Revisiting an Okafor deal at the deadline.

[Smills91]

Re-Visiting okafor at the deadline this year:
This is two deals disguised as one. Trust me, it works from a CBA POV, but may look funny.

Kings deal:
Andres Nocioni
Kenny Thomas
Sean May
Sergio Rodriguez
Ime Udoka(unguaranteed and will be waived by NOH, but necessary to match salaries
Rights to Dejan Bodiroga(to facilitate the 2nd part of the deal)
TPE - Ike Diogu
TPE – Bobby Brown
TPE - Devin Brown


Hornets deal:
Emeka Okafor
Peja Stojakovic
Ike Diogu(Absorbed by cap space)
Bobby Brown(Absorbed by cap space)
Devin Brown(absorbed by cap space)
TPE - Sean May
TPE - Sergio Rodriguez
TPE - Ime Udoka

Hornets save money now and in the future(moving Peja saves them an addition 6 million next year) while adding a productive vet in Nocioni to replace Peja. The get under the lux tax.

Kings add their defensive 5 they’ve desperately been looking for and Peja becomes a large expiring trading chip next year. We lose our FA ability in 2010, but 2011 has some options and we have a big trading chip to move next year at the deadline if we so choose. Peja becomes a 3 point specialist in the interim.

Kings new roster:
C: Okafor, Hawes, Ike Diogu
PF: Thompson, Donte Greene, Brockman
SF: Peja Stojakovic, Omri Casspi
SG: Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia, Devin Brown
PG: Tyreke Evans, Beno Udrih, Bobby Brown

Hornets new roster:
C: Hilton Armstrong, Darius Songaila, Sean Marks
PF: David West, Kenny Thomas, Sean May
SF: Andres Nocioni, Julian Wright, James Posey
SG: Morris Peterson, Marcus Thornton, Ime Udoka
PG: Chris Paul, Darren Collison, Sergio Rodriguez

 

[Chupacabra]

Id like to get Okafor. Why the 10 player deal though? Does each team really have to trade half of their roster to make the trade work? I think not. Even if we were interested enough in Peja to get him (we arent.) he DEFINITELY wouldnt start ahead of any current small forwards we have.

 

[Smills91]

Id like to get Okafor. Why the 10 player deal though? Does each team really have to trade half of their roster to make the trade work? I think not. Even if we were interested enough in Peja to get him (we arent.) he DEFINITELY wouldnt start ahead of any current small forwards we have.

Well to maximize the savings by NOH and to move Nocioni yes it has to be that big.

The deal is essentially

Okafor+Peja for Nocioni+Thomas

The rest is just filler to facilitate the deal and balance rosters, and by using the TPE's(cap space in Kings case) both teams maximize their TPE's and extend them out for next year's use to increase their flexibility in future trades.

The deal is like this:

Step 1:

Kings deal the rights of Deja Bodiroga for Ike Diogu, Devin Brown and Bobby Brown(these three players all fit within our capspace)

Step 2:
Kings deal Nocioni, Thomas, SRod, May and Udoka for Okafor and Peja. the deal works within the 25% rule.

Step 3:
Hornets can waive Udoka unguaranteed contract and run with 13 players with an overall payroll somewhere near 65 million for the year. This saves them lux tax payments, payroll NOW and payroll next year as they essentially cut Okafor's deal off the books and save an additional 6 million from downsizing from Peja's deal to Nocioni's deal which declines.

Of course a straight Okafor for Thomas straight up deal accomplishes all this, but it adds a lot of future burden of payroll to the Kings. Moving Noc for Peja gets that salary off our cap a year earlier. Making the Okafor contract's length a lot more palatable for the Kings.

 

[ParniValjak]

No thanks!

But how the heck can you trade the rights to a player that is long retired and has a cushy job as a GM of one of the bigger european clubs!

 

[Smills91]

No thanks!

But how the heck can you trade the rights to a player that is long retired and has a cushy job as a GM of one of the bigger european clubs!

We still hold his rights to the NBA. And explain to me why you say no thanks.

 

[ParniValjak]

We still hold his rights to the NBA. And explain to me why you say no thanks.

Dude he retired 3 years ago. How can his right still be "active" when he has been off the court for 3 years now and its a GM of a basketball team?! So are we still going to have his rights in 40 years time when he is walking around with a walking stick?!

I don't like the deal because it trades a lot for a bad contract in Pedja that we would not want to take regardless of how long it is. We have so many good players playing that position and precicely the reason to trade Noc is to open up the playing time for Greene and Casspi.

 

[Vlade4GM]

If they just want to dump Okafor, I don't see why they take on Nocioni unless you think they'd be into doing us a favor. I'm sure there are teams that have an ender they would give up for Okafor straight up.

 

[deekay2o9]

Not a bad trade. Okafor would look outstanding in a Kings uniform. Peja would instantly become a fan favorite but he would not be starting. If there was a way to keep Sergio it would be perfect. But if this trade went down, I would not complain.

 

[bajaden]

Why not just trade Nocioni and Kenny Thomas straight across for Okafor and Mo Petterson. The trade works on espn trade machine and its a lot simpler. Also, according to espn the only trade exception the Kings have left is the one for Bobby Brown at around 450 thousand.

 

[Smills91]

If they just want to dump Okafor, I don't see why they take on Nocioni unless you think they'd be into doing us a favor. I'm sure there are teams that have an ender they would give up for Okafor straight up.

Okafor dump = Thomas
Peja dump = Nocioni

They save an additional 6-7 million by expanding the deal AND Nocioni is more productive all-around than Peja which is someting NOH could use.

 

[Smills91]

Why not just trade Nocioni and Kenny Thomas straight across for Okafor and Mo Petterson. The trade works on espn trade machine and its a lot simpler. Also, according to espn the only trade exception the Kings have left is the one for Bobby Brown at around 450 thousand.

It really doesn't get the Hornets below the Lux tax(or give them financial flexibility) which is the main goal for them in this type of deal.

 

[bajaden]

It really doesn't get the Hornets below the Lux tax(or give them financial flexibility) which is the main goal for them in this type of deal.

I agree that it doesn't get them below the luxury tax level, but it does save them some money next year when KT's contract comes off the books.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Okafor dump = Thomas
Peja dump = Nocioni

They save an additional 6-7 million by expanding the deal AND Nocioni is more productive all-around than Peja which is someting NOH could use.

But if rumor was right, the Hornets were at least close to willing to do only the first dump - the Peja/Nocioni swap would probably not be a sticking point for them.

Swapping Peja for Nocioni would essentially take Nocioni's 2 guaranteed years and fold them into 1, adding a few hundred thousand dollars on top. (Peja is not technically guaranteed, but he's obviously not opting out.)

I see it this way: assuming we were to do a straight KT/Okafor swap, we'd be looking at $52.5M+ (10 players + 2010 draft pick) in 2010 and $54M+ (10 players + 2010 + 2011 draft pick) in 2011. If we included the Peja/Noc swap, the numbers would be $60M+ (10 players + 2010 draft pick) in 2010 and $47M+ (9 players + 2010 + 2011 draft pick) in 2011.

In neither case would we be strong free agent players in the summer of 2010 or 2011 - the Okafor contract itself precludes it. The only question would be whether to frontload the money at the expense of a useful player (Nocioni). I would say no. I see no reason to frontload, and I'd rather have Noc than Peja at this point. Unless you can come up with a creative way to use that Peja 2011 ender, I'd rather just take a KT/Okafor straight up.

 

[Smills91]

But if rumor was right, the Hornets were at least close to willing to do only the first dump - the Peja/Nocioni swap would probably not be a sticking point for them.

Swapping Peja for Nocioni would essentially take Nocioni's 2 guaranteed years and fold them into 1, adding a few hundred thousand dollars on top. (Peja is not technically guaranteed, but he's obviously not opting out.)

I see it this way: assuming we were to do a straight KT/Okafor swap, we'd be looking at $52.5M+ (10 players + 2010 draft pick) in 2010 and $54M+ (10 players + 2010 + 2011 draft pick) in 2011. If we included the Peja/Noc swap, the numbers would be $60M+ (10 players + 2010 draft pick) in 2010 and $47M+ (9 players + 2010 + 2011 draft pick) in 2011.

In neither case would we be strong free agent players in the summer of 2010 or 2011 - the Okafor contract itself precludes it. The only question would be whether to frontload the money at the expense of a useful player (Nocioni). I would say no. I see no reason to frontload, and I'd rather have Noc than Peja at this point. Unless you can come up with a creative way to use that Peja 2011 ender, I'd rather just take a KT/Okafor straight up.

Reason to frontload is two fold, moving just one other contract of Cisco or Beno makes us 2011 FA players if your 47 million is accurate. OR we can use the 13 million expiring of Peja as a trading chip(along with prospects) to perhaps add an impact player looking to get out of their situation that year(it's hard to gauge, but at least that opportunity is there).

 

[Nighthawk1]

I'd do it. Nocioni is that extra incentive they have been looking for I think. On top of it them being able to move Peja would likely be a lot more

The main portions of this trade is Peja + Okafor($24m) for Noci + K9($16m)
As you can see, just with the base portion of this trade we'd be absorbing almost 8 million which we don't have the cap space to do. We can absorb quite a bit (which creates a TPE for the Hornets). Basically the other players are fillers to equalize the rest of the deal until we take the max we're allowed.

 

[dbfish]

I know it works on paper, but, man that's a lot of pieces to get both teams to agree to.

 

[VF21]

I know it works on paper, but, man that's a lot of pieces to get both teams to agree to.

There's this little voice in the back of my head whispering that Peja has a trade kicker in his contract, but I'm not inclined to research it at this point...

Regardless of that little detail, however, I have to agree with dbfish. WAY too many pieces involved.

 

[Nighthawk1]

There's this little voice in the back of my head whispering that Peja has a trade kicker in his contract, but I'm not inclined to research it at this point...

Regardless of that little detail, however, I have to agree with dbfish. WAY too many pieces involved.

You will be pleased to find out your voice is wrong and he infact doesn't have a trade kicker

It's a lot of pieces yes, but it's workable and do-able.

 

[VF21]

You will be pleased to find out your voice is wrong and he infact doesn't have a trade kicker

It's a lot of pieces yes, but it's workable and do-able.

I wish I could remember what it was ... there's SOMETHING about his contract. It was put in at his insistence to prevent a repeat of what happened with the Kings when he was traded/untraded/retraded... If the lightbulb suddenly comes on again (no guarantees), I'll update my comment.

 

[Sptsjunkie]

Dude he retired 3 years ago. How can his right still be "active" when he has been off the court for 3 years now and its a GM of a basketball team?! So are we still going to have his rights in 40 years time when he is walking around with a walking stick?!

In theory, I believe if you keep his rights and never trade them, you would have rights to the player even when he has a walking stick.

However, I am pretty sure that we denounced his rights several years ago to free up his "cap hod" and can no longer trade those rights.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

In theory, I believe if you keep his rights and never trade them, you would have rights to the player even when he has a walking stick.

However, I am pretty sure that we denounced his rights several years ago to free up his "cap hod" and can no longer trade those rights.

ShamSports, who for some sick reason keeps this data as well () believes that we still have the rights to Bodiroga. Link