If Seattle tries to trade him instead of getting backed into a situation where they have to S&T him to Orlando or let him walk for nothing, then you have a much harder time arguing that Okafor and Morrison would be able to get a similar return. Just because Lewis was traded for a 2nd does not mean that his value was that of a 2nd rounder.

I'll concede this to be a very valid point. It crossed my mind also as I was looking at their roster. I would however note that petro, swift and sene were all considered to be raw projects at the time in the ajinca mold while morrison was still projected as a potential 17-20 point scorer

and a lot of GMs weren't convinced Ammo's game would translate to the NBA. Some scouts projected Petro and Sene to be Mutomboesque defenders based on their size, wingspan and athleticism.

[Walt Cronkite]

Noted. Let's get together a sig bet.

I think this is a fine thread for you to post your rebuilding thoughts, since this is the thread about rebuilding that you've already created. You've already made my point for me, though. It's WAY easier to pick apart something in hindsight and tie it to heavy qualifiers than it is to actually, you know, come up with a realistic plan that all sides agree on. There are all sorts of things you have to take into consideration with a marketability/corporate sponsorship factor heavily weighing into things.

Please DMutombo321, save us from or FO d00mz0rz, you're our only hope!

Would love for you to follow up on these aspects as part of your next diatribe.

[Paydro70]

Mutombo, I think you missed the point of my comment about the Sonics' attendance. It doesn't matter how many people their arena holds... it's about the filled seats, not the empty ones. Unless they're selling out every game, getting +99%, their raw numbers are appropriate to use, and the Sonics were never even average since 2001, even when they had a 52-win team.

I suppose your point is simply that the team wasn't rebuilding until after the decision was announced to move the team. But to me that's a little short-sighted, the original owners might not have have had to sell the team if attendance was better.

You also have to keep in mind that all % attendance numbers are inflated by giveaways and super-cheap tickets bad franchises offer to cut losses. So when you get up above 95% without inflation, as many franchises can, you can stop giving away as many tickets, and so get a higher average price per ticket. So the effect of getting to 100%, even in a small arena, is a significant one.

All I can say is that I agree with Fats about the 06 Bobcats. Sean May's rookie year lasted less than 400 minutes, and while Felton's rookie year made it seem like he had all-star potential, Ammo was a dubious #3 pick. It's not much better than Swift, who looked like he might really be a player, and another lotto pick in Sene. Even Chris Wilcox was coming off the best season of his career. There's no question that, even if the team was about to rebuild, it was a much preferable roster situation than the Bobcats'.

[Rich4114]

The Thunder/Sonics became better than the Bobcats when they won the #2 pick in the draft with the best player sitting at #2. Just like we could've been better than them had Orlando went with Okafor like they originally had planned or we won the friggin coin toss with NO which would've given us CP3 or we went with Brandon Roy like we almost did over Adam Morrison.

Regardless of the decisions this franchise has made, Seattle/OKC had a superstar fall directly into their lap - we've never had that luck and probably won't for a long time.

[Jaruff]

^ This.

The Thunder are good because of their luck in the draft. Westbrook, Durant, Green, so forth. If Portland takes Durant and OKC ends up with Oden, they wouldn't have made the playoffs this year. If someone like Paul or Roy (or both) end up in Charlotte, then this is easily a 50+ win team that likely wins the division.

[Rich4114]

Exactly, 90% of the time championship teams are built primarily through the draft - the draft is where we've failed. I hope one day the NBA changes the lottery back to how it was in the early 90's. I also hope they ban zone defense and defensive 3 second violations again as well. Stupid **** like that has hurt the NBA more than anyone realizes.

[dmutombo321]

do you still create this thread if we are in the position the Bucks are? I think you probably still make this thread whenever our post season ends no matter how good we do

No, because had we advanced, my prediction from last year that we make the playoffs and get swept by Cleveland or Orlando would have been disproven.

But you’re right about me frowning on teams going for broke to taste the playoffs with no hope to advance at the expense of the club’s long term future.

Noted. Let's get together a sig bet.

I think this is a fine thread for you to post your rebuilding thoughts, since this is the thread about rebuilding that you've already created. You've already made my point for me, though. It's WAY easier to pick apart something in hindsight and tie it to heavy qualifiers than it is to actually, you know, come up with a realistic plan that all sides agree on. There are all sorts of things you have to take into consideration with a marketability/corporate sponsorship factor heavily weighing into things.

Please DMutombo321, save us from or FO d00mz0rz, you're our only hope!

Would love for you to follow up on these aspects as part of your next diatribe.

I stand by my prediction and, if you’re so inclined, feel free to use my original post regarding the Thunder however you would like:

“Go ahead and book it right now because predictions don’t come any easier than this: The OKC Thunder will advance past the first round before we do.”

As for your second point, I’ve already noted that I didn’t pick apart anything in hindsight. And I missed the rule requiring someone to have “a realistic plan that all sides agree on” drafted with copies on standby to distribute in order to contend that the Jackson trade was a bad idea long term at the time it happened. As I recall, you were as disappointed with the Jackson trade as I was at the time and I must’ve missed the requisite “ realistic plan that all sides can agree on” addendum to your posts expressing your displeasure.

[dmutombo321]

the original owners might not have have had to sell the team if attendance was better.

You find something to rally behind if you're an owner that wants to move a team, but you don't move them unless there are issues with fan support.

All the fan support in the world means nothing if you are handcuffed to an arena that makes it mathematically impossible to generate adequate money to cover your overhead.

As previously outlined, Seattle was filling their arena at over 90% capacity (16,222) during their final three season’s before Bennett publically announced his intentions to move the team. Yes, there are comp tickets, discounted tickets and promo give aways factored into the 16,222 number but these same factors were also built into the numbers for Orlando, Atlanta, Indy, Philly, Charlotte, etc that they outdrew during the same period.

The bottom line is this: Key Arena was the most antiquated building in the league and it lacked the modern amenities necessary, namely a sufficient # of luxury suites, to generate ample revenue to support an NBA team. What’s more, their lease required them to split what anaemic revenue the arena did generate with the city. Even if they were theoretically selling out the arena on a nightly basis, it would still have been a losing proposition financially.

This is the last I’m going to post on the Seattle issue as I’ve already posted numerous different news links throughout this thread written on the Sonics relocation. They all make perfectly clear that the city’s inability/unwillingness to cooperate in replacing Key Arena was the chief cause of the Sonics’ sale and subsequent departure.

If you think the articles are lying or just didn’t bother to read them, I’ll leave you with a few words from David Stern himself:

“The reason that this journey began was because KeyArena was not an adequate arena going forward and there were a lot of recommendations made for another arena ... but the tax revenues and the various contributions weren't forthcoming.”

"I think Seattle is a terrific market. It just doesn't have an NBA-ready arena of the future that's been agreed to by all parties for many years," Stern said. "It's a very strong market that has, in fact, supported NBA basketball well over the years.”

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... okc26.html

Seattle remains a viable market with a rich basketball history and I guarantee that if they ever build an NBA calibre building which would permit a team to be financially feasible, that the NBA will return there.

[Walt Cronkite]

As for your second point, I’ve already noted that I didn’t pick apart anything in hindsight. And I missed the rule requiring someone to have “a realistic plan that all sides agree on” drafted with copies on standby to distribute in order to contend that the Jackson trade was a bad idea long term at the time it happened. As I recall, you were as disappointed with the Jackson trade as I was at the time and I must’ve missed the requisite “ realistic plan that all sides can agree on” addendum to your posts expressing your displeasure.

I want to know what your 3 year rebuilding plan looks like. That's why I quoted myself. You can claim to not pick apart things in hindsight, fine. I want to know what you would do, because I don't remember you ever suggest what you'd do if you have the power to rebuild, only that we should be perpetually doing it. That's what the "realistic plans that all sides agree on" part was about. Not to call out Bassman, but he does the same thing: "We HAVE GOT to trade for a PF that is a post presence and a proven SG" without any realistic suggestions.

It's really easy to say, "Look, we should've built the team like the Thunder!" once we're both in the playoffs and they are built around a lot of great young players that have worked out recently. It's easy to say what we shouldn't have done or to claim that a front office move is only going to get us to our goal of making it to the playoffs. It's a lot harder to say "we should/should've rebuild/rebuilt, I think it will take 3 years, here's what I'd do" because of all of the uncertainty. What young prospect comes out of no where? Who gets hurt? What team that we get a pick from in a trade miraculously overperforms?

It is a good idea to be pessimistic about the Bobcats and everyone is entitled to be that way. What good are these incredibly long discussions though? We're just discussing the same thing we always do without exchanging new ideas. I'm bored with that. You created this thread about how we should've already blown the team up, let's see your plan. I can't find the quote in this thread, so maybe I dreamed it up, but I swear you already promised us as much in something that you wrote here.

[Walt Cronkite]

The bottom line is this: Key Arena was the most antiquated building in the league and it lacked the modern amenities necessary, namely a sufficient # of luxury suites, to generate ample revenue to support an NBA team. What’s more, their lease required them to split what anaemic revenue the arena did generate with the city. Even if they were theoretically selling out the arena on a nightly basis, it would still have been a losing proposition financially.

My bottom line (and the reason we've been discussing this for so long) is this:

The Bobcats have one of/the most modern buildings in the league. It had the modern amenities and a sufficient # of luxury suites to generate ample revenue to support an NBA team. The team STILL lacks the support of enough Charlotte residents to disregard the worry that they will be in the red next season and that's with an owner than the city likes on the back of a playoff push. You can make gigantic posts dancing around the issue, but there was no guarantee Postolos was going to keep the team in Charlotte and I am of the opinion that it would've been even less likely if the team had already undergone a rebuilding effort because that would've meant there would be an even more desperate to sell Bob Johnson.

I've made this point to elaborate on why I think it was necessary to mortgage the future for the present goal of making the playoffs at whatever costs, because I disagree with your notion that we could've blown the team up already. I think that we were THAT desperate, though I am very open to the idea of doing it now that a lot of the issues that caused the desperation have been addressed. I feel like I've been saying this for pages now, but maybe this wording is the one that sticks.

[dmutombo321]

As for your second point, I’ve already noted that I didn’t pick apart anything in hindsight. And I missed the rule requiring someone to have “a realistic plan that all sides agree on” drafted with copies on standby to distribute in order to contend that the Jackson trade was a bad idea long term at the time it happened. As I recall, you were as disappointed with the Jackson trade as I was at the time and I must’ve missed the requisite “ realistic plan that all sides can agree on” addendum to your posts expressing your displeasure.

I want to know what you would do, because I don't remember you ever suggest what you'd do if you have the power to rebuild, only that we should be perpetually doing it. That's what the "realistic plans that all sides agree on" part was about. Not to call out Bassman, but he does the same thing: "We HAVE GOT to trade for a PF that is a post presence and a proven SG" without any realistic suggestions.

I've made plenty of past suggestions.

Bass and I participated in a number of different threads last year prior to the Jax trade which included specific suggested blueprints for rebuilding at the time.

Here's one thread Bass himself created in November, prior to the Jackson deal, entitled What is our PF Solution.


viewtopic.php?f=53&t=955915

In it, I posted

Make everyone on our roster available for trades provided we get value in the form of draft picks and/or young prospects in return. In doing so, try to include players like Diop, Rad in packages in attempt to rid ourselves of their ecumbering contracts.

Play any young prospects we acquire along with players like UPS, Ajinca, Hendo, DJ heavy minutes in an effort to develop them. We'd likely post a win total in the low 20s.

We'll have our own selection in the top 10 and will likely be able to land a Davis, Favors or Brackins to groom as the future of our 4 spot. If we land another selection through one of the deals, we may also be able to add a scoring wing like an evan turner.

We'd probably post around 30 wins the following season, get one final top-10 lotto pick (before we'd forfit it the following year when it loses ots protection from the ajinca deal), and have cap room to sign a young FA with Chandler's salary coming off the books.

In a nutshell, this is the general approach I would take. Dealing Diaw for a player like Boozer would certainly make us better and possibly even get us that 8th playoff shot. But its only an expensive short-term bandaid so to speak and is not conducive to building a team that could eventually go deep into the post season, or even win a first round series for that matter.

Ok...

If Philly really wants to go all out for the post season this year and Charlotte finally commits to rebuilding, I would gladly give them Diaw/Ajinca/Nazr AND eat the last two years of Dalembert's thus-far untradable contract if they would part with Speights.

I'd also be willing to swap out Diaw for Wallace if they'd rather have him but I think Diaw would be a better fit for Philly.

Why for Philly?

For better or worse, philly is stuck with Brand for the long run. Nobody is gonna touch that contract for anything. For the next 4 years, Brand and Iggy are their core with $30 mil/season tied up each year between the two of them. Philly has commited $16 mil a year to Brand through 2013 and in doing so, have commited to Brand as their starting 4. While Brand gets the minutes, Speights is only seeing 25 mins per game off the bench.

Philly just dropped below .500 with a loss to PHX tonight and with Brand unmovable and Iggy untouchable, if Philly plans to get better and make changes to improve for the playoffs this year, Speights and Young are really the only two desirable trade assets they have to offer teams.

Thad Young has not looked good at all this year. He's shooting 39% from the field and 8% from beyond the arc. Plugging Diaw in at the 3 gives them a versitile player who can shoot the three but even more importantly, gives them a facilitator via point forward they lack as Lou Williams is most defititely not a pass first PG. He can also spell Brand at the PF and also gives them the ability to go small and slide brand to the 5 when they want to run.

Their fruitless efforts to move Dalembert's **** contract have been well publicized. In this deal, they are able to do so and get a much cheaper, equally capable player in Nazr.

Nazr gives them a servicable center who can start for them immediatly. He's under contract this season and the next just like Dalembert but at half the salary.

Ajinca offers a low risk high potential prospect, who, if he ever adds weight to his frame could pay big dividends in the future.

Williams / Holiday
Iggy / Willie Green
Diaw / Young
Brand / Diaw / Smith
Nazr / Brand / Ajinca

This roster should get them in the post season wth a 6-8 seed and possibly even advance a round or two.

Why for Charlotte?

This would be the first step in a 3 year plan to reach the post season responsibly (i.e. doing so the right way a la OKC/POR by assembling a young, cap flexible roster with the potential to eventually contend as opposed to taking expensive, short sighted shortcuts [i.e. dealing Claw for Nazr's 5 yr deal or dealing Carroll for Diop] that may get a team to the post season but cash strap it in the process and lower its achievment ceiling).

Losing Diaw makes us a much worse team but it would concede that this season isnt working and rebuilding has begun.

Speights has the potential to be a 18/9/2 PF if given the court time to polish his skills and learn to stay out of foul trouble. He routinely posts lines like that off the bench already. He'll be on his rookie deal for the next 4 years counting this season. He's every bit as good as the other PF's that will be coming out in this years draft and he's only 22.

Dalembert's contract, which runs through this year and next, is much more expensive than Nazr's and almost identical to Chandler's. $24 million is alot to pay dead weight. However, in net terms, the trade would turn out to be cap friendly as the removal of Diaw's $9mil per contract coupled with the removal of Nazr's $6.5 would more than offset Dalembert's $11.5 mil and actually saves money. We'd take on no additional years of salary and ultimately save a year from Diaw as an added bonus.

This reduction in long term salary obligation would save Johnson $ and also make the franchise's balance sheet more appealing to suitors.

During the year, if we could deal Bell, Felton and/or Wallace to a playoff contender for prospects and/or an additional lotto pick, do so.

As mentioned in a previous post, we would then play our young players heavy minutes while compiling a poor record. Perhaps bring in a D-league prospect or two to eval along the way. We may get lucky and find a decent contributer like we did with Carroll a few years back. We'd ideally draw a top 6 draft pick next summer and with any luck add another late lotto selection from a trade.

A player like Evan Turner, who Slam and I have coveted since last year (and he just posted a triple double in Ohio States opener tonight 14, 17, 10 playing out of position as a 6'7 PG) would be an ideal in next summer's draft. He's a good-to scorer who is a taller, skinnier version of Brandon Roy. If they get another selection, perhaps they could select a blue collar center like Aldrich.

After next season we'd have $30 million coming off the books between Chandler/Dalembert/Rad's expiring deals, affording us plenty of $ to add a quality FA or two.

By summer of 2011 we could look something like:

DJ / Lotto PG (added with 2011' pick, our final lotto pick before forfeiting in '12 for the Ajinca deal)
Evan Turner / Hendo
Brown / Possible FA SF signed with cap room (Azubuike? Salmons?)
Speights / cheap back up FA PF (Collison?)
Aldrich / Diop

This would represent a promising young roster that would not only have a legitimate shot at the post season in '12 but would also be talented enough to advance further in subsequent years.

Everything outlined above would be the general direction I would go if I were GM.....

But, I put the smart money on us sticking to the status quo and wallowing in 30-38 win mediocrity while possibly getting an 8th seed playoff birth by default along the way only to get swept and come back with another mid-30s season.

In any event, its a complete mischaracterization to suggest that in the past I have only spouted off about rebuilding without ever suggesting anything along the way.

Without taking the time to dig them up, there were plenty of other threads where we discussed potential packages for players Hickson also in which we would have also acquired and Waived Z for them. After the Jackson deal, I no longer posted or discussed those types of things anymore because, at that point, it was moot.

As for current rebuilding suggestions, I'll post my thoughts but I'd ideally like to wait until other teams' draft orders are decided here in a couple weeks so I can toss around ideas that are less hypothetical.

[Walt Cronkite]

Your Philly post is good, but the other was what I'm remembering. Vague suggestions of trades for prospects/picks. Don't understand why you were against Boozer though. Swapping Diaw for his play and expiring contract status seems right up our alley, except we'd be good enough to maybe make the playoffs, which I guess you were against so we'd have a better draft pick, wherein we'd likely select another player that you'd be against.

[dmutombo321]

^ At the time, my concern was that Boozer would walk at the end of the year and we would have essentially traded Diaw for nothing.

Knowing what we know now about how the season played out for Diaw, I'd gladly just give him away for even less. You cant beat getting paid 9 mil a year for 4 mil production.

[Walt Cronkite]

Yea, Boozer's expiring status was always a huge positive to me when we were arguing about blowing things up, since I was keeping in mind that we would need to keep up the appearance of trying to win games.