Bobcats Focus On Saving Money

[George O'Brien]

After a year of speculating who would get the Bobcats to take their bad salaries off their hands, it turns out the Suns are the only team that took them up on it. The remarkable part about the various team's strategies was how no one believed Bickerstaff when he said he would go cheap - but he did.

The drafted 19 players, but 9 of them were restricted free agents who are now instant free agents. This means they are only responsible for paying 10 guys (the astrix means they are free agents)

POS. PLAYER FROM
F Lonny Baxter* Washington
G J.R. Bremer* Golden State
C Primoz Brezec Indiana
G Maurice Carter* New Orleans
C Predrag Drobnjak L.A. Clippers
F Desmond Ferguson* Portland
F Marcus Fizer* Chicago
G Richie Frahm* Seattle
F Brandon Hunter Boston
F Jason Kapono Cleveland
F-C Zaza Pachulia Orlando
F Aleksandar Pavlovic Utah
F Jamal Sampson L.A. Lakers
G Tamar Slay* New Jersey
F Theron Smith Memphis
G Jeff Trepagnier* Denver
F Gerald Wallace Sacramento
C Jahidi White Phoenix
C Loren Woods* Miami

POS. PLAYER FROM

C Primoz Brezec Indiana - $1.6
C Predrag Drobnjak L.A. Clippers - $2.8
F Brandon Hunter Boston - $620K
F Jason Kapono Cleveland - $620K
F-C Zaza Pachulia Orlando - $620K
F Aleksandar Pavlovic Utah (traded)
F Jamal Sampson L.A. Lakers - $695K
F Theron Smith Memphis - $620K
F Gerald Wallace Sacramento - $1.4
C Jahidi White Phoenix - $5.8

HoopsHype lists them having a payroll of $13.4 WITH White on their team.

I was amazed at how many teams left their low priced players on the unprotected list and protected "stars" with big contracts. It seems like no one believed Bickerstaff. Now the Bobcats have the potential of really screwing up the free agent market without having to eat a lot of contracts.

 

[Errntknght]

The peculiar thing is that the picked five more RFA's than they needed to. I speculated the other day that they might just go down the list and ask teams for a bribe to not take their RFA. Maybe that's what they did and few teams bit. Or maybe they just intended to muddy the FA waters as much as they could so they'd improve their chances of getting the ones they coveted.

 

[elindholm]

The peculiar thing is that the picked five more RFA's than they needed to. I speculated the other day that they might just go down the list and ask teams for a bribe to not take their RFA. Maybe that's what they did and few teams bit. Or maybe they just intended to muddy the FA waters as much as they could so they'd improve their chances of getting the ones they coveted.

I was wondering that too. I came up with the theory that they'll try to take a closer look at the former RFAs before deciding which ones they want. In other words, that they still consider those players "theirs" to some extent, until they "cut" them (which is a misnomer, since they presently aren't under contract). But since those players are in no way beholden to the Bobcats at this point, they don't have much incentive to come to workouts.

I definitely agree it's a strange approach.

 

[George O'Brien]

The peculiar thing is that the picked five more RFA's than they needed to. I speculated the other day that they might just go down the list and ask teams for a bribe to not take their RFA. Maybe that's what they did and few teams bit. Or maybe they just intended to muddy the FA waters as much as they could so they'd improve their chances of getting the ones they coveted.

I was wondering that too. I came up with the theory that they'll try to take a closer look at the former RFAs before deciding which ones they want. In other words, that they still consider those players "theirs" to some extent, until they "cut" them (which is a misnomer, since they presently aren't under contract). But since those players are in no way beholden to the Bobcats at this point, they don't have much incentive to come to workouts.

I definitely agree it's a strange approach.

If they take someone and cut them, the Bobcats are still responsible for paying them. As unrestricted free agents the Bobcats aren't out a cent. What makes this hard to understand?

 

[elindholm]

If they take someone and cut them, the Bobcats are still responsible for paying them. As unrestricted free agents the Bobcats aren't out a cent. What makes this hard to understand?

Why bother "drafting" people if you're certain they're going to have no affiliation with your team? As Errntknght pointed out, they drafted five more people than they needed to.