The Charlotte Bobcats ended a year of uncertainty with top rebounder and shot blocker Emeka Okafor today (Tuesday) by coming to terms on a six-year, $72 million deal with the restricted free agent.
The move comes a year after Okafor turned down a contract for similar money and assures new coach Larry Brown will have the team’s top inside presence when he begins his record ninth NBA coaching job in the fall.
Higgins confirmed the deal Tuesday morning after ESPN.com first reported late Monday that the two sides were close to an agreement. Higgins said Okafor should sign the deal in the next few days.
Okafor was the second overall pick in 2004 and the expansion Bobcats’ first draft pick. He turned down Charlotte’s offer of $12 million a year last year, but settled on the same figure a year later.
Okafor said during the last week of the regular season that he wanted to remain a Bobcat, but he clearly had a strained relationship with coach Sam Vincent. Managing partner Michael Jordan fired Vincent after Charlotte finished 32-50 in his only season.
Brown coached Okafor, but played him little, on the disappointing bronze-medal United States Olympic team in 2004.
Okafor was plagued by a chronic ankle injury that limited him to 26 games in the 2005-06 season. But he played in 67 games the following year and all 82 last season.
