It only makes sense, at this point in time. The only problem I see is what they would do with the PF position next season. Okafor isn't a bench player so I def. wouldn't see him coming off the bench to replace Yao. Yao/Okafor could def. work IMO. What would happen to Scola/Landry/Hayes though?
I don't see the sense in taking Okafor and his insanely large contract. I'd rather have Landry and Scola at the 4. I miss Conroy.
It is not like they are in the 2010 sweepstakes. What would you rather do with the money they could use to lock up Okafor? Sign a closer? I HIGHLY doubt Morey is going to dish out closer money for a legit closer...
link doesn't work.. but it was.. Rockets get: Okafor, Larry Hughes (13 MIL expiring), and Julian Wright Hornets get: Eddy Curry and Brian Cook (BOTH expiring) Knicks get: T-MAC
But we wouldn't use money to lock up Okafor; HE IS ALREADY LOCKED UP. $62 million through 2014. That contract is simply putrid. I don't doubt Okafor is talented, but where would he fit? He is a great post player, but so is Yao. Personally I would much rather have Scolandry than Okafor. You're right though, we won't be able to get a legit closer in free agency. A possibility is Amare, who would be the perfect fit, but so many other teams will be thinking the exact same thing. I'm operating on the assumption that Yao comes back and remains dominant, being our best closing option. If Yao wasn't here, I might consider Okafor. Do you think Okafor can be that closer, or at least get any better than what he has shown?
I think he can and would definitely benefit from the fronting defenses Yao gets thrown at him day in and day out. There is no way teams would be able to effectively defend two big men without allowing our shooters have a field day from beyond the arc. Okafor is by far from a closer as I don't really see him possess that FIRE that guys like KG and Kobe have. Even Brandon Roy has more fire than Okafor... As much as I like Hayes, I think the Rockets would benefit from picking up an athletic big man that can rebound and block.
Eddy Curry has an $11M player option for next year that he most definitely will pick up. THAT is what is keeping the Knicks from being able to offer two max contracts next summer. No way New Orleans wants Eddy Curry. That is, unless they can dump more bad contracts than just Okafor's.
Okafor is a great defender, and a solid post player. But I'm just too much of a fan of Scola Landry and Hayes to settle for paying that much money to a non-all star. Seriously, Okafor averaged 11 points and 9 rebounds last year. Not gonna cut it. And C'mon. Would you not want Brandon Roy on this team? If he's playing without fire, then fire is completely overrated.
You do realize that if he hasn't gotten it by now, he ain't going to. He's been playing ball all his life and been good only because of his size, now that he's playing with people his own size that do have the bball iq he can't get on the court.
\he just needs a chance to show what hes capable of.....pops was a total no-name benchwarmer just like dorsey until he jumped onto the raptors and showed through the second of the season he is a monster when given the opportunity---he had the best rebounding rate in the nba last year
Pops played in 22 games last year....for an average of 13 minutes. He played well for a short amount of time, but if he was a "beast" he would be a starter in the NBA.Not averaging 9 mintues per game through out his career
I think Pops has low basketball IQ just as Dorsey does. He is a freakishly athletic player but has not concept of team basketball. Atleast from what I saw... And to the guy who misread my post about Brandon Roy, I said Okafor does not have the same fire that guys like KG, Roy, and Kobe possess. Brandon has FIRE.
17 pages and still going strong. Some still confused as to why Pops was let go? Yeah I am too but man it seems as if we released a great player. We didnt. We released a journeyman who didnt play and wasnt going to play unless it was in garbage time.
No **** sherlock! People realize that but it doesn't mean they cant discuss and quibble with why he was let go from the team.
Pops must have said something. I'm guessing he complained about playing time. The team didn't want a bench warmer who talks back, so they ditched him. I'm getting a Two Sammiches vibe.
I highly doubt he said anything to get bumped off the team so abruptly. Morey was quick to comment that Pops did a great job while he was a Rocket, did everything he was asked, and let him go to give him an opportunity to play since he wasn't getting it here. Also, Pops is a great guy who is just thankful to just be in the league and his twitter comments suggest he remained humble throughout.
