Following last week's NBA Draft, the Charlotte Bobcats have not changed a great deal. Two rookies will join the team and hope to make an impact. Neither will be able to lead this organization to 60 wins, but I know someone who will - LeBron James. Yeah, you should probably keep reading...
After concluding my rundown at the end of the NBA Draft's first round, the Charlotte Bobcats made two 2nd round selections which have not been discussed. Derrick Brown, a forward from Xavier, was chosen with the 40th selection. Clearly, since I had placed Brown 15th in the first round in my Mock Draft, I like the kid and think he could be really good. Definitely a guy who will make the roster and potentially contribute this season, if he gets some playing time behind Wallace and VladRad. Brown has a funky offensive game, but is athletic and smart. NBADraft.net makes the comparison to Derrick McKey, in large part because he's a lefty and 6-8. I would personally like to see Brown continue to fill out a bit more and try his hand at the 4-spot and evolve into a David West (former Xavier forward as well) type - an undersized, strong, sweet-shooting pick-and-roll guy. The Bobcats also selected Robert Vaden in the 2nd round and promptly traded him to OKC for $$$.
At this point, where does that leave Charlotte's hoops team? In need of a superstar. Just like a week ago. Sure, some depth was developed from this draft. But, I don't think the team is any better for it, as a VORP evaluation would show (Value Of Replacement Player). There is no substantial upgrade to drafting Henderson & Brown than signing a backup at the 2 & 3 spots for this season.
Going into the 2009-2010 season, the Bobcats still need to unload a contract or two if they can and try to use the saved dollars to help with a free agent or two. More than anything right now, some scoring off the bench would be nice. A combo guard who can drop 15 points in the 2nd & 3rd quarters of a game...explosive for stretches...potentially able to help out in the 4th quarter...Allen Iverson anybody? A college friend and I discussed this possibility via Facebook messages last week and I claimed to be in the "No" camp on looking at AI. I remain there today...but only because I don't think he could accept that type of role in Charlotte. If he continues playing, Iverson should look to a contender like Boston (if they don't re-sign House) or Orlando or Cleveland to contribute and know his role off the bench as opposed to a still-building team like the 'Cats. That being said, he would provide exactly what the team needs and might be open to playing nice under Larry Brown & MJ...just a thought. A backup at the 4-spot is still necessary, as Rick Bonnell points out today. I can't see either of his preferred options materializing, but I think he has the right idea. A more-likely scenario would involve trading Nazi and/or VladRad for a backup at the 4-spot with a bad contract, or just going cheap and re-signing Juwan Howard.
In pondering all things NBA last week, I did construct an interesting thought related to Charlotte & Cleveland. If you took LeBron James off the Cavs and put him on the Bobcats, would Charlotte turn into a better team with LBJ than Cleveland is? The comparison here is apples-to-apples: Charlotte with LeBron vs Cleveland with LeBron (not a trade scenario). As currently constructed, I think it would be darn close. Mo Williams is better than Raymond Felton, but not a ridiculous amount. Let's say Ray-Ray is 85% of Williams. LeBron would essentially play the 2 for the 'Cats since Gerald Wallace is a 3, so you'd have to compare Wallace to Delonte West as a swingman-to-swingman comparison (moving Raja Bell to our bench). Gerald > Delonte, easily. Now, here's where things get interesting: would you rather have Diaw/Okafor or Shaq/Varajeo (assuming he is re-signed)? It's probably advantage Cleveland, but not by that much. I do think Shaq can be a dominate force for another year or two, but how healthy will he stay? And next to LeBron, how good could Diaw's passing skills look? How many more easy dump-offs would Emeka receive courtesy of King James? Cleveland would definitely have a depth advantage with Big Z in the post vs Diop/VladRad, but I'd give Raja Bell the nod over Daniel Gibson and the DJ Augustin/Gerald Henderson combo is better than whatever turd sandwich Cleveland can piece together for it backcourt backups this year. And coaching is not even close: a big + for the Bobcats.
My point in this ridiculous hypothetical is two-fold: 1) The Bobcats have a lot of the suppoting cast pieces in place for a great team - they just lack the super-duper star to make it happen; and 2) Cleveland's supporting cast, minus a 37 year-old Shaq, is just not that good (as was shown in the playoffs vs Orlando). I think that illustrates just how good LeBron really is, along with just how sucky Cleveland would be without him. I honestly believe that if you add a LeBron or a D-Wade to the Bobcats that you instantly have a 60-win team, but you could probably say the same thing about ten other non-playoff teams in the NBA as well.
Of course, in reality, none of this matters a bit because it ain't happening. However, next summer when there are free agents available, the hope is that MJ & Co can lure a player based on "the pieces are in place around you, we just need a stud to elevate us to the next level", similar to what Orlando attempted with Rashard Lewis. Sure, it won't be LeBron James, but what about Joe Johnson or Michael Redd? Maybe the 'Cats become at 53-win team at that point. That's really the only hope for becoming a great team, a potential contender, since a major trade would take away a large chunk of the supporting cast that is in place. One thing you cannot argue based on this exercise: one player in the NBA can make all the difference, and the Bobcats don't have it.
Enough on the Bobcats for a week or two, I promise. I know there is a limited amount of folks who care about the NBA, much less a 35-win team in an ambivalent market. We'll take a more diversified look at the world of sports later on this week. Peace up, A-town down.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment