In Defense of Okafor and Nene

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This season--and he's still 18 years old.

In the future he could be the second best player to Davis.

[Higga]

This season--and he's still 18 years old.

In the future he could be the second best player to Davis.

He was drafted second overall so that's not exactly going out on a limb.


0 chance the Bobcats are better than the Wiz this year. They were the worst team in NBA history last year. They won't be that bad but they'll be among the worst in the league again this year. We will be fighting for a playoff seed(a low one around 6-8).

[fishercob]

I have mentioned on numerous occasions that Ariza could well opt out of his player option next summer. I did not realize that Okafor had an ETO on his final year as well. While it initially struck me as less likely that he would walk from $14.4M, I am now not so sure.

As with Ariza, a lot of it depends on both how the team;s season goes and on his role. That said, the Spurs could be in a position to give Okafor 2 yrs/$20M next summer, maybe more. The Sixers, Blazers, Bucks, T-Wolves, Kings, and Rockets could potentially be interested in throwing three or four years at Okafor.

If I had to bet today, I'd say Okafor will be here through his contract, but i dont think it 's a sure thing.

[Nivek]

While it's possible that Okafor and/or Ariza could opt out, I don't see why either of them would do it. Okafor isn't getting $14.5 million anywhere else. Even getting a two-year $20 million deal wouldn't be all that enticing considering he could make about that much by keeping the $14.5 million on the contract, and then signing a one-year MLE deal the following season. More likely, knowing the way NBA teams spend (and assuming he's even average the next two seasons), he could keep the $14.5 million and then still get that 2-year, $20 million contract.

Ariza is interesting because he's young enough that it's conceivable he'd get a multi-year MLE-level deal that would have a lower starting salary, but make him more money over the 2-3 seasons than he'd get otherwise. But I'm dubious about that as well. If he plays well enough to be worth the MLE next offseason, he'd likely be in the running for a similar deal the summer after that.

I think it's more likely for Ariza to opt out than Okafor, but I think it's unlikely for Ariza and extremely unlikely for Okafor.