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

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Originally Posted by Big Fan

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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If we signed him to a 1 year deal this year, I think we get his Bird Rights next off season, so we could sign him to a $5 mil/year deal with out having to use the MLE. Not 100% positive, but I think that's how it works.

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Originally Posted by BP225

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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That's a question of whether you'd give up the sure thing in Smith for Oden's potential. That, of course, is debatable. No question.

Roberts is our 6th guard, Miller is essentially our fourth option to get SF min behind AFA Evans and Morrow, Thomas is all but the last guy on the roster. All of those guys are fairly replaceable; you don't turn down a move based on those guys. Smith is better than that, and he'd be the guy to weigh here.

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Originally Posted by MonsterMash

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.

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Over dramaticized or not, the point I was making was that going for is as it stands right now, Jason Smith is better than G.O. Miller is up and coming and plays with energy, though by what Ive read on here he isn't having a great SL. And Roberts will probably be one of our best bargaining chips toward the trade deadline...From a business standpoint, doing all three of those things to acquire a 7'0 stained glass window is kind of lacking...

I wouldn't give up Smith he's too much of an energy guy to give up just based on potential

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Originally Posted by NOSportsFan

Over dramaticized or not, the point I was making was that going for is as it stands right now, Jason Smith is better than G.O. Miller is up and coming and plays with energy, though by what Ive read on here he isn't having a great SL. And Roberts will probably be one of our best bargaining chips toward the trade deadline...From a business standpoint, doing all three of those things to acquire a 7'0 stained glass window is kind of lacking...

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Fair enough

To add another player to this list...Houston waived their D-League center Tim Ohlbrecht, from Germany...Looking at the D-league stats on his bio from NBA.com, he posted 13.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.1 spg, 1.6 bpg, with a FT% of .811 in 26.6 mpg. If we're looking at potential, why not look at someone who's 6'11, 255 lbs and roll the dice on new potential?

Did Oden got to Germany for the secret bear stem cell injections to his knees like Kobe?

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Originally Posted by NOSportsFan

To add another player to this list...Houston waived their D-League center Tim Ohlbrecht, from Germany...Looking at the D-league stats on his bio from NBA.com, he posted 13.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.1 spg, 1.6 bpg, with a FT% of .811 in 26.6 mpg. If we're looking at potential, why not look at someone who's 6'11, 255 lbs and roll the dice on new potential?

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Olbrecht was picked up by Philly today, per Woj.

He's been goin through some deep "Yoga like" workouts that strengthens your legs, tendons and stuff. It's very underrated for athletes with bad leg, knees etc. it's sorta a miracle for with it can do, so I don't rule out of him becoming a 10-18 minute guy with his big frame.

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Originally Posted by Smow-

ಠ_ಠ

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Haha I thought somebody would somehow reference that, so I took the wind out of their sails and said it first.

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Originally Posted by whodat504

Olbrecht was picked up by Philly today, per Woj.

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Well scratch that idea...Too bad...Watched youtube highlights of this kid...Looked decent.....

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Originally Posted by Trell

He's been goin through some deep "Yoga like" workouts that strengthens your legs, tendons and stuff. It's very underrated for athletes with bad leg, knees etc. it's sorta a miracle for with it can do, so I don't rule out of him becoming a 10-18 minute guy with his big frame.

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A la Emeka Okafor....

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Originally Posted by Pelicantoo

A la Emeka Okafor....

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It worked for him didn't it?

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Originally Posted by Nola Hornet

It worked for him didn't it?

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Absolutely. I know a little bit about yoga and I don't see why a lot of athletes don't do things like it. When you said that it reminded me of Mek doing that and one of his coaches (can't remember who) making fun of him for it. Dude's extremely healthy because of it.

Ok....Here's one more C , after looking at who is left according to NBA.com, we should at....Byron Mullins. 4 years in league. 7'0 275. Last year, in26.9 mpg, avged 10.6 ppg and 6.4 rpg , along with almost 1 bpg and 1 spg. Didn't receive a qualifying offer from Charlotte, and no news has been posted about anyone signing him....Looking at his career progression, with more minutes, his offense has improved, albeit with a lower FT %, but for someone to come in and play for 10-15 mins, why not?

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Originally Posted by NOSportsFan

Ok....Here's one more C , after looking at who is left according to NBA.com, we should at....Byron Mullins. 4 years in league. 7'0 275. Last year, in26.9 mpg, avged 10.6 ppg and 6.4 rpg , along with almost 1 bpg and 1 spg. Didn't receive a qualifying offer from Charlotte, and no news has been posted about anyone signing him....Looking at his career progression, with more minutes, his offense has improved, albeit with a lower FT %, but for someone to come in and play for 10-15 mins, why not?

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Terrible player. Basically a C who want to shoot even though he can't shoot. Look at FG%. He also is not a good rebounder and bad defender. Pass.

On Byron Mullens. I watched a ton of him last year, I watch a lot of the Bobcats games. He is beyond useless. As PelicansFan said, he is a terrible rebounder, and a bad defender, and this past year, he had a terrible habit of doing nothing on the offensive end, but shooting 3's. And as for Oden. Rumor is that he will choose between the Spurs, and Heat, but, lets just say he were to choose us. There is no way in hell I would get rid of Jason Smith, who does all the dirty work, and is one of the best spot up bigs in the league, to take a chance on Oden. I think in that scenario, Lance Thomas would be the odd man out, as Jason Smith can play the 4, or 5.

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Originally Posted by maverick91579

On Byron Mullens. I watched a ton of him last year, I watch a lot of the Bobcats games. He is beyond useless. As PelicansFan said, he is a terrible rebounder, and a bad defender, and this past year, he had a terrible habit of doing nothing on the offensive end, but shooting 3's. And as for Oden. Rumor is that he will choose between the Spurs, and Heat, but, lets just say he were to choose us. There is no way in hell I would get rid of Jason Smith, who does all the dirty work, and is one of the best spot up bigs in the league, to take a chance on Oden. I think in that scenario, Lance Thomas would be the odd man out, as Jason Smith can play the 4, or 5.

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THIS!! I love Thomas but if we could get Oden by dropping him I'd be fine with it

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Originally Posted by nolaslim213

If we signed him to a 1 year deal this year, I think we get his Bird Rights next off season, so we could sign him to a $5 mil/year deal with out having to use the MLE. Not 100% positive, but I think that's how it works.

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You do not get Bird rights until the 3rd year. So, if we sign him and he plays well, we would have to use MLE on him or cap room

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

You do not get Bird rights until the 3rd year. So, if we sign him and he plays well, we would have to use MLE on him or cap room

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Thanks Mike. I'm still confused though. If you don't get BR until the 3rd year, then why can we re-sign Aminu, when he was technically an UFA? Doesn't that constitute as a new contract, so it would only be 1 year?

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Originally Posted by nolaslim213

Thanks Mike. I'm still confused though. If you don't get BR until the 3rd year, then why can we re-sign Aminu, when he was technically an UFA? Doesn't that constitute as a new contract, so it would only be 1 year?

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I think because we never gave up his bird rights in a trade to another team we still hold Aminu's rights.
I think???

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

I think because we never gave up his bird rights in a trade to another team we still hold Aminu's rights.
I think???

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That makes sense. On a side note, I think we signed Stiemsma to cap space, so do we still have our room exception? It would make the rumors that we're offering Oden close to $3 million makes sense, because the room exception is something like $2.7 million.

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Thomas , meanwhile, was waived by the Pelicans last Wednesday to clear salary cap space for the franchise to sign center Greg Stiemsma. If the Pelicans had not waived Thomas, he would have been guaranteed to earn $884,293 this upcoming season.

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http://www.nola.com/pelicans/index.s...medium=twitter

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Originally Posted by Big Fan

Did Oden got to Germany for the secret bear stem cell injections to his knees like Kobe?

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you know I've been saying they must be doing stem cells in germany, because the players travel there to get procedures done that the media will never give details on

all the byron mullen talk...nah...how about daniel orton? watched him summer league, he looks like a monster

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Originally Posted by ScoutWithoutClout

all the byron mullen talk...nah...how about daniel orton? watched him summer league, he looks like a monster

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we'd really have calipari in our corner if we got orton, but if its not Greg i think we'll sit tight at C

We need a center though!

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Originally Posted by nolaslim213

That makes sense. On a side note, I think we signed Stiemsma to cap space, so do we still have our room exception? It would make the rumors that we're offering Oden close to $3 million makes sense, because the room exception is something like $2.7 million.


http://www.nola.com/pelicans/index.s...medium=twitter

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Got a post coming out in the morning.

Basically, the cap is flexible enough so that you can actually rearrange the order of transactions to help you, if it makes sense.

The signed Aminu into space, and will make the same offer to Oden it seems.

About the Bird Rights. Aminu never changed teams as a free agent, so the Pelicans have his rights. The were capped out on the ability to use the BR since they declined his option, but they still had them and still do.

As much as the fan in me wants Oden to be on the team and provide even 75% of his former self, the realist in me says that his injury history (and not just his knees) makes the chances of him playing even 50% of the games an unlikely scenario. But if Demps and Williams are willing to give the guy a shot, then who am I to disagree.

With a year off going into this season, and at this price... it's a good gamble.

the post on BSS contains an excellent explanation of the salary cap maneuvering necessary to come up with an offer
it continues to amaze me how complicated managing an NBA cap must be

BTW the writing on BSS has been phenomenal lately

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Originally Posted by cgrand

the post on BSS contains an excellent explanation of the salary cap maneuvering necessary to come up with an offer
it continues to amaze me how complicated managing an NBA cap must be

BTW the writing on BSS has been phenomenal lately

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The new CBA is so convaluted; there's so many exceptions to the rules it seems crazy.

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Originally Posted by cgrand

the post on BSS contains an excellent explanation of the salary cap maneuvering necessary to come up with an offer
it continues to amaze me how complicated managing an NBA cap must be

BTW the writing on BSS has been phenomenal lately

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Could you post a link to the article?

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Originally Posted by cgrand

the post on BSS contains an excellent explanation of the salary cap maneuvering necessary to come up with an offer
it continues to amaze me how complicated managing an NBA cap must be

BTW the writing on BSS has been phenomenal lately

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Agree 100%. Massive thanks to the writers, you guys rock and provide this South African Pellies fan with good material to read.

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Originally Posted by RaisingTheBar

Could you post a link to the article?

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http://www.bourbonstreetshots.com/20...medium=twitter

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Originally Posted by 42

Got a post coming out in the morning.

Basically, the cap is flexible enough so that you can actually rearrange the order of transactions to help you, if it makes sense.

The signed Aminu into space, and will make the same offer to Oden it seems.

About the Bird Rights. Aminu never changed teams as a free agent, so the Pelicans have his rights. The were capped out on the ability to use the BR since they declined his option, but they still had them and still do.

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What are you, a math professor or something? :hihi:

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Originally Posted by Amakhosi002

Agree 100%. Massive thanks to the writers, you guys rock and provide this South African Pellies fan with good material to read.

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It's insane how great the coverage of BSS is. I've always been curious what it is about NBA that inspires such analytical/geeky/obsessive breakdowns/blogging/coverage. I don't mean that as an insult, only that the NFL is easily 3 or 4 times bigger than the NBA and it doesn't seem to have anywhere near the same devotion or obsessiveness in its analytical/Star Wars side of the fan base. Just an interesting phenomenon that I'd love to have somebody shed a light on. BSS is clearly the best Pelicans blog, but I'd argue that At the Hive also blows away ANY fan site that the Saints (10 times more popular than the Pellies are) have.

It seems like there's a huge void of intellectual/analytical Saints coverage out there (that goes for the entire NFL to be honest). Grantland has Barnwell, but he's not even as good as the BSS guys in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by jhow0036

http://www.bourbonstreetshots.com/20...medium=twitter

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Thanks. Nice read

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Originally Posted by WisconsinHornet

It's insane how great the coverage of BSS is. I've always been curious what it is about NBA that inspires such analytical/geeky/obsessive breakdowns/blogging/coverage. I don't mean that as an insult, only that the NFL is easily 3 or 4 times bigger than the NBA and it doesn't seem to have anywhere near the same devotion or obsessiveness in its analytical/Star Wars side of the fan base. Just an interesting phenomenon that I'd love to have somebody shed a light on. BSS is clearly the best Pelicans blog, but I'd argue that At the Hive also blows away ANY fan site that the Saints (10 times more popular than the Pellies are) have.

It seems like there's a huge void of intellectual/analytical Saints coverage out there (that goes for the entire NFL to be honest). Grantland has Barnwell, but he's not even as good as the BSS guys in my opinion.

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Football is much more complex in my opinion and harder to predict.
But yes I agree, BSS has been awesome. They have really grown. I even can tolerate MM now lol. He use to bug me with his tone.

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Originally Posted by WisconsinHornet

It's insane how great the coverage of BSS is. I've always been curious what it is about NBA that inspires such analytical/geeky/obsessive breakdowns/blogging/coverage. I don't mean that as an insult, only that the NFL is easily 3 or 4 times bigger than the NBA and it doesn't seem to have anywhere near the same devotion or obsessiveness in its analytical/Star Wars side of the fan base. Just an interesting phenomenon that I'd love to have somebody shed a light on. BSS is clearly the best Pelicans blog, but I'd argue that At the Hive also blows away ANY fan site that the Saints (10 times more popular than the Pellies are) have.

It seems like there's a huge void of intellectual/analytical Saints coverage out there (that goes for the entire NFL to be honest). Grantland has Barnwell, but he's not even as good as the BSS guys in my opinion.

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I would think that a big part of that is that the NBA lends itself to analytics more than the NFL does. Nearly half of the offensive players in the NFL ever score any points, how can you be analytical with that? They can be graded sure, but how do you know for certain what their EXACT assignment was on a particular play. Baseball too lends itself to analytics. Football, not so much.

I'm thinking it's Holiday trade, Aminu and Stiemsma into cap space, Evans trade, Oden at the Mini MLE, then Morrow at vet minimum. That makes sense to me assuming we had enough cap space to sign Aminu and Stiemsma into.

Also assumes there's no crazy loophole that allows us to retain Aminu's bird rights like 42 alluded to, which I wouldn't think would be the case.

What does it say that oden went back home before meeting with us? So we send the whole front office to meet him and then he goes back to INdy? Did I read this correctly?

About the meeting, it may have been a reporting issue or he will return to Vegas... I wasn't clear on that. A special meeting last may show thst the earlier offers weren't showstopping, and Shakespeare says the final speech matters most.

About BSS coverage: Do what must be done.

About why Basketball: for me, I love them too much, I'd be in jail if I had to write about the Saints... to many idiot fans for a soul to tolerate en masse

Great article! Very interesting

Yeah, basketball analytics has exploded in recent years. Baseball is just as nerdy but that boom happened long before.

Football's harder to quantify with advanced stats because players are significantly more dependent on their situations/gameplan/surrounding cast than basketball or baseball players are to produce their stats, and you're talking about 1 out of 25-30 (more, maybe?) guys who impact who wins and loses on Sundays vs 1 of maybe 9-12. Plus you get tons of reps and games to evaluate for basketball/baseball; football you get 16 Sundays a year and the data mined from that is much more volatile.

Fewer real scoring opportunities, divided roles, various 'intents'ways of plays... all mess with it.

There are some good stats, like efficiency in terms of yards per point.

Great post on BSS! Helped clear a lot

Pelicans expect to meet free agent center Greg Oden next week, sources told Y! Sports. Pelicans poised to make offer close to $3 million.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 17, 2013

Looks like the meeting will be next week.

http://i40.tinypic.com/2ltg774.jpg

Just read the BSS article and completely agree
on the thoroughness. These guys are killing it this offseason! 42/MM, I better not see a dip in fan interaction with the expected increase in readers/radio/TV spots! Truly love the work your team is doing!

Has he already met with the Spurs, heart and Mavs.