re: Trade the #10 for Brandon Jennings?

This whole "big 3" thing is getting too much play. Jennings won't get paid a max deal. Neither will Gordon. You won't have to max AD for quite a few years. You will still have an oak or ariza expiring to dangle to add a piece or two. You'll still have some cap wiggle room to put players around theses guys. You get jennings for the 10 if it's possible. It is def the right thing to do IMO.

My concern is that we'd be closing the door on a CP3 return AND burn a #10 pick in the process (potential 6th man or starting center in the near future gone).

I suppose CP3 would pick NY or the Lakers over us but man - he supposedly loved Dell and Monty and he would see that this team would be his best shot to win a title with EG10 and ADbrow.

You want to revolve your decision making around CP3?
Let it go man.

Okay I prolly needed to hear that.

im not sure Jennings is as coachable as Parker.

What type of inefficient player such as Jennings has ever led a team anywhere? Fun to watch, but not conducive to the team concept. I think id rather take my chances. We already have a volume scorer in Gordon

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I'm aware that Benson owns both teams but I don't see how a free agent will look at the team and say, "I might want to play there, maybe Jimmy Graham and I will become boys." I think they will want to play here because we have a great coach/FO and a good, young nucleus.

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Very rational. I think the "synergy" will help the Hornets, but I just don't see it being a selling point to new additions.

There is no reason to amnesty Emeka this year.
His salary is not keeping us from doing anything right now.

This team was at $66.5mm last year.
Losing Kaman, Landry, Bellinelli, they are down to $35.5mm

Signing the #1 and #10 will cost a TOTAL $6mm, taking us to $41.5mm, and Eric Gordon will be looking for an $8-10mm raise, we can call it an even $52mm. $8mm to spend on free agents, if no one takes Emeka or Trevor off our hands.

You can only use the amnesty once in the 10 year CBA.
If you use the amnesty now, we are almost $20mm under there cap, who are we going after this early in AD's development?

Unless it's a lock you can extend Brandon Jennings, there is no point in the trade. Monty and Dell want players under control for 4+ years... Not just 1. And if we are looking for straight up gangsta ball distributer, Kendall Marshall is the guy.

If they don't see the PG of the future in this class, it's even worse next year. The position is slowly dying. You get put there on a team if you are too short to play up at 2 or 3. Guys like good old Byron Scott that run Princeton offense are fading away...

I doubt they are in a rush to purely dump salary, but making a move out of #10 to acquire future unprotected picks WHILE dumping salary, or acquiring a younger piece might be on their minds. I'd love to see them move the pick+Ariza to move UP a few slots if Drummond falls into the 5 or 6 territory.

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You can only use the amnesty once in the 10 year CBA.

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This is completely pointless. You have to use it on a contract that was signed under the old CBA. For us, the only eligible players for Amnesty are J-Smoove (nope), Jack (nope), Ariza (nope), and Okafor. That's it. However, Okafor is a serviceable player and we would need another banger at the 5, so your savings are minimal and you almost certainly end up with a lesser player than Okafor.

That said, if we do not use the Amnesty provision this summer on Okafor, I'm about 99% sure it won't be used.

Only one player can be amnestied during the agreement, and contracts signed under the new CBA are not eligible.

A good article on the CBA:
LINK

The reason WHY people would say to amnesty Emeka, is because we will quickly be running out of contracts on hand that were not signed under the new CBA...

But that doesn't mean other teams will be without deals that they still want to get rid of, that we can acquire and then use the amnesty on.

Teams without an amnesty exemption left, AND a huge contract on their books, would love to include picks in a trade with the Hornets.

An example: Washington Wizards used their amnesty exemption on Gilbert Arenas.

Their contract for Andray Blatche, who is not working out for them, is roughly the same as Ariza's this year... but Blatche's runs through 2015.

The Wizards could send Blatche, and PICKS, to the Hornets for Ariza, and Blatche could then be amnestied by the Hornets.