Fresh Off Their Most Promising Season Ever, The Bobcats Dump Salary!
See, it’s just like the Florida Marlins. They stock up and win a World Series and then immediately dump payroll and start developing younger players for another run within the next decade. Except with the Bobcats, they win 35 games and dump salaries. It’s almost identical.
Although my first response to the trade last night was overwhelmingly negative, I’ll try to channel my inner FOX NEWS and be “fair and balanced” in the following breakdown of the trade.
THE BAD NEWS FIRST
Put on Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief, dress in all-black, sneak a bourbon-filled flask into work and burn another Bob Johnson effigy…admit it, Bobcats fans, we’ve just wasted the past 5 years of our lives.
- After the most promising season in franchise history, the Bobcats pull a salary dump; sending a consistently productive player to our former home team for an injured lesser player with a smaller contract.
- This move basically states that George Shinn is more willing to spend on a winner than Bob Johnson.
- Emeka Okafor has averaged a double-double in every one of his 5 NBA seasons. Tyson Chandler has done it once…while playing with the second coming of Isiah Thomas (the player). In other news, Michael Jordan has become the second coming of Isiah Thomas (the GM).
- The Bobcats were one of the bottom 5 teams in almost EVERY offensive category last season. They replace a career 14ppg scorer with a guy who averages 8.2ppg. Make it stop, please, make it stop.
- After an early bout with injuries, Emeka Okafor translates his practice of pilates and yoga (ala Kareem) into two consecutive seasons of 82 games.
- Tyson Chandler is being lauded as defensive upgrade over Emeka Okafor. An undisputed key defensive ability is shot blocking. Okafor has a career average of 1.9bpg. Chandler? 1.4bpg.
- Bobcats fans have ripped Okafor for being offensively offensive. Wait till they get a load of Tyson Chandler (I’ll give you a preview… Imagine Dwight Howard’s offensive game. Got it? Now take away 3 or 4 of his “moves.” That’s right…)
- The OKC Thunder decided just a few months ago that Tyson Chandler wasn’t worth two stiffs that wouldn’t even be on their roster next season. Now all of a sudden he’s worth a former Rookie of the Year.
- The same doctor who performed Tyson Chandler’s turf toe (or “death toe”) surgery two years ago deemed the toe to be a serious physical liability which rescinded his trade to the Thunder.
- Since the Bobcats are too broke to field a summer league team, conduct a proper training camp or retain proper organizational staff, they’ve arranged for Tyson’s physical to be conducted at the nearest Urgent Care facility. He should pass with flying colors.
- Just to reiterate, Tyson Chandler couldn’t consistently average a double-double while playing with Chris-freakin’-Paul on a fast paced team like the Hornets. What exactly is he going to do on a grind-it-out squad like the Bobcats?
We ran Shinn out of town because he was cheap. What kind of b.s. karma is this?
In 8 NBA seasons, Tyson Chandler has never played in all 82 games.
THE GOOD NEWS LAST
H-H-Hey Kids! Grab some Limbaugh-Strength Oxycotins everyone and put on your favorite rose-colored glasses, it’s time to take a positive look at this trade!!!
- Tyson Chandler is 7’1″. Okafor is 6’10”. We have a taller starting center for 60 games a year!
- Tyson Chandler likes to dunk the ball…well, actually, that’s his only shot but he does it with AUTHORITY!
- Tyson Chandler’s contract expires in 2 Years!!! Which means we can use that cap space to overpay some other seven footer in 2011…FANtastic!
- Tyson Chandler has played in meaningful playoff games. Emeka Okafor will be playing in meaningful playoff games.
- Tyson Chandler is more “passionate” about basketball than Emeka Okafor. This is apparently Larry Brown’s reasoning for making the trade. This sets a great precedent, doesn’t it? My brother just had PCL surgery. Even though his doctor was consistent and skilled, maybe my bro would’ve been better off with a less talented, less dependable but more “PASSIONATE” surgeon? By this rationale, Antonio Banderas is also the greatest living actor.
That yoga sissy Okafor would never just dunk on somebody. Must’ve been all that soy estrogen in his system.
Let’s all be honest. There is only one real benefit to this trade for Bobcats fans and that’s the fact that it makes the team look more attractive on the open market for a new buyer. The sooner that Bob Johnson sells this team, the sooner we all get to potentially see a quality organization and Playoff basketball.
And I’m not hating on Tyson Chandler. I really do hope that he comes in, stays healthy and improves the team. I hope that I am dead wrong and that this deal plays out similarly to the Larry Johnson/Anthony Mason trade during the Summer of ’96. Mason came in and put up the best numbers of his career and helped lead the Charlotte Hornets to a then franchise high 54 wins.
Realistically? I doubt it.
After this move, Coach Brown might have to trade for some new fans. The current ones just aren’t going to be very “passionate” about the team anymore.
-ASChin
POLL : The Okafor – Chandler Trade
- Fair Deal For Both Teams (23%, 13 Votes)
- Bobcats Blew This One (57%, 32 Votes)
- Hornets Will Miss Chandler (20%, 11 Votes)
Total Voters: 56
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Jared:
Maybe not you so much, but even I felt like we should have gotten NOLA's '10 1st out of this deal. If nothing else Emeka does have more "value" in the league than Chandler so I was thinking at worst that pick should come back to us. Instead that 38 million in savings was the sweetener that made this more even? In other years I don't think it would have so much, but in this economy things have changed.
Just a thought
I definitely think a 1st round pick coming back to Charlotte would have been fair in this trade.
The salary cap is expected to shrink in the coming years, so yea I agree that cap room is important. I want Bob Johnson to be able to sell the team. Okafor is solid, and can contribute to a playoff team, but we didn't lose a star. I'm just taking a less sentimental view than others I suppose.
Jared-
Please, you're killing me.
Over the past three years, Emeka's shot 53%, 53% and 56% from the field and yes, Chandler's career FG% is a bit better and Emeka does take more shots BUT THAT'S BECAUSE HE CAN MAKE MORE SHOTS!
I'm not saying that Okafor will ever be mistaken for Hakeem and we're not over-valuing Emeka. If anything, Okafor was tragically undervalued by his hometown fans during his 5 seasons here. The team just needed to get more value in return. If they wanted Tyson that bad, then why not trade Mohammed and Raja for him and then turn Okafor into Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen or Monta Ellis for example?
Procton is right, the Chandler/Felton pick 'n roll might be the least of effective of it's kind in quite some time.
Pretty easy if you are a defender on that play: "Hmmm, let's see. Felton can't hit shots within 8 feet and Chandler can only dunk. Alright everybody just stand your ground and let these two go through their charade."
I agree that more value in return would have been nice, but do any of your trade ideas sound the least bit realistic? I'm sure you have a reason to think they are but I respectfully disagree. I'm thinking a 1st round pick our way would have been more realistic in terms of added value.
I'm not saying this is an A+ move for the Bobcats. I'm just saying it's not the end of the world.
Let the hyperbolic rants continue!
Adam:
At least they'll be able to run the P&R…Mek could never do the pick without getting the offensive foul for a moving screen. That's the reason we never really utilized it because we could never get it off the ground; finishing wasn't the issue.
Nice that you got to bring Felton in there to trash him though! If you'd look at "hot spots" (which BTW is down for Charlotte right now for individual players) Felton did pretty decent in the paint…and yes, better than DJ. That floater he started using last year was also pretty sweet.
In regards to getting more value, maybe all of us are ignoring the significance of dumping that 38 million in this economy? Maybe right now that money savings is more valuable than a 1st round pick?
"Let the hyperbolic rants continue!"
Indeed.
since im not 100% against this trade, ill look at it like this:
maybe Chandler (when healthy i must reiterate) could help our team and his stats may improve. why? because in NO he played alongside David West, an elite PF who can rebound, score, and make defensive plays.
of corse, Charlotte doesnt have an elite PF, so as a result, Chandler becomes our number one option in the paint–giving him more shot attempts, more tip in chances, and more rebounds.
the opposite can be applied to NO now that they have a PF who plays C. Okafor is no way capable of keeping Duncan or Nowiski under 20 a night. Chandler is more of a "modern" C. just as NFL defensive ends are getting slimmer, today's Cs are more slender and more athletic than the days of Shaq. look at Wilt Chamberlin (granted Chandler isnt going to drop 100 anytime soon), he wasnt 300lbs of muscle. so maybe this shift to a modern C is going to help Charlotte.
having Tyson run with DJ, Felton (kinda not so much) Boris, and Gerald is something that i am looking forward to in NBA live 10 since i would guess we could abuse the pick and roll with a bigger C and plenty of athletic wing players.
tryin to stay positive over here.
This will end up being a good trade.
Chandler will score more points than Okafor. With Chris Paul and David West, Chandler did not need to put up that many points. The key is that he is healthy. Put your faith in Larry Brown.
Okafor is a class act, but he wears black shoes with white sox.
HAHA Jaxon,
I wasn't going to say it, but you're right. I thought the baseline was the last safe place to talk Bobcats basketball. Guess Proc will be spreading his half-ass opinions on every message board available.
Oh no Michael Procton is on here too!!! There's nowhere to hide!
Seriously, at one Bobcats game I asked another BobcatsBaseliner "What's Okafor's deal? He needs to toughen up". My fellow BobcatsBaseliner replied "He needs to SLAM JAM it down!". Exactly! Who cares if we traded short average center for tall average center. Chandlers gonna Tomahawk, slam, jam, double-pump, Gran-ma-ma, back board break down tha house! We score 4 pts less per game, BUT it's more fun to watch!
And no I am not catscratchreader Jaxon
This trade will benefit Charlotte basketball the way that the Rex Chapman to the Bullets for Tom Hammond deal worked out. I mean where's Johnny Newman at? How about if the Bobcats sign Derrick Coleman, or perhaps Joe Wolf can take time out of his busy schedule at Dairy Queen and come on down south to show these boys how to ball. Any word from Corey Beck's agent yet? First round draft pick George Zidek where have you gone?
Thanks Ross.
Leave it to the Legend to reference the Hammond/Chapman trade. What about Randolph Keys? Darvin Ham? Richard Anderson? Greg Graham?
And if Felton gets dealt, will it be like the infamous J.R. Reid for WIllie Anderson swap in '92? Right down to the Carolina connection (2nd lottery picks in franchise history) and the fact that he has a more recent lottery pick at the same position ready to take over (Augustin today, Grandmama 17 years ago).
As much as I like Okafor, I do beleive the Bobcats actually braked even in this deal. And if Chandler is healthy we might have actually upgraded a little. Chandler is a better defensive player than Okafor. And don't bring the blocks per game stat because that's very overated, that doesn't say the whole story. There is nothing great in blocking 2 shots/game if your counterpart scores 30 and you score 14. Chandler will be better defending guys like: Garnet, Howard, Shaq, Duncan and Gasol or Bynum. ESPN mentioned that Chandler is a more effective defender overall, by downgrading his oponents PER by 3.74, compare to 0.54 from Okafor. That is the best way to measure defense, the impact you have in the PER of your counterpart. In fact, 95% of Emekas blocks were not against his oponent C; on the other hand Okafor was blocked by his counterpart like 3 times per game. And just FYI, I do like Okafor as a player and as a person. I would have love to see him stay and I also think we could have received more in return. But I also beleive that a lot of fans here are over reacting to this deal. If indeed Chandler doesn't play because of his injuries, then this was a bust, but we will not know that until the season begins.
Now Bobcats Front Office, please sign Hakim Warrick. $7M/2Yrs. ($3.5/Year) or maybe $10M/3Yrs. ($3.3/Year). The guys will fill the backup PF spot perfectly. He's young, long, athletic, average defender. Plus, 11ppg 6rpg in 20+mpg is pretty good for a backup PF.
Come on Jared, Procton aint that bad. Baseline is the best looking, most creative sports blog in the Carolinas… and probably beyond. Now you guys just need a user login/profile, so you can't just comment and impersonate any name you please.
I mean seriously… How do you know I'm not Michael Procton??? [twilight zone music starts playing in background]
Adam,
lets just say that in the Alonzo deal with Miami, the "answer" to the big man exchange was Matt Geiger. Throw in Khalid Reeves and you've got a blockbuster of potential. Hell call Robert Parish maybe "the chief" can give Larry Brown some quality minutes. But seriously the Bobcats need a real Jon Koncak type player, a real hustler. If i was MJ and Larry Brown i would try to get Chris Mullin involved with the franchise, he's quality. I for one think that it would be in the interest of the team to get Stacey Augmon more minutes. oh, Sherman Douglas says "hello".
I'm trying to sell the bobcats. anyone interested?
This is interesting, post more often!