RealGM

Love Kwame, dude shouldn't have been a #1 pick but he's a consistent player and a load inside.

Ditto...we need the big guy and I also hope we can keep him. Gotta be a reasonable salary, as he is no more than an average Center in todays NBA. But average is not so bad, since 5's rarely impact the game as directly as they did in earlier years (D-Howard a notable exception).

Defiantly would love to have him back, but for the right price. I think Kwame and the team can get a short term deal done though.

It was great to see Kwaman really embraced by the fans as the season rolled on. He earned the love because he is a good, blue collar, hard worker type.

That said, 3 years with the 3rd year being a team option, 7.5 mil (2.5 per flat) and I'd welcome him back with open arms. Outside of that and I would flinch.

I bet some team will come along and offer him at least 8.5 million per year for about 3 years.

Here are some comparable bigs and their salary from last season:

Etan Thomas = 800k
Mahinmi = 800k
D.J. Mbenga = 800k
Gray = 1.0
Elson = 1.1
Fesenko = 1.1
Kwaman = 1.2
Koufus = 1.2
Jason Collins = 1.2
Shaq = 1.3
Magloire = 1.3
Z = 1.3
Ratliff = 1.3
Haddadi = 1.6
Kurt Thomas = 1.8
Ben Wallace = 2.0
Jason Smith = 2.1
Twiggy = 2.3
Hayes = 2.3
Mozgov = 2.7
Wilcox = 3.0
Petro = 3.2
Joel Anthony = 3.3
Birdman = 3.9
Perkins = 4.3
Darko = 4.3
Brad Miller = 4.4
ZaZa = 4.5
Turiaf =4.5
Dice = 4.8
Amir = 5.0
Jermaine = 5.7
Gortat = 6.3
Gana = 6.4
Foster = 6.6
Nazzy = 6.8
Varejao = 7.0
Gadzuric = 7.2
Przybilla = 7.4

Let's face it, we are only really looking for a stop gap five for the next couple of years (unless we can draft a stud or trade for an existing stud) so I think forking over a lot of cash for Kwaman would be crazy. If he didn't want to sign for 3 years with the 3rd year being a team option, 7.5 mil (2.5 per flat) or if some other team were willing to sign him for 8.5 per, then I would be sad to see him go but fine with signing someone like Etan or Mahinmi or Mbenga or Gray or Fesenko or Elson or Koufos or Haddadi or Smith or Hayes or Wilcox or Foster or Gadzuric - who are all UFA's - equal or less money than that.

kwame, dont follow the money. you dont want to end up in another bad situation like you had in washington, detroit, and LA. for the first time in your career you found a team that loved you and you also loved playing for. you have a coach who thinks the world of you and is giving you the green light to score for the first time in your career. you have great teammates and a city that is perfect for you. you have already made a ton of cash in your career. dont chase the money this summer. chase happiness.

3 years at 3 mil per. fair enough.

We're probably going to end up paying 3-4 a year for a long contract or up to five for a one year deal.

Doesn't Kwame post on realgm as IAmKwame? if your reading this Kwame resign here bro

I think we have to keep perspective of who and what Kwaman is.

- He's a large body
- He has good agility for his size
- He has a good motor
- He plays with great energy
- He establishes great deep position in the post sealing off his defender
- He can spin well both ways
- He defends the P&R pretty well

but

- He has horrible hands
- He has bad feel so finishing on his post ups/spins moves is hit and miss
- He's not a dominate rebounder
- He's not a dominate shot blocker
- He is terrible from the FT line
- He doesn't have a jump shot
- He seems to be only able to dunk with two hands and if he is on the move (eg: coming off a pick)
- He's 30 years old

All that adds up to around 2.5 a year to me.

He may have those flaws but when you look at the other potential FA's, that's not bad. Can we expect a Gray, Haddadi, or Fesenko to play 25-30 mpg? Kwame proved he can play big minutes this year and with big minutes comes a bigger contract.

I think the FO should consider a Nick Collison type contract.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/oklahoma_city.htm

Front load it for next year and receive a discount for the remaining years.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/7389 ... rve-center

He really needs to stay. Diop may not play until 2012 and while we may draft a center this year, can we expect him to play starter minutes? If Kwame leaves and we have no backup, we'll be playing Diaw at center until January.

Jaruff wrote:Can we expect a Gray, Haddadi, or Fesenko to play 25-30 mpg?

Did we really think Kwaman could when we signed him in the off season?

I thought there was bias against based on where he was pick in his draft. I didn't think he was that bad, he could be somewhat decent maybe he will be solid and thus good signing, maybe not and if not there is a little risk except jokes about MJ doing the same "mistake" twice.

I would actaully be happy to even see him retire in Charlotte (one day), not just a stop gap, as long as he won't cost as much of a salary cap and would be ok with diminishing role as we will bring up young centers for the future, why not? The beauty of first quarters when we used him excessively on offense making opposite team fans going bananas is a thing I would not like to lose. I would like him a starter in first halfs and as a backup in case of foul trouble of young prospects (say Biyombo or other one with block it all approach) for second halfs till some of our center prospects flourish enough. And as long as his body could do that (which shouldn't be an issue, his game is not based on explosiveness). As long as we won't have 2 or 3 clearly better centers and he commands reasonable money I would be glad to have him on our roster. I wish him as much redemption with us as possible.

Yes, come home Kwame . . . but. If Kwame's going to need more than $3 mln a yr then I'd rather spend that on young players. rebuilding means we shouldn't be signing anybody 30 and up unless it's Kwame and it's a really good deal. would rather spend less on Gray or experiment for a lot less on Fesenko (an absolute man mountain on defense) Haddadi (a surprising 19 PER) or try to get our hands on Koufos. and if they really suck then we haven't committed capspace and rosterspace our two most precious needs, and we gurantee we keep our pick nxt yr.

If we're willing to offer Kwame 5.5 mln then we should take DMtumbo's approach and offer that money to a (much) younger vet like Hawes.

doc.end wrote:The beauty of first quarters when we used him excessively on offense making opposite team fans going bananas is a thing I would not like to lose.

That is very true doc. It was pretty sweet seeing opposing fans flip out and Kwaman was our 1st option on offense in the 1st qtrs - and actually produced.

BigSlam wrote:I think we have to keep perspective of who and what Kwaman is.

- He's a large body
- He has good agility for his size
- He has a good motor
- He plays with great energy
- He establishes great deep position in the post sealing off his defender
- He can spin well both ways
- He defends the P&R pretty well

but

- He has horrible hands
- He has bad feel so finishing on his post ups/spins moves is hit and miss
- He's not a dominate rebounder
- He's not a dominate shot blocker
- He is terrible from the FT line
- He doesn't have a jump shot
- He seems to be only able to dunk with two hands and if he is on the move (eg: coming off a pick)
- He's 30 years old

All that adds up to around 2.5 a year to me.

I think this sums up the situation perfectly. I really like Kwame and hope we can retain him. But $2.5 mil a year is reasonable considering what he brings to the table.

And if he can get $5 mil elsewhere, let him walk. If we cant outbid philly in the mid $ 5 mils for 23 yo Hawes who they just qualified at 4 mil, then I would just snatch up aaron gray who could easily be signed for $2-$2.5 mil and provide the same rebounding and post defense that kwame will for half the price. He's younger than Brown and a decent big man. Watched him put up 19 points and 20 rebounds on the Raptors a couple years back. Fesenko and Hadaddi arent as accomplished but they are both younger, skilled and have never really been given the opportunity to show what they can do.

- He defends the P&R pretty well

I thought he was a terrible p&r defender, maybe that's just me.

He'll resign on the cheap..Captain once Jax goes?? LMAO

He's an average NBA center that can give any team a good 25-35 minutes a game. With Silas at the helm, he can still develop Kwame even further. He even made Jamaal Magloire relevant for a couple of years. I wouldn't pay him more than 3 mill a year. If he ain't satisfied with 3 million then let him walk.