In an attempt to bolster the frontcourt in the days leading up to training camp, the Bobcats have signed Houston Rockets restricted free agent Carl Landry to a 3 year, $9 million dollar offer sheet. Here are some links:
- First, Bonnell’s quick blog post on the move from Wednesday afternoon.
- A proper article from the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen.
- And a blog entry from Feigen, in which he hedges a bit, but ultimately predicts that the Rockets will match the offer.
- In case you forgot, Landry was one of David Thorpe’s favorite rookies last year, ending the season #5 on his Rookie Watch rankings. (ESPN.com Insider access required).
Essentially, Landry is an undersized power forward who slipped in the draft because of a perceived lack of “upside” (for example, take a look at his old NBADraft.net profile page). He is a tenacious, smart player who rebounds well and shoots a high percentage (sounds like a Larry Brown kind of guy, right?). He started getting meaningful playing time midway through the season and really stepped up when Yao Ming went down, eventually playing a key role in the Rockets big 22-game winning streak. He turned down the Rockets initial offer of 3 years, 5.4 million this summer, and there has been concern on the team’s side about the condition of his right knee.
Will the Rockets match and risk going into luxury tax territory? Could this evolve into a sign-and-trade? Perhaps most worrisome for Bobcats fans, what does this say about the team’s confidence in Sean May and his knees?
-E
Bonus Carl Landry rookie highlight reel (he likes to dunk, hence the high shooting percentage):
Wow. That was fast. And just like that, he was gone. When I saw the offer extended I was a little taken aback. I mean, the team only offered $3mil/year for two years with the third being a team-option. That’s not exactly pushing the Rockets off the table. I mean, especially with the Bobcats much more desperate for size than Houston. Why couldn’t they’ve made that third year guaranteed? Why not up the offer to $3.5? I don’t get it. Look at what they are paying Nazr–way more for less and its not like the ‘Cats are anywhere REMOTELY close to the luxury tax threshold. This just reeks of more Bobcats-style front office amateurity (is that even a word?) and I’m not happy at all with this latest “half-effort” signing of another team’s restricted FA. What was Higgins thinking? If you want the guy, you have to make it so that the other team CAN’T POSSIBLY match BECAUSE you don’t get to make a counter-offer after the player signs… Ugh. Cross your fingers for Sean May’s first 82 game season.
Man, that’s disappointing. It looked like we were about to get a solid player to fit the PF slot. Obviously, the Bobcats could have offered a larger contract but that would have advertised their desperation. Landry, was worth what he got, but he’s really not proven and there were questions about his knee. So maybe that’s why the ‘Cats didn’t offer more.
Landry got a good deal out of it, and the Bobcats are still empty handed.
They might be ready to pay out some serious money for the next guy to come along, though.
I think the bobcats should make another attempt to try a trade for Landry maybe a Augustine for Landry straight up or even a Diop trade for Landry