How much is Emeka going to cost the Bobcats?

08/30/2007

Since we no longer live in a world where professional athletes are treated like indentured servants, fans have to wonder and worry about how much teams are paying their players. The Bobcats, at this early point in their history, have not spent much on their roster. That changes with the coming season, as the Bobcats have resigned Gerald Wallace and Matt Carroll to big money (for the Bobcats) contracts, and traded for Jason Richardson, who brings a big contract with him. Between those three players, the Bobcats have approximately $22 million tied up for next season, which is over half of last seasons payroll. So, Bob Johnson has begun to loosen the purse strings a bit. Will he be willing to open it wide enough to resign Emeka? I don't know. How much might Emeka get? I still don't know, but let's take a guess.

A guess is not really accurate: Let's look at some comparables to Emeka and see what they are earning.

Player Name	Points / 40 mins	Rebs / 40 mins	Blocks / 40 mins	Age (Coming Season)	Contract
Drew Gooden	15.8	12.2	0.5	26	2 years - $13.5 million
Nene Hilario	18.3	10.5	1.4	25	5 years - $52 million - last year is player option
Samuel Dalembert	13.9	11.6	2.5	26	4 years - $43.76 million
Chris Kaman	13.9	10.8	2.1	25	5 years - $52 million
Tyson Chandler	10.9	14.3	2.0	25	4 years - $45.6 million - last year is player option
Emeka Okafor	16.5	13.0	3.0	25	?

I did not even include Ben Wallace in this chart, because of the age difference, but also due to Emeka outpacing Big Ben in all 3 of these categories this past season. And how much is Ben making? Well, he signed a 4-year, $60 million contract before this past season. And after looking at the players listed here and how Emeka compares, I'd say we can probably expect him to sign a contract worth $12 to $13 million per season for 6 years, with the last year being a player option. What keeps Emeka's value (or perceived value) down is modest scoring numbers. As Dave Berri teaches us, scoring is the single most important factor in determining how much a free agent will receive. So, lucky for us, Okafor is only a slightly above average scorer, keeping his cost down, despite giving the team far more valuable play through his superior defense and rebounding. Another factor that may push the value of the contract down is Emeka's injury history: With his bad back, there is going to be concern that the team may wind up paying him to sit on the bench. Needless to say, the bench/injured reserve is not as valuable as a starting center.

Whatever the Bobcats wind up giving him, I'll probably be happy. As I've said previously, Emeka is the foundation of this team. I hope the Bobcats soon make that the case for the next several seasons to come.

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