Post by Admin on Aug 10, 2016 2:02:29 GMT -5
Emeka Okafor, out since 2013-14 with back woes, attempts a comeback
Kelly Dwyer
Emeka averaged 9.7 points and 6.2 rebounds in 2013-14. (Getty Images)
From Jackie MacMullan at ESPN.com:
“He’s probably five or six months away,” [agent Jeff] Schwartz said. “He’s been working hard rehabbing. For some guys that means one thing. To Emeka, who understands his body as well or better than some trainers that have worked with him, it means something else. He’s healthy. He feels great, but he’s a perfectionist, and he wants everything to be right.”
MacMullan reported that Okafor wants to join “a contending team” sometime this winter. Understandable, as Emeka only got to take part in six playoff games (in one postseason, during 2011 with New Orleans) in his nine year career.
The man he worked best under, former University of Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, defended Okafor’s nearly mid-30s merits:
“He’s in great shape,” Calhoun said. “He had offers last season from teams for $6-7 million to play just a portion of the season, but you have to know Emeka. He’s only coming back when he feels the time is right.
“He’s not going to make a decision based on money. He doesn’t need it. This is a kid who graduated with a 3.9 GPA. He wants to play a couple more years then go to business school at Harvard. He’s only going to play for a contending team.”
That’d be nice. For once.
Two full seasons out of the league, two back surgeries, and a 33rd birthday in September. Still, Emeka Okafor’s sound defensively play (which lasted into his Washington year), intelligence and obvious physical attributes would at least be worth a look for a contender, right? Of which there are two, now?
You rarely see general managers go as candidly as this on record, and San Antonio Spurs R.C. Buford certainly isn’t saying anything cross or out of turn here, but he did lay it out for the Basketball Hall of Famer in MacMullan:
“We always pay attention to whatever is out there,” Buford said. “But Emeka is three years removed from a time when his body was letting him down.
“It’s just hard to get enough information to evaluate a player like that, who won’t be in training camp, who hasn’t had game action for a prolonged period of time.”
This will be a roadblock.
One would think that, 42 months separating his last NBA game and the first exhibition games of 2016-17, that Emeka Okafor’s significant back woes would either have more than enough time to mend, or they’d be written off as career-ending. Yes, Calhoun did claim that Okafor received salary offers for around the league’s average yearly deal to play in 2015-16, but Jim Calhoun has said a whole lot of stuff in his day.
That Emeka Okafor would still need until around midseason after two and a half NBA seasons and three offseasons off is a little unsettling. Worse off are his prospects: Golden State is already at 14 roster spots, Buford basically just told the press he wouldn’t want to drop him into coach Gregg Popovich’s lap midseason, and the Cavaliers’ luxury tax woes make adding even minimum salaried guys quite the investment.
We’re giving Emeka Okafor’s comeback the benefit of the doubt because of what we haven’t seen – specifically, Emeka Okafor’s ability to play professional-level basketball in the wake of what could be a debilitating surgery. Let’s see how this all fleshes out, once the frost hits.
sports.yahoo.com/news/emeka-okafor-out-since-2013-14-with-back-woes-attempts-a-comeback-222008090.html?nhp=1
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Warriors had a conversation with Okafor in recent months and will continue to monitor his progress, Golden State GM Bob Myers informed MacMullen. The Warriors, Cavs and Heat spoke with Okafor last season but he decided at that time he wasn’t ready to return.
“We have 14 players right now, but you learn every year that someone you didn’t expect to be available becomes an option,” Myers told MacMullen.
www.hoopsrumors.com/2016/08/okafor-eyes-return-warriors-interested.html
Admin Comment: Sticking with Sanders
Kelly Dwyer
Emeka averaged 9.7 points and 6.2 rebounds in 2013-14. (Getty Images)
From Jackie MacMullan at ESPN.com:
“He’s probably five or six months away,” [agent Jeff] Schwartz said. “He’s been working hard rehabbing. For some guys that means one thing. To Emeka, who understands his body as well or better than some trainers that have worked with him, it means something else. He’s healthy. He feels great, but he’s a perfectionist, and he wants everything to be right.”
MacMullan reported that Okafor wants to join “a contending team” sometime this winter. Understandable, as Emeka only got to take part in six playoff games (in one postseason, during 2011 with New Orleans) in his nine year career.
The man he worked best under, former University of Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, defended Okafor’s nearly mid-30s merits:
“He’s in great shape,” Calhoun said. “He had offers last season from teams for $6-7 million to play just a portion of the season, but you have to know Emeka. He’s only coming back when he feels the time is right.
“He’s not going to make a decision based on money. He doesn’t need it. This is a kid who graduated with a 3.9 GPA. He wants to play a couple more years then go to business school at Harvard. He’s only going to play for a contending team.”
That’d be nice. For once.
Two full seasons out of the league, two back surgeries, and a 33rd birthday in September. Still, Emeka Okafor’s sound defensively play (which lasted into his Washington year), intelligence and obvious physical attributes would at least be worth a look for a contender, right? Of which there are two, now?
You rarely see general managers go as candidly as this on record, and San Antonio Spurs R.C. Buford certainly isn’t saying anything cross or out of turn here, but he did lay it out for the Basketball Hall of Famer in MacMullan:
“We always pay attention to whatever is out there,” Buford said. “But Emeka is three years removed from a time when his body was letting him down.
“It’s just hard to get enough information to evaluate a player like that, who won’t be in training camp, who hasn’t had game action for a prolonged period of time.”
This will be a roadblock.
One would think that, 42 months separating his last NBA game and the first exhibition games of 2016-17, that Emeka Okafor’s significant back woes would either have more than enough time to mend, or they’d be written off as career-ending. Yes, Calhoun did claim that Okafor received salary offers for around the league’s average yearly deal to play in 2015-16, but Jim Calhoun has said a whole lot of stuff in his day.
That Emeka Okafor would still need until around midseason after two and a half NBA seasons and three offseasons off is a little unsettling. Worse off are his prospects: Golden State is already at 14 roster spots, Buford basically just told the press he wouldn’t want to drop him into coach Gregg Popovich’s lap midseason, and the Cavaliers’ luxury tax woes make adding even minimum salaried guys quite the investment.
We’re giving Emeka Okafor’s comeback the benefit of the doubt because of what we haven’t seen – specifically, Emeka Okafor’s ability to play professional-level basketball in the wake of what could be a debilitating surgery. Let’s see how this all fleshes out, once the frost hits.
sports.yahoo.com/news/emeka-okafor-out-since-2013-14-with-back-woes-attempts-a-comeback-222008090.html?nhp=1
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Warriors had a conversation with Okafor in recent months and will continue to monitor his progress, Golden State GM Bob Myers informed MacMullen. The Warriors, Cavs and Heat spoke with Okafor last season but he decided at that time he wasn’t ready to return.
“We have 14 players right now, but you learn every year that someone you didn’t expect to be available becomes an option,” Myers told MacMullen.
www.hoopsrumors.com/2016/08/okafor-eyes-return-warriors-interested.html
Admin Comment: Sticking with Sanders
