Why not Okur?

F-Dog

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I've been thinking about what the Suns will do this offseason, if they don't wind up with Kobe or Emeka Okafor.


This is what they've got to work with:

$8-10m in cap room
Rights to Vujanic
Mid-lotto pick
Mid-first round pick (NYK)


The thing is, they don't seem to have a lot of needs at the moment:

Starting center
Platoon PG
Backup SG?


Center is the biggie--as it has been for the entire history of the Suns franchise, seemingly. The team has had a lot of success in developing guards, so depth there can be acquired in the draft.

The problem is, there aren't any centers in the draft (besides Okafor) who could step on the court this year--or next year, or possibly the year after--and be good enough to qualify as an average NBA starting center. I'm also not impressed with what I've seen of next year's free agent class, aside from McGrady and his tricky back.

The Suns have Lampe, but he's 18 and his defense is probably nonexistent right now. Besides, the team likes Cabarkapa and Barbosa better than Lampe, and both of them could easily be coming off the bench for the next few years (after Vujanic arrives).



So, I'm starting to think that the Suns should collect their spare change, and offer Mehmet Okur a 6 yr/$80 million contract on the first day of free agency.

Okur can score inside and outside, and he's tough on the boards. He did a great job leading his team in the Euro championships last year. Also, he's still young and improving.

He's slow and not the best defender, but so what? The Suns (and their fans) know what it's like to play 4.5-on-5 on offense, and they know all about getting killed on defense and on the boards when they play without a legitimate center. Playing Okur at center would give the Suns most of the advantages of small ball without having to suffer most of the consequences.

Okur can play center and play basketball at the same time, and $80m is just about the going rate for those kinds of players. (It's worth it, too--ask Sacramento how they feel about blowing all their cash on Brad Miller last summer.) I think he'd be a great fit with Amare and the rest of the team.


If Detroit manages to clear enough cap room to match, then good for them. If not, the Suns can spend their high pick on Andre Iguodala and use their later pick on a long-term project like Peja Samardzski or Al Jefferson, or they could trade it away to move Howard Eisley.


Thoughts? :confused:
 

slinslin

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80M$ is too much.

That's more than what Brad Miller got.

6yrs/50M$ at the most right now. Is Okur restricted?

He is friends with Zarko as far as I know.
 
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F-Dog

F-Dog

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Okur is restricted.

Word out of Detroit is that they are making a big push to re-sign him, and they may have a deal in place with Charlotte to clear more cap room. I don't think the Suns have any chance to get him at $50m.

The Suns might be able to pick him up for Gilbert Arenas money ($65m) if they structure the deal so that the first year's salary is $9m or so.
 

slinslin

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Anything more than 50M$ is way too much of a risk in my opinion especially with Lampe having good potential and possibly first round picks coming in.

I would rather sign Divac for like 2yrs/3M$. I think Divac would probably even come for the veteran minimum to play with Zarko and Milos before retiring.
 

sunsfn

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I do not think Detroit will let Okur get away.

We will see if Lampe can play center before the end of the season. Even if he can he is a couple years away.

Last night I tried to watch Foyle play center. I have always been impressed with this guy. He has been a very good shot blocker and defensive center. Last night he really helped the Warriors when he came in the game. The suns game slowed down, and if you noticed, Tom Chambers made mention of the fact that Foyle really was helping the Warriors.
He just came of the injured list and it looked like he was out of shape and could not jump much.

The only problem with him is now will he regain his form to be a competing center in the NBA?
If he can, he would be a cheap stop gap for a couple years to let Lampe or a draft pick develop.

It appears that all the centers in the draft are young and will take some time, or their overseas contract is not a very good thing to have to deal with.

:)
 

slinslin

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Here is a list of interessting players now that it looks like that we might be better of with 2-3 good role players for our bench.

Atlanta
Stephen Jackson , Player option, current salary 1M$

Boston
Chris Mihm , Qualifying Offer, current salary 2.8M$

Chicago
Marcus Fizer, Qualifying Offer, current salary 3.7M$

Jamal Crawford, Qualifying Offer, 2.5M$

Cleveland
Darius Miles, Qualifying Offer, 4.1M$
Carlos Boozer, FA, 600K$
Jason Kapono, FA, 300K$
JR Bremer, FA, 600K$
Eric Williams, FA, 6M$

Dallas
Travis Best, FA, 1M$
Marquis Daniels, FA, 300k$
Steve Nash, Player option, 5.7M$

Denver
Jon Barry, FA, 3M$
Rodney White, FA, 2M$ - According to realgm not FA
Chris Anderson, FA, 600k$
Marcus Camby, Player option, 7.2M$

Detroit
Mehmet Okur, FA, 1.1M$

Golden State
Erick Dampier, Player option, 7.8M$
Adonal Foyle, FA, 4.4M$

Indiana
Reggie Miller, FA, 5M$

LA Clippers
Quentin Richardson, Qualifying Offer, 2.5M$
Keyon Dooling, Qualifying Offer, 3M$

LA Lakers
Kobe Bryant, Player Option, 13.5M$
Gary Payton, Player Option, 5.4M$
Karl Malone, Player Option 1.5M$

Memphis
Stromile Swift, Qualifying Offer, 4.6M$
Bonzi Wells, Team Option , 6.8M$
Mike Miller, FA, 4M$

Milwaukee
Toni Kukoc, FA, 9.6M$
Dan Gazuric, FA, 600k$

Minnesota
Latrell Sprewell, Player Option, 13.5M$
Troy Hudson, Player Option , 2.5M$
Fred Hoibert , FA, 1M$

New Jersey
Kenyon Martin, Qualifying Offer, 5M$

New York
Kurt Thomas, Player option, 5.4M$

Philadelphia
Kyle Korver, FA, 360K$

Portland
Rasheed Wallace, FA, 17M$
Wesley Person, FA, 7.7M$

Sacramento
Vlade Divac, FA, 12M$

San Antonio
Emanuel Ginobili, FA, 1.5M$

Seattle
Brent Barry, FA, 5.4M$

Toronto
Morris Peterson, Qualifying Offer, 1.6M$

Utah
Jarron Collins, FA, 1.3M$

Washington
Etan Thomas, Qualifying Offer, 3M$
 

slinslin

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Among the cheaper players, Wesley Person would rank very high on my list to backup Joe Johnson.


Roster

Divac/Lampe/Voshkul
Amare/Draftpick
Marion/Zarko
Johnson/Person
Barbosa/Milos

+ the 2nd first round pick

IR: Jacobsen, White, Eisley
 
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George O'Brien

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Originally posted by slinslin
I was going by hoopshype. They aren't really up to date.

The problem with HoopsHype is not that they aren't up to date, but that they only list "published" contracts. Some guys get extensions that aren't published, so they appear to be available but aren't.

The Pistons have been clearing cap space for months to get ready to re-sign Okur. He's not going anywhere.

Wes Person is a real possiblity as a backup guard. The Suns have a history of bringing guys back late in their career and he would be a good fit.

I love the idea of getting Divac for one year although not many other people on this board agree or think he would sign.
 

hcsilla

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Originally posted by George O'Brien


The Pistons have been clearing cap space for months to get ready to re-sign Okur. He's not going anywhere.

They have but their cap room is still won't be bigger than 6 mil. unless the cap raises above 46 mil.
 

scotsman13

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i think that person would be a good pick up for the team. as an outside shooter he can help speard the floor for amare and i dont think he would be near as expensive as berry and would take his role as the 4th guard well.

i think that they suns are going to go with 3 main guards in jj, barbosa and milos.

based on what we see how of lampe. the 3 people that i think the suns should look at are okur ( i dont know if he is friends with zarko), mihn and if everything else falls apart then boozer would be a nice pick up if we couldnt get harvey back.

i think the suns need to resign harvey (this type of role player is hard to find).
 

George O'Brien

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Originally posted by scotsman13
[
and if everything else falls apart then boozer would be a nice pick up if we couldnt get harvey back.

i think the suns need to resign harvey (this type of role player is hard to find). [/B]

Boozer has been a starter most of the time in Cleveland. He is a very good player, but at 6'7" would only be a backup on the Suns since he can't play the #5. I see zero chance of him coming to Phoenix.
 
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F-Dog

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Anything more than 50M$ is way too much of a risk in my opinion especially with Lampe having good potential and possibly first round picks coming in.

Suppose the Suns spent $80m for Okur. How else would they spend that money that would improve the team more?

It's not as though the Suns have trouble finding cheap, talented smaller players in the draft. (For instance, if they need a shooter, Darius Rice will be available late in the first round, where his rookie contract will be something like 4y/$6m.) Doesn't it make more sense for the team to 'overpay' for the best available big man than to sign medium-priced FA guards and create more logjams in the backcourt?


Lampe has good potential, but he's not very athletic, and it's hard for me to believe that he can turn himself into one of the better centers in the NBA in just a few years. I find it easier to believe that he could become a dangerous scorer off the bench to team with Cabarkapa.


They have but their cap room is still won't be bigger than 6 mil. unless the cap raises above 46 mil.


Elden Campbell has one more year left in his contract, and Chucky Atkins has two years left. Pistons fans believe the team can offload one of the two to Charlotte--that would give them an extra $4m of cap room to play with.

They might have less than $10m of cap room for Okur even then--I don't know whether your $6m figure takes Delfino or their draft pick into account. (They may have to give up their draft pick anyway to move Campbell or Atkins.)


I do not think Detroit will let Okur get away.

I think they would have serious problems matching an $80m offer, both this year and in the future. Remember, the Pistons are committed to Darko Milicic and Ben Wallace at least as much as to Okur, and both players will be looking for new contracts three or four years from now, when Okur will be making huge money.

Worst case, Detroit bites the bullet and matches, and Okur's contract causes trouble for them this year and down the line. I can live with that. :)
 

SunsTzu

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Originally posted by slinslin
Among the cheaper players, Wesley Person would rank very high on my list to backup Joe Johnson.


Roster

Divac/Lampe/Voshkul
Amare/Draftpick
Marion/Zarko
Johnson/Person
Barbosa/Milos

+ the 2nd first round pick

IR: Jacobsen, White, Eisley

I really like the idea of getting Divac. He would be a huge asset in terms of helping Lampe develop as a high post center. Okur would be a nice addition but from what I've seen he seems to lack the passing skills to be a real good high post center. Also wouldn't want to break the bank on a guy like Okur.
 

George O'Brien

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Originally posted by SunsTzu
I really like the idea of getting Divac. He would be a huge asset in terms of helping Lampe develop as a high post center. Okur would be a nice addition but from what I've seen he seems to lack the passing skills to be a real good high post center. Also wouldn't want to break the bank on a guy like Okur.

Okur would be crazy to leave the Pistons. He will get a decent package and gets to play with Wallace who will always take the toughest defensive assignment.
 
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