Some splash effect from the proposed CP3 trade: - LAclips have 4 pgs? - NOhornets are now on firesale.
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=8xmubsd Okafor/Hill Scola/Patterson ? Twil/Chase/Morris Martin/Lee Lowry/Flynn
Were wouldn't be interested in billups, i believe williams was amnestied? Bledsoe is good but would only be usefully if we traded one or 2 of are points, and the only guy on N.O that we would be interested in is okafor i'm guessing.
So, as you could probably tell from the recap of yesterday’s loss to Golden State, I’m a pretty big believer in Emeka Okafor’s role as the key to the Hornets’ success on defense. I utilized four key statistical categories to demonstrate just how important Okafor is; not just to the defense, but to the Hornets’ overall style of play. Thanks to Hoopsstats for the advanced data. You can find this entry at its original location here, as well as follow the rest of our work on facebook or twitter. Team Efficiency Difference – This number takes the team’s offensive efficiency rating (for those interested, this is how efficiency and other categories are calculated) and subtracts the opponent’s efficiency rating. In the team’s first 49 games with Okafor, the Hornets averaged a team efficiency difference of +8.96, which would be good for 6th in the NBA for the entire season. In the 7 games without him, this number has dropped to -10.6, which would be 26th in the NBA for the whole year. It seems pretty clear that Okafor not only provides a positive impact on the team’s defense, but on the offensive side as well, something we probably could not have said about him last season. Team Efficiency Difference (C) – This number is the same as above, except the stat takes only the center position into account. With Okafor, the Hornets average was 1.79, which would be good for 7th in the NBA for the entire season. Without him? This one is brutal: -10.6, by FAR beating out Toronto’s -7.1 for worst in the NBA over the whole year. While this number may more accurately display just how thin the Hornets are behind Oak, keep in mind that the totals with Oak still include those bad second-string centers (Grandenga) in limited minutes. This means that Okafor’s numbers are even more impressive because he has to make up for the horrific play of these backups. Opposing PF/C Field Goal % - Hoopsstats refers to this total as "in the paint;" however, it actually equates to all stats accumulated from the PF and C positions, regardless of location on the court. This allows us, however, to measure Okafor’s impact in relation to the players he frequently matches up against instead of just the players who score from a certain area. With Emeka in the starting lineup, opposing PFs & Cs shot 46% from the field, which would be 3rd in the NBA. Without him, that number jumps a staggering 8 percent to 54%, ahead of only Detroit’s 54.6% season average. It’s tough to make it much simpler than that; a team’s easiest shots are the ones closest to the rim, and Okafor does a fantastic job of making those shots much more difficult. Opposing PF/C Defensive Rebounding – Out of my four stat categories, this one is probably the least meaningful since the Hornets have been below average in this area all season. That being said, the only reason that the Hornets aren’t dead last in defensive rebounds allowed to opposing PFs or Cs is because of Okafor. With Emeka, the Hornets allowed an average of 16.59 defensive rebounds per game to those two positions, which would put them around 23rd in the NBA today. Without him, it’s been really ugly – 19.4, easily trumping Cleveland’s league-worst season total of 18.3. Okafor is the only player keeping the Hornets afloat here, and even when he returns, this is an area that Dell Demps needs to somehow address. While there are absolutely other reasons for the Hornets’ poor play of late, there is no question that Okafor’s absence has been a primary contributor. This is not to say that the Hornets will pick up right where they left off when he returns after the all-star break, but Okafor’s presence in the starting lineup will unquestionably be a much-needed lift for a struggling group in New Orleans. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN's John Hollinger (Insider) can't believe anyone would trade Emeka Okafor for Tyson Chandler, and he makes a convincing case. Both players consistently have been honorable mentions in my all-defense picks, but Okafor is the superior scorer. That might not be saying much -- both players are somewhat limited offensively -- but Okafor can score on post-ups occasionally and make short bank shots, while Chandler's range ends at the charge circle. Over the past three seasons, Okafor has averaged nearly five more points per 40 minutes -- that's big. The health disparity between the two also has been mentioned, but look closer, and I'm not sure there's any difference. Okafor has averaged 66 games per season over the course of his career, Chandler 67. Chandler has a bad toe that already nuked one trade, but Okafor has a problematic back. Okafor has played 82 games each of the past two seasons, but over their careers, their injury histories show little separation. Age isn't an issue either -- they were born four days apart. Hollinger theorizes that the Bobcats may have made the trade to reduce the team's total future financial obligation to ease a sale, or to appease Larry Brown's well-established jones for personnel turnover. In his view, it's certainly not about basketball. The part of the analysis that's tough, however, is in quantifying the defense. Let's say we all agree that Chandler is a better defender than Okafor. How much better, and how do you judge that? Could it make up the difference, as it were, in their offensive skills? Might this still be an equal trade? There are various different systems that attempt to measure such things, none of which is considered anything close to gospel. (Defense may win championships, but offense wins statistical assessments of individual players.) Queen City Hoops' Brett Hainline can shed some light. He has handy charts. His painstaking process basically looks at what you'd expect opponents to do against Chandler, and then assesses what they actually did instead. The difference between those two, over time, is an approximation of a player's defensive value. This measure makes Chandler look good. Hainline writes: If you do not notice anything else, catch the net PER Chandler allowed: a 3.74 under expectations for his opponent. The best mark on the Bobcats this past season was Raymond Felton's 2.18, with Boris and Gerald both just over a 1. Emeka? 0.54. Hornets247's Ryan Schwan summarizes the findings by saying that "Chandler is an A+ defender and a C offensive player (offender?)" while "Okafor is a B- defender and a B offensive player." By this analysis, the trade is a little more even. Basketballvalue's adjusted plus/minus, meanwhile, ranks Chandler as the second-most productive Hornet during last year's injury-plagued campaign. (Surprisingly, much of that is because the Hornets were somehow much better offensively when he was on the floor.) The same measures are slightly less friendly to Emeka Okafor. A confession: Isn't there a little something else hanging out there, too? When I consider this trade, I can try to be even-handed and analytical, but what I have to fight is the reality that I have seen Chandler play a key role for an elite team -- the Hornets in the playoffs two years ago -- but I have never seen anything like that from Okafor in the NBA. It's not fair, but that reality gives Okafor a little discount he might not deserve. Perhaps Chris Paul can help Okafor prove me wrong, but this trade feels pretty even to me.
Hell, no! The Rockets aren't THAT desperate. Here's a somewhat more plausible trade scenario (although who knows with Stern running things for the Hornets): Hornets trade: Chris Kaman for Rockets trade: Hasheem Thabeet, Jordan Hill, Marcus Cousin, Marqus Blakely and the 2012 MIN 2nd rd pick The Hornets have no PFs, so they get a good look at Hill. They also get a backup C in Thabeet. Both are young guys, consistent with the league's desires in that regard. Cousin is another young big, but he and Blakely are both non-guaranteed, so the Hornets can waive them for nothing if they like. That MIN second rounder should be a good pick. Oh, and the league (whose owners complains about every penny the Hornets spend, since they're each paying 1/29th of it) saves as much as $6M next season without taking on any additional payroll beyond this year if they don't want to. The Rockets get their starting center in Kaman. Also, by using this trade package, they make salaries match enough that they preserve their cap exceptions and TPEs. Something worth considering.
I want to salary dump Martin's contract. I'd rather have an Expiring in Kaman than keep paying Martin for two years.
Why? The Rockets are already expected to have tons of cap room next season, and they will need to meet the minimum team salary of 85% of the salary cap. My preference would be to have a good player like Martin next season as opposed to scrambling to hand out large one-year deals to whichever FAs are desperate enough to take them. Besides, Martin will only have one year left by then, anyway.
My rebuilding plan: Trade one: Rockets trade: Kevin Martin Timberwolves trade: Wesley Johnson, Anthony Randolph, 2012 Jazz first round pick (protected) Trade two: Rockets trade: Luis Scola Magic trade: JJ Reddick, Daniel Orton, unprotected 2012 Magic first round pick Wolves get their SG, Magic make a strong push to keep Dwight, and the Rockets get a nice young role player (Johnson), 2 center prospects (Randolph and Orton) and 2 first round picks.
I have to say Bima, your posts are always well thought out and provide very good insights. When is Morey going to hire you to be his left hand man? I like this trade as I can see Kaman as a good option for the low block.
One of Noh centers has too be up for a trade. The question is will the worthless pathetic low life stern want too much for them. Hopefully the rockets can get okafor and keep Martin.
I'd like to trade off Martin if the Rockets get a decent offer for him not just for trash players had about enough of that. But Courtney Lee is a starter in my opinion that is good on both ends of the floor and is due to get paid next year something along the lines of what Kyle Lowry got.
Or N.O. could amnesty okafor (someone will pay at least 5 mil for him) and get massive cap space for next year. what's the minimum pay roll a team has to have this year?
I think Hill has more value than a one-year rental, and I actually think Blakely can turn out all right for us. I'd bet the Hornets would be more willing to flush Emeka and his contract so they have more options next year.
