Pelicans to meet with Oden {EDIT-Oden chooses Miami,P.61}

I have no idea how the cap works in the NBA but can we sign him and go over the cap or are we out of exemptions and exceptions? I think the latter is correct but just wondering. I don't think Benson would think twice about going over the cap or into luxury tax land but if we can't....we can't. They obviously have some plan in mind or they wouldn't waste their time.

Put it this way:

Worst case scenerio: We sign Oden. Heck, we sign Oden for 2 years and guarantee him $$. Demps takes a "crazy" risk. He comes in, fails. We then rely on the same crew at center we were planning to anyway. Our crunch time lineup still involves the 5 money guys. It might cost us a win, maybe 2 or 3, but ultimately you're about at the same level you were.

Best case scenario: Oden's given himself time to heal. He comes back and is 75-80% of what he was. Which was VERY good. You have one of the most feared frontcourt rotations in the NBA. Depending on how strong he returns, you may even build some championship equity. With Oden and Davis, you're dominating the boards and shutting down the lane.

Why not roll the dice on scenario two? Again, the roster you've built basically calls upon Davis to play at center down the stretch anyway. Swing for a difference maker, and if you strike out, it's not going to significantly damage your outlook.

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Originally Posted by MonsterMash

Put it this way:

Worst case scenerio: We sign Oden. Heck, we sign Oden for 2 years and guarantee him $$. Demps takes a "crazy" risk. He comes in, fails. We then rely on the same crew at center we were planning to anyway. Our crunch time lineup still involves the 5 money guys. It might cost us a win, maybe 2 or 3, but ultimately you're about at the same level you were.

Best case scenario: Oden's given himself time to heal. He comes back and is 75-80% of what he was. Which was VERY good. You have one of the most feared frontcourt rotations in the NBA. Depending on how strong he returns, you may even build some championship equity. With Oden and Davis, you're dominating the boards and shutting down the lane.

Why not roll the dice on scenario two? Again, the roster you've built basically calls upon Davis to play at center down the stretch anyway. Swing for a difference maker, and if you strike out, it's not going to significantly damage your outlook.

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+1

oden is the new version of bill walton. injuried alot but when healthy prototypical big man

Make it happen Demps....and Loomis

I just realized that they're bringing in Loomis for an obvious reason - they're gonna try to sell Oden on being the New Brees. Signed after career-threatening injury, becomes NFL legend.

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Originally Posted by MonsterMash

I just realized that they're bringing in Loomis for an obvious reason - they're gonna try to sell Oden on being the New Brees. Signed after career-threatening injury, becomes NFL legend.

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Can I get an oooooooowwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeee

The more we research this, I think the best offer we can make is the league minimum. Don't see any other options. If he signs for that, great. But I am not getting my hopes up

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

The more we research this, I think the best offer we can make is the league minimum. Don't see any other options. If he signs for that, great. But I am not getting my hopes up

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is it confirmed that portland does indeed retain his rights?
i agree with you that the "$3MM offer" as reported seems to ignore the reality of what the team can and cannot do

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

The more we research this, I think the best offer we can make is the league minimum. Don't see any other options. If he signs for that, great. But I am not getting my hopes up

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We don't know what deals Demps may or may not have lined up, though. If they actually are planning to offer 3 mil or so, they could easily have a trade in hand already, contingent on pieces falling into place.

I admittedly have no idea what is going on, but I think its interesting if Loomis is actually there too....

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

The more we research this, I think the best offer we can make is the league minimum. Don't see any other options. If he signs for that, great. But I am not getting my hopes up

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We can always offer an endorsement deal for the Russian equivalent of Jimmy John's. :D

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Originally Posted by MonsterMash

We don't know what deals Demps may or may not have lined up, though. If they actually are planning to offer 3 mil or so, they could easily have a trade in hand already, contingent on pieces falling into place.

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What's more likely, that Demps is ready to tear this team apart to create cap space for a guy that may never play again, or that this was a leak from an agent and the Pelicans have no intention of offering more than the minimum?

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Originally Posted by BP225

What's more likely, that Demps is ready to tear this team apart to create cap space for a guy that may never play again, or that this was a leak from an agent and the Pelicans have no intention of offering more than the minimum?

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He's not going to tear the team apart, but if it comes down to moving one of the role players to create 3 mil or so, I think it's certainly possible.

And it very well might be agent-speak that's out there ... remember "Dell is going to BLOW THE KNICKS AWAY with his offer to Chris Copeland?" ... but I wouldn't rule out anything is all I'm saying. They might have a plan to offer as much as they need to. We might be last on Oden's list and getting used to drive up the price with teams he actually wants to go to. We won't know till it happens.

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Originally Posted by MonsterMash

He's not going to tear the team apart, but if it comes down to moving one of the role players to create 3 mil or so, I think it's certainly possible.

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all the role players who matter $$ wise have been moved, except one
in this case, i would not give up jason smith for greg oden

Benson is 86 so I seriously doubt he gives a damn about the luxury tax. Also in odens last season he averaged 18 points 13 rebounds and 4 blocks and he never relied on athleticism really he was just a hulk.

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Originally Posted by cgrand

all the role players who matter $$ wise have been moved, except one
in this case, i would not give up jason smith for greg oden

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I'm not saying you're wrong. Just that it would be an option, depending on how high they are on him.

RT @Rotoworld_BK: Greg Oden's agent resumes talks with the Heat http://dlvr.it/3g8tXN

Btw those stats are per 36

Can we go over the lux to get Oden?
I didn't think that was a possibility.

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Originally Posted by MonsterMash

He's not going to tear the team apart, but if it comes down to moving one of the role players to create 3 mil or so, I think it's certainly possible.

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It'd be more than role players. Not being able to S&T with Portland is a huge deal because it means getting $3 million under the cap when the team is currently about $3 million above the cap. So they need to cut $6 million to sign. The least destructive option would be to cut Roberts/Miller/Thomas on top of finding someone to take Jason Smith. That's worth it if you had any degree of certainty that Oden was healthy, but if that were the case then Oden could probably get more than $3 million.

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

Benson is 86 so I seriously doubt he gives a damn about the luxury tax. Also in odens last season he averaged 18 points 13 rebounds and 4 blocks and he never relied on athleticism really he was just a hulk.

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that's not how the salary cap works
pelicans are over the cap, have no exceptions to use, and have no "rights" on oden that would allow an over-the-cap signing

If he takes the minimum for 1 year, can they use the full MLE on him next year? So basically tell him (no illegal Boozer promises): "If things work out, you will play for three years, get about 1 mil for year one and 5-6 mil for years 2 and 3, then we will have your Bird rights to bring you back for silly money after that."??

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Originally Posted by DefensiveMind

So the Pelicans are killing their bottom line, signing Oden to a one year deal? They are not leveraging themselves.

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Didn't say that..I was responding to your question. In our case, as referenced in the latter posts in this topic, the P's are over the limit. Would have to cut 1 2 or 3 players, and trade Jason Smith, in short, blow up the roster.
As I have stated before, I have never been a fan of players of any sport, who when people refer to them they have to begin or end their sentences with
"When/As long as they are healthy...." True...There are exceptions to this rule...However the fail to success rate is exponentially higher..Why spend any money on a player who , in any sport, over the course of 6 seasons played a total equivalent to 1 full season. Potential or not, it makes no sense to me.

So again I say....No to G.O.

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Originally Posted by NOSportsFan

Didn't say that..I was responding to your question. In our case, as referenced in the latter posts in this topic, the P's are over the limit. Would have to cut 1 2 or 3 players, and trade Jason Smith, in short, blow up the roster.
As I have stated before, I have never been a fan of players of any sport, who when people refer to them they have to begin or end their sentences with
"When/As long as they are healthy...." True...There are exceptions to this rule...However the fail to success rate is exponentially higher..Why spend any money on a player who , in any sport, over the course of 6 seasons played a total equivalent to 1 full season. Potential or not, it makes no sense to me.

So again I say....No to G.O.

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Trading Jason Smith and renouncing guys like Darius Miller and Roberts, who to this point is probably our sixth guard, isn't "blowing up the roster." That's being a bit dramatic.