Sam Amick reporting to extension for Evans

[twslam07]

If the Hornets are willing to add a 1st round pick, I would do it. Even if Okafor has a big contract, we would get a defensive big who can guard PFs and block shots.
The point is, we saw that cap space is useless for this team. We are not going to sign big FAs, so this trade makes a lot of sense and if it's on the table we should do it.

I'm not so sure I would do it. If we were to do the proposed trade that was mentioned earlier (Thompson, Hickson, and Greene for Okafor and 1st rounder), we would be tied up financially.

If we didn't amnesty Salmons, our projected payroll would be $62,700,000 (This includes the salaries of our two draft picks for the upcoming draft) and our lineup would look like this:

Evans/Thomas/Fredette
Thornton/Salmons
J Taylor/Garcia/Honeycutt/Outlaw
Okafor/Henson
Cousins/Hayes/Whiteside

I decided to go with Henson and Taylor because they would be our most realistic options in the spots we would be drafting in.

If we do amnesty Salmons, our payroll would be $54,600,000 and our lineup would look like this:

Evans/Thomas
Thornton/Fredette
J Taylor/Garcia/Honeycutt/Outlaw
Okafor/Henson
Cousins/Hayes/Whiteside

In the first scenario we wouldn't be in the running to sign any free agents. We would have to heavily rely on Taylor or Honeycutt developing into our SF of the future as well as Henson or Whiteside developing into our PF of the future. We would have to rely on Evans to continue developing his court vision and playmaking skills to be that "PG" for our team.

In the second scenario we would have less than 4 million in cap room. That is hardly enough to go after a Hinrich or a Chandler or a Kirilenko to help solidify this team.

In conclusion, this trade helps us draft two young pieces in the positions we need (SF and PF), but the risk is too great. I would rather have the cap space to make a free agent signing. A lineup would like to see next year would be:

Hinrich/Thomas/Fredette
Evans/Thornton
Chandler/Garcia/Honeycutt
Thompson/Henson
Cousins/Hayes/Whiteside

This team would be very effective. Hinrich, Evans, and Chandler are all good perimeter defenders and have good size. Hinrich, Thomas, Fredette, Thornton, Chandler, and Garcia can all hit the 3 which will make opponents respect our outside shooters while Evans is driving. Thornton will come off the bench as a sixth man and give us an immediate scoring threat. I have Thompson holding down the starting positin at PF, but I expect Henson or Whiteside to be the PF of the future at that spot (It will probably be the one who gains weight the quickest ) just like I expect Honeycutt to be ready when Garcia's contract is up.

 

[Mass]

I'm not so sure I would do it. If we were to do the proposed trade that was mentioned earlier (Thompson, Hickson, and Greene for Okafor and 1st rounder), we would be tied up financially.

If we didn't amnesty Salmons, our projected payroll would be $62,700,000 (This includes the salaries of our two draft picks for the upcoming draft) and our lineup would look like this:

Evans/Thomas/Fredette
Thornton/Salmons
J Taylor/Garcia/Honeycutt/Outlaw
Okafor/Henson
Cousins/Hayes/Whiteside

I decided to go with Henson and Taylor because they would be our most realistic options in the spots we would be drafting in.

If we do amnesty Salmons, our payroll would be $54,600,000 and our lineup would look like this:

Evans/Thomas
Thornton/Fredette
J Taylor/Garcia/Honeycutt/Outlaw
Okafor/Henson
Cousins/Hayes/Whiteside

In the first scenario we wouldn't be in the running to sign any free agents. We would have to heavily rely on Taylor or Honeycutt developing into our SF of the future as well as Henson or Whiteside developing into our PF of the future. We would have to rely on Evans to continue developing his court vision and playmaking skills to be that "PG" for our team.

In the second scenario we would have less than 4 million in cap room. That is hardly enough to go after a Hinrich or a Chandler or a Kirilenko to help solidify this team.

In conclusion, this trade helps us draft two young pieces in the positions we need (SF and PF), but the risk is too great. I would rather have the cap space to make a free agent signing. A lineup would like to see next year would be:

Hinrich/Thomas/Fredette
Evans/Thornton
Chandler/Garcia/Honeycutt
Thompson/Henson
Cousins/Hayes/Whiteside

This team would be very effective. Hinrich, Evans, and Chandler are all good perimeter defenders and have good size. Hinrich, Thomas, Fredette, Thornton, Chandler, and Garcia can all hit the 3 which will make opponents respect our outside shooters while Evans is driving. Thornton will come off the bench as a sixth man and give us an immediate scoring threat. I have Thompson holding down the starting positin at PF, but I expect Henson or Whiteside to be the PF of the future at that spot (It will probably be the one who gains weight the quickest ) just like I expect Honeycutt to be ready when Garcia's contract is up.

I agree with you. Nice analysis. On the paper, everything you said is absolutely right and I would do the same thing. But, the problem is that your analysis is based on many ifs. You assume that we will be able to sign Hinrich and Chandler. If we sign Hinrich, and if we sign Chandler, we are all happy. But we have not been able to sign players like Crawford, Dalembert, Kirilenko in the last year, so I'm not sure we will be able to attract those FAs. Maybe Hinrich, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be hard to attract Chandler.
If Okafor is on the table with a first rounder, for example for JJ Hickson, you are 100% sure you are going to get that player who will help the team right now. No ifs, no maybe, just a real player who brings skills that we need. Veteran, defender, rebounder, shot blocker.

That's why I would do the deal. Personally, I'm getting tired of saving cap space for future free agents. Every year it's the same story. We save money, but at the end of the day, for what? For Outlaw, Salmons and Garcia? I really want to see the Kings start using that cap space. And I really believe the best way to do it is by trade. Until I see some good FAs sign here, I won't change my mind.

 

[Kingster]

I listened to a Podcast with Sam Amick on NBA trade deadline rumors. He doesn't think Tyreke is going anywhere in the short term. One player thats available, but comes with a big salary is Okafor, who is due 12.5 mil this year, 13.5 next season and 14.5 mil his last year. Amick reported that the Hornets are willing to throw in one of their lottery picks to any team willing to take on Okafor's contract. So the question is, how much, at age 30 does Okafor have left, and would he be an upgrade next to Cousins. It wasn't that long ago that folks around here wanted the Kings to trade for Okafor. Not endorsing the idea, just curious what everyone thinks.

If the Hornets throw in their #1 then that's an entirely different scenario. That gets me interested.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

I listened to a Podcast with Sam Amick on NBA trade deadline rumors. He doesn't think Tyreke is going anywhere in the short term. One player thats available, but comes with a big salary is Okafor, who is due 12.5 mil this year, 13.5 next season and 14.5 mil his last year. Amick reported that the Hornets are willing to throw in one of their lottery picks to any team willing to take on Okafor's contract. So the question is, how much, at age 30 does Okafor have left, and would he be an upgrade next to Cousins. It wasn't that long ago that folks around here wanted the Kings to trade for Okafor. Not endorsing the idea, just curious what everyone thinks.

hickson+capspace for okafor + unprotected 1st?

 

[Big Cuz 15]

One would guess that they would be throwing in Minnesota's pick, or in the event that Minnesota's pick hits the lotto, the lower pick. So I'd count on the pick they would send being in the 10-15 range, but even so, if we can swallow the Okafor salary (maybe unload Salmons...maybe?) it's certainly worth the chance to get some more defense down low.

Cousins/JT
Okafor/Hayes

That seems like quite an upgrade in the frontcourt rotation. And it would allow Donte to "move back" to the 3. The salary might hurt, but I'm on board with the idea.

a deal to swallow okafors contract would be a dream come true.

we'd get in the deal
our lottery pick
NOH lottery pick
okafor

we could be sitting pretty like cleveland last year if we score high in the draft with both picks.

anthony davis & MKG in one fell swoop? unreal, but i can dream right

cousins
davis
mkg
thornton
reke

bench
okafor
jt
whiteside
greene
garcia
jimmer
honeycutt
IT

amnesty the fish if all of this happens

trade fodder would be
hayes
outlaw

 

[bajaden]

There's a bit of a gamble in the trade, but sometimes you have to take a risk to make the big move. When listening to Amick, it sounded to me that the Hornets were more interested in clearing capspace than anything else. So if true, Obviously they're conceding the idea of getting equal value for Okafor. So anything they take back would have to come with a small or expiring contract. That would mean Cisco or Salmons aren't in the picture. The most likely player would be Hickson. It would save us a little off Okafor's salary this year, and thats about it.

If what Amick says is true, I would do the deal, and start Okafor next to Cousins. Then I'd have Thompson and Hayes come off the bench. That could all change depending on now lucky we got in the draft, and who we drafted. The big question is of course, would the Maloofs give their stamp of approval. There aren't that many teams out there with the capspace to make this deal, and some of those that do, have other things in mind, so we don't have much competition.

 

[sidney]

hickson+capspace for okafor + unprotected 1st?

I do that in a second but Okafor has some knee issue right now, correct? Need to make sure that is not too serious

 

[Entity]

if something like that was to go down for Okafor. I don't see why we couldn't pass off a salmons or garcia being as its half the salary per year. Now my second thought. If we went after yet another vet big man like this would this mean that Hayes is/was a failure in what we anticipated?

 

[Big Cuz 15]

I do that in a second but Okafor has some knee issue right now, correct? Need to make sure that is not too serious

yeah, as long as he doesn't blow out his knees while hes with us, we should be good. we could flip him to a team that needs a big or maybe involve a third team that wants him but is willing to give up something else we want.

 

[Bricklayer]

yeah, as long as he doesn't blow out his knees while hes with us, we should be good. we could flip him to a team that needs a big or maybe involve a third team that wants him but is willing to give up something else we want.

um..we're pretty much that team that needs a big.

 

[Glenn]

yeah, as long as he doesn't blow out his knees while hes with us, we should be good. we could flip him to a team that needs a big or maybe involve a third team that wants him but is willing to give up something else we want.

Just because we suck at SF and have a mismatched set of guards doesn't mean we don't need a big. JT is great if coming off the bench but he isn't coming off the bench unless Smart starts Greene at PF.

 

[twslam07]

I agree with you. Nice analysis. On the paper, everything you said is absolutely right and I would do the same thing. But, the problem is that your analysis is based on many ifs. You assume that we will be able to sign Hinrich and Chandler. If we sign Hinrich, and if we sign Chandler, we are all happy. But we have not been able to sign players like Crawford, Dalembert, Kirilenko in the last year, so I'm not sure we will be able to attract those FAs. Maybe Hinrich, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be hard to attract Chandler.
If Okafor is on the table with a first rounder, for example for JJ Hickson, you are 100% sure you are going to get that player who will help the team right now. No ifs, no maybe, just a real player who brings skills that we need. Veteran, defender, rebounder, shot blocker.

That's why I would do the deal. Personally, I'm getting tired of saving cap space for future free agents. Every year it's the same story. We save money, but at the end of the day, for what? For Outlaw, Salmons and Garcia? I really want to see the Kings start using that cap space. And I really believe the best way to do it is by trade. Until I see some good FAs sign here, I won't change my mind.

By the time Okafor comes off the books, Tyreke would be in 2nd year of his extension and we will have to extend Cousins. After we do this we will not have cap space to sign free agents. This means we will have to rely on who is already signed and trades to make us a winning team. In my earlier example if we traded for Okafor our team would look like this:

Evans/Thomas/Fredette
Thornton/Salmons
J Taylor/Garcia/Honeycutt/Outlaw
Okafor/Henson
Cousins/Hayes/Whiteside

This team will be successful IF Evans can continue to develop his court vision and playmaking abilities or if Thomas can prove he deserves to be a starter and the distributor of the team.
This team will be successful IF Taylor or Honeycutt can become our SF of the future.
This team will be successful IF Henson or Whiteside can become our PF of the future.

These are 3 pretty big "ifs" and I'm not saying they don't exist in my scenario. The point is that there is less risk when you have cap space. If something is not working out and you have cap space, you can make a change much easier. In the end I would say my scenario is less risky and has the potential to be more rewarding so wht not go with it?

 

[upinsmoke]

Okay so what Evans trade scenarios make sense for all teams invloved? Evans + JJ for Okafor and their 1st sounds fair to me.

 

[swisshh]

what

 

[Sac.1989]

hahahahahaha. We've gone hickson+capspace for okafor to involving tyreke

 

[KevinSalvadori]

Okay so what Evans trade scenarios make sense for all teams invloved? Evans + JJ for Okafor and their 1st sounds fair to me.

You're paying too much for Okafor. He's got a contract NOH is looking to move, and they're looking to get dramatically under cap prior to sale. My deal would be Hickson and Garcia. They get a young piece they can choose to keep, and Garcia is the price NOH has to pay for us taking the remainder of a higher contract. Hickson expires in summer, so in total they can choose to cut 7m or so. That seems a fair deal.

 

[Mass]

Are you serious? Evans? So, we help them dumping salaries and we also give them a good player like Tyreke? No way. I did some homework on this proposal, and I think there are a couple of proposals NO could accept.

1) Hickson + Garcia for Okafor + 1st round pick
We would be getting Okafor's contract, which is $28,087,937 for the next two seasons. NO would get an expiring contract and Garcia's contract which is $6,100,000 for next season (for 2013/14 there's a team option). So, basically NO is saving almost 22 million over the next two season. They better give us their 1st round pick, not Minnesota's.

2) Hickson + Salmons for Okafor + 1st round pick
I believe if we try hard, they could accept this trade even if they are saying they don't want salaries back. Salmons' contract still has $15,660,000 after this season, over the next 2. In these 2 years, they would be saving $12,429,937, not a bad amount of money. We could be fine with Minnesota's pick here, that would be in the 12-14 range. I think this could happen because NO wants to dump salary and there are not many teams that can absorb that contract, so we really don't have a lot of competitors. Of course they say they don't want any salary back, but this is part of the negotiation process. We have to understand we are in a strong position right here.

Unfortunately, I have no faith for this to happen. I was just analyzing the situation and explaining what I would try to do if I was Petrie.

 

[UK_King]

From Amick.

While it remains unknown whether Sacramento has shown any willingness to trade former Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, two sources said Golden State made repeated inquiries about him recently and was prepared to discuss a deal involving Ellis.

 

[Mass]

From Amick.

This would have been Smart's dream. He could have moved MT to SF, and have a lineup of Thomas, Ellis, Thornton, Salmons and Cousins (or Hayes, even better...).

I'm glad Ellis is gone and this trade won't happen.

 

[upinsmoke]

I put in Evans because it sounds to good to be true that NO would give us their 1st rounder and Okafor who is a good player for a salary dump but I would love it to happen.

 

[swisshh]

Okafor + pick could turn into Okafor + Kendall Marshall which could possibly address two glaring needs on the team. Then you just have one hole at SF, which is far easier to address(well for most GMs) than PG and defensive big.

The other thing is that the Hawks are looking for centers or big men in trade, so you could potentially swap Okafor + insertattractivethinghere for Josh Smith in the off-season.