Up-and-coming? Bismack Biyombo Cody Zeller Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Gerald Henderson Kemba Walker Looks good on paper, I suppose.
Re: Bobcats Core There isn't a single player of those five that I would take over any of the Blazers' starters right now. No green font needed, ABM! I see what you did there...
Re: Bobcats Core The key words are up-and-coming. Nah, seriously, it appeared to me to be a decent (albeit, very) young core.
Re: Bobcats Core I thought it was you mocking those who think you get better through the draft by trading away All-Stars, which is what Charlotte tried to do.
Re: Bobcats Core Nope. I was reading this article. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ap-source-bobcats-sign-henderson-140821977--nba.html
Re: Bobcats Core I forgot that the Bobnets also signed Al Jefferson. I'll move them from 20 wins to 25 wins because of it.
Re: Bobcats Core Even Sarge isn't dumb enough to take on that job. Off of the top of your head, can you name Charlotte's head coach and the terms of his contract?
Re: Bobcats Core Not certain of the contract, but did see this. Dang, coaches sure don't last long there.
Re: Bobcats Core Any word if they go back to teal and purple? Man, talk about the Portlandia idea of "The Dream of the 90s"; those colors were EVERYWHERE in that decade.
Re: Bobcats Core Thats the definite downside of blowing up a team. If our GM tried something similar I don't think ownership would give him more than 3 years to be a cellar dweller. Just as the Bobcats are now scrapping the rebuild plan by adding Al Jefferson, I think Paul Allen would do the same thing after a few terrible losing seasons. So when people talk about Neil Olshey rebuilding, I think they should really ask if Paul Allen would be committed to a long-term rebuilding through the draft. The Bobcats is about the worst model possible to follow.
Re: Bobcats Core You're right that PA probably wouldn't stomach a complete rebuild, which is why it would be tragic (as others have stated in other threads) if LMA was to leave for nothing, and to start a rebuild with 15M in cap space, Lillard and an expiring Batum. As for the "there isn't a single player I'd take", we agree that we win Henderson v. Batum and Biyambo v. LMA handily. I haven't seen what Zeller can do v. Lopez, but you're probably right. But I'd take MKG every day of the week over Wes. And we got amazingly lucky with Lillard being as good as he is...but I'd take Kemba Walker over every other PG we've had (aside from maybe Miller) since maybe Porter retired. Felton? Check Miller? Maybe Sergio? Check Blake? Check Jack? Check Bayless? Check Telfair? Check Damon? Check Van Exel? Check Strickland? Check Anthony? Check I'm sure I'm missing someone, but 19 PER PG's on a rookie contract don't fall off of trees. In fact, in the 3point era there are only 14 other guards who have put up a PER better than Kemba's 18.8 in their first two seasons. Amazingly (to me, anyway), Derrick Rose wasn't one of them but Andre Miller was. Portland has 2 of the 14 entries...Brandon Roy and Billy Ray Bates. And for those saying that doing it CHA's way can't work, it kind of didn't work for CHA because they drafted stupidly. Let's just apply even S2 Board Wisdom with the following picks: 2004: Okafor at #2. Probably the consensus, in that 2004 was the Dwight/Okafor question. Maybe Ben Gordon, but let's say Okafor. 2005: Felton @5 and Sean May @13. I can almost see Felton (instead of Webster, Charlie V, Frye or Bynum) but instead of Fatty McFatterson (who I don't think anyone was thinking would be stellar) they could've gone with Granger/McCants/Green/Warrick/Jack/KryptoN8/Garcia/Maxiell and had anything from an all-star wing to a solid rotation player very easily. 2006: Adam Morrison @3. Um, yeah. Instead of Tyrus Thomas, Roy, Foye, Gay, Redick...all of whom were pretty highly-regarded and accomplished players. 2007: Traded #8 pick for Jason Richardson, when they had 2 years of Crash Wallace putting up >20 PERs. Moved Crash to the 4. Could've had Joakim Noah or Spencer Hawes. 2008: DJ Augustine @9, just 3 years after Felton. Instead of the Lopezes, Hibbert, Bayless, Ibaka, Batum, McGee... 2009: Gerald Henderson @13. Not horrible, but if they hadn't given the keys to Augustine and gone with Brook Lopez or Hibbert or Ibaka and Batum in 2008, they would've had their choice of Jrue Holiday or Ty Lawson. 2010: Charlotte traded their 2010 pick in 2008 for the 20th pick. Instead of Alexis Ajinca in 2008, they could've had the 16th pick. Maybe not a lot of value, but they made the playoffs (7th seed) 2011: traded up for Biyambo @7, Kemba @9. If you didn't want a super-raw project or another PG, there was Klay Thompson, the Morris Twins, Kawhi Leonard and Faried, all of whom had their backers here. 2012: MKG @2. With Davis gone and Lillard a bit redundant with Kemba, combined with their FrontCourt of Volume Suckage, it was basically either Beal or MKG. Time will tell, but I think either will prove to have been a good pick. 2013: Zeller @4 with Len, Noel, et al on the board. I don't think I could've passed up Noel at 4 unless the docs said his knee was shredded. Len v. Zeller seemed like a tomato vs. tomahto pick, depeding on what you'd prefer. And OBTW, this would be the first year that one of their picks could've been UFA and walked away for nothing. If you say that "building through the draft can't work if your boss is Michael Jordan", I agree. If you say "you can't trade lotto picks away for average wings", I agree. If you say that "drafting for perceived need over more highly-regarded talent in a consensus higher tier" can't work, I agree. But if 25 random S2 posters voted on the draft selections, by Year 3 they would've had a core in 2008 of: Felton/Roy (or Foye or Redick)/Wallace/Okafor/Noah with Granger and (Hibbert or Brook Lopez) coming off the bench. All but Wallace and Okafor on a rookie contract.
