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Thread: 2012 NBA Draft

  1. #61
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    How long can you load up on rookie contracts before they start expiring (the contracts, not the rookies)?

    -jk

  2. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by -jk View Post
    How long can you load up on rookie contracts before they start expiring (the contracts, not the rookies)?
    True, but if you continue to draft promising, young players and appear to be committed to winning then those rookies will want to keep playing there. See Durant, Kevin. By contrast, Cleveland tried to bring in a bunch of veterans to win a title quickly before LeBron's contract ran out, and he decided to bolt because he didn't see a future there (among other reasons).

  3. #63
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    The Bobcats swing, the Bobcats miss

    Here's their picks the past few years and who they could have had instead -

    2004. #2. Emeka Okafor. Could have had Deng, Igoudala, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith. Okafor has been good, just oft-injured. I'm not sure I'd change this pick because Okafor has been a quality big.

    2005. #5 Ray Felton. Could have had Andrew Bynum. #13. Sean May. Could have had Danny Granger, David Lee, Brandon Bass, Monta Ellis.

    2006. #3 Adam Morrison. Could have had, well, anybody else. Including Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, Redick, Sefolosha, Paul Milsap and...Rajon Rondo.

    2007. #8. Brandan Wright. Could have had Joakim Noah who went #9. Also picked #22 Jared Dudley, and could have had Afflalo or Splitter.

    2008. #9. DJ Augustin. Could have had Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert. Also picked #20 Alexis Ajinca but could have had Serge Ibaka, George Hill or Deandre Jordan.

    2009. #12 Gerald Henderson. Clearly they got the right guy, although there were a few guards available (Lawson, Maynor).

    2010. No pick. The Bobcats traded this pick for the #20 pick in 2008 who turned out to Alexis Ajinca (career average...3.1 points) with Denver. Denver traded it to Minnesota for the right to Ty Lawson in 2009, Minny then took Luke Babbit with the Bobcats' #16 pick. Had Charlotte kept the pick they could have had Eric Beldsoe, Avery Bradley, Eliot Williams, Jordan Crawford.

    2011. #9. Kemba Walker. Could have had Kawhi Leonard. They also picked Tobias Harris at #19 but could have had Kenneth Faried.

    If you change their pick to the best of the could have hads for each year, the Bobcats lineup could currently be -

    Guards - Rajon Rondo, Aaron Afflalo, Avery Bradley.
    Wings - Danny Granger, Kawhi Leonard.
    Bigs - Joakim Noah, Roy Hibbert, Serge Ibaka, Kenneth Faried.

    I'd like to see that team play against any other roster in the league. Even if they got 2-3 of those picks right, instead of the guys they took, they'd have a bright, bright future. Imagine the Bobcats with Avery Bradley, Gerald Henderson, Kawhi Leonard, Noah, Faried. That's a tough, young starting 5.

    And I misspelled Bobcats in the title...
    Last edited by JBDuke; 06-12-2012 at 09:09 PM.

  4. #64
    Quote Originally Posted by superdave View Post
    Here's their picks the past few years and who they could have had instead -
    I was surprised to see that your list of Bobcats' draft mistakes doesn't look worse.

    2004: As you note, Okafor was a solid pick.

    2005: Felton wasn't a bad pick; he's been a solid NBA PG for much of his career. Sure, you'd rather have Bynum -- but Bynum was a high school kid and thus a bit risky; 9 teams passed on him. Sean May at 13 didn't do much, but I tend to think anything after pick 10 or so is pretty much a crapshoot -- you can make a great pick after the top ten, but I'm not sure you can make an awful one. It isn't like Danny Granger was a sure thing -- he was a four-year college player who never made even 3rd team All America; 16 teams passed on him. Monta Ellis? He was the 40th pick; hard to say Charlotte should've taken him with the 13th.

    2006: Morrison was an awful pick, both at the time and in retrospect. Just terrible.

    2007: Wright over Noah looks bad now, but it was pretty defensible at the time. Wright averaged 15 & 6 on 65% shooting as a freshman; in three years at Florida, Noah never averaged that many points or posted that good a FG%. Obviously Noah's rebounding and defense give him a huge edge, but the consensus at the time was that Wright would be an effective low post scorer. Reasonable pick. Jared Dudley is a solid rotation player; not a bad get at #22 at all. Even with benefit of hindsight, I'd take him over Afflalo.

    2008: Probably should've taken Lopez over Augustin, but, again, this isn't a terrible pick; Augustin was 1st team AA as a sophomore and demonstrated an ability to get in the lane and distribute, and the Bobcats already had Okafor. (I don't think anyone saw Hibbert as a can't-miss big coming out of college, and while he's quite valuable now, questions about quickness, stamina, and ability to avoid fouls remain.) And I'm not going to ding anyone for failing to take George Hill at #20.

    2009: Gerald Henderson was one of my favorite Duke players of the last 10-15 years, but I think this was arguably Charlotte's second-biggest mistake. I know I said it's hard to make an awful pick after 10 or so, but Ty Lawson should've been a top 5 pick, and I'd have taken him over Henderson in a heartbeat. Mitigating Factor: Charlotte already had Felton & Augustin on the roster.

    2010: No pick/not an awful trade..

    2011: Walker over Leonard is justifiable and may turn out to be the right decision. I'd have taken Faried at 19 -- and would have seriously considered taking him at 9. But 21 teams passed on him, so it's hard to mock Charlotte for not taking him.

    It's really the Morrison pick that killed them. He produced absolutely nothing for Charlotte -- actually had negative win shares. An 8 or 12 or 20 pick is always a bit of a gamble. But with the #3 pick, you have to get more than Morrison.

    I suppose the other mistake was taking Augustin when they already had Felton -- Felton wasn't exactly a franchise centerpiece, but Augustin wasn't so likely to be a star that it necessarily justified the duplication. And if they'd taken a big instead of Augustin, they might've then taken Lawson instead of Henderson the next year (assuming same draft position, which is of course an insane assumption.) And having Lawson in place, they wouldn't have felt the need to take Walker in 2011, freeing them up to grab Faried or Leonard. So instead of Augustin/Henderson/Walker, they'd have Lopez/Lawson/Faried.

    Quote Originally Posted by superdave View Post
    Even if they got 2-3 of those picks right, instead of the guys they took, they'd have a bright, bright future. Imagine the Bobcats with Avery Bradley, Gerald Henderson, Kawhi Leonard, Noah, Faried. That's a tough, young starting 5.
    Young and tough, yes, but I'm not sure they'd score much. Lots of 77-74 games with that team.

  5. #65
    According to Draft Express, Harrison Barnes jumped 38 inches flat-footed, which they say is by far the best result this year and the 4th best since they started tracking it.

    Obviously, vertical leap is not necessarily an indicator of future success.

    But how in the world was this guy not taking over games on the regular?!? To be the shooter he is and have those sort of athletic tools? My word.

  6. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by Starter View Post
    According to Draft Express, Harrison Barnes jumped 38 inches flat-footed, which they say is by far the best result this year and the 4th best since they started tracking it.

    Obviously, vertical leap is not necessarily an indicator of future success.

    But how in the world was this guy not taking over games on the regular?!? To be the shooter he is and have those sort of athletic tools? My word.
    Interesting, his vertical with steps was only 1.5" higher -- 39.5 -- one of the best but below Miles at 40.5.

    sage

  7. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by FellowTraveler View Post
    2005: Felton wasn't a bad pick; he's been a solid NBA PG for much of his career.

    Sean May at 13 didn't do much, but I tend to think anything after pick 10 or so is pretty much a crapshoot -- you can make a great pick after the top ten, but I'm not sure you can make an awful one.

    2006: Morrison was an awful pick, both at the time and in retrospect. Just terrible.

    2007: Wright over Noah looks bad now, but it was pretty defensible at the time. Wright averaged 15 & 6 on 65% shooting as a freshman; in three years at Florida, Noah never averaged that many points or posted that good a FG%. Obviously Noah's rebounding and defense give him a huge edge, but the consensus at the time was that Wright would be an effective low post scorer. Reasonable pick.

    2008: Probably should've taken Lopez over Augustin, but, again, this isn't a terrible pick;

    2009: Gerald Henderson was one of my favorite Duke players of the last 10-15 years, but I think this was arguably Charlotte's second-biggest mistake. I know I said it's hard to make an awful pick after 10 or so, but Ty Lawson should've been a top 5 pick, and I'd have taken him over Henderson in a heartbeat. Mitigating Factor: Charlotte already had Felton & Augustin on the roster.

    2010: No pick/not an awful trade..

    2011: Walker over Leonard is justifiable and may turn out to be the right decision. I'd have taken Faried at 19 -- and would have seriously considered taking him at 9. But 21 teams passed on him, so it's hard to mock Charlotte for not taking him.

    I suppose the other mistake was taking Augustin when they already had Felton -- Felton wasn't exactly a franchise centerpiece, but Augustin wasn't so likely to be a star that it necessarily justified the duplication. And if they'd taken a big instead of Augustin, they might've then taken Lawson instead of Henderson the next year (assuming same draft position, which is of course an insane assumption.) And having Lawson in place, they wouldn't have felt the need to take Walker in 2011, freeing them up to grab Faried or Leonard. So instead of Augustin/Henderson/Walker, they'd have Lopez/Lawson/Faried.

    Young and tough, yes, but I'm not sure they'd score much. Lots of 77-74 games with that team.
    Hindsight and all that....but it is fun to pick apart their choices.

    Let's concentrate on a few of the obvious ones here -

    They drafted Felton in 2005, which means he's the PG for the next 12 years for this team. That means they do not need Kemba, Tywon Lawson or DJ Augustin.

    They screwed up drafting Sean May in 2005. He was overweight, too short to be a 4 in the league and injured several times in college. He played below the rim and was obviously not a long-term solution at the 4. So let's reverse that pick and give them David Lee instead. Lee can play both the 4 and 5 and would have started his career as a backup for Okafor.

    Let's nix Adam Morrison and say the Bobcats take the next best player: Brandon Roy. Tyrus Thomas was just an athlete, Shelden was not needed because of Okafor, Lee. So we'll give them Roy.

    In 2007, they drafted Wright. They could have had Noah, but that gives the two 5's and a combo 4/5. So let's leave Wright because it made sense with this fake roster.

    In 2008, I vote to give them Brook Lopez. This gives the Cats a 4-man rotation in the frontcourt and there's not an obvious 2 or 3 available. You take the best guy and you avoid Augustin because he's redundant with Felton.

    In 2009, I'd keep Gerald as the pick. The next several guys were all frontcourt players we dont need and Gerald is the ebst player on the board at a position of need.

    No pick in '10 so let's move on.

    In 2011, Charlotte takes Kemba, but we've already got Felton. do we want Kemba as the change of pace reserve off the bench who can score in bunches? Hmmm. Chad Ford had Leonard ranked #7 overall and Kemba #9, so the Cats should have taken Leonard first of all as the better player and second of all because they traded away their SFs on the roster - Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw.

    For their second pick, they picked Tobias who was #17 on Ford's big board while Faried was #14. You have to go Faried here.

    This gives Charlotte a nucleus of Okafor (who they traded for Tyson Chandler), Felton, David Lee, Brandan Wright, Brook Lopez, Gerald Henderson, Kawhi Leonard and Kenneth Faried. They need some more backcourt depth which means maybe they swing a deal here or there. But all the guys above are productive NBA players. Only Wright has been a disappointment.

  8. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by Starter View Post
    According to Draft Express, Harrison Barnes jumped 38 inches flat-footed, which they say is by far the best result this year and the 4th best since they started tracking it.
    Good scores on sprint, agility & bench, too. And he "measures out in a range more commonly reserved for combo forwards, as he's an inch taller than the average small forward in our database with a wingspan just under a full inch longer."

    Quote Originally Posted by Starter View Post
    But how in the world was this guy not taking over games on the regular?!? To be the shooter he is and have those sort of athletic tools? My word.
    He's a very good shooter and athlete with good size and strength and some refined moves. He should be a very good player. It's always possible that he has mental/confidence/etc issues that hold him back*, but I don't presume to have any way of knowing whether this is the case. One thing that has struck me when watching him is that he can at times look oddly mechanical, in the same way Andre Dawkins can sometimes look. Both players are quite skilled, at least in certain areas of play, and both are at the very least reasonably strong and athletic, so it's jarring to see them look this way. I guess this could be the result of spending much more time developing and refining specific skills/moves/footwork/etc than just playing.

    In any case, while I don't expect Barnes to be an All-NBA type of player, I do think he'll be very good, and he's among the safest picks in the draft. His worst case scenario as a pro just doesn't seem that bad to me -- good shooter with size and athleticism. I do have concerns about his ability to play defense, though he obviously has the physical attributes necessary to be a good defender, and I suspect he's willing to put the work in.

  9. #69
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    Quote Originally Posted by Starter View Post
    According to Draft Express, Harrison Barnes jumped 38 inches flat-footed, which they say is by far the best result this year and the 4th best since they started tracking it.

    Obviously, vertical leap is not necessarily an indicator of future success.

    But how in the world was this guy not taking over games on the regular?!? To be the shooter he is and have those sort of athletic tools? My word.
    Bear in mind, "the shooter he is" was average at best.

  10. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by superdave View Post
    Hindsight and all that....but it is fun to pick apart their choices.

    Let's concentrate on a few of the obvious ones here -

    They drafted Felton in 2005, which means he's the PG for the next 12 years for this team. That means they do not need Kemba, Tywon Lawson or DJ Augustin.

    They screwed up drafting Sean May in 2005. He was overweight, too short to be a 4 in the league and injured several times in college. He played below the rim and was obviously not a long-term solution at the 4. So let's reverse that pick and give them David Lee instead. Lee can play both the 4 and 5 and would have started his career as a backup for Okafor.

    Let's nix Adam Morrison and say the Bobcats take the next best player: Brandon Roy. Tyrus Thomas was just an athlete, Shelden was not needed because of Okafor, Lee. So we'll give them Roy.

    In 2007, they drafted Wright. They could have had Noah, but that gives the two 5's and a combo 4/5. So let's leave Wright because it made sense with this fake roster.

    In 2008, I vote to give them Brook Lopez. This gives the Cats a 4-man rotation in the frontcourt and there's not an obvious 2 or 3 available. You take the best guy and you avoid Augustin because he's redundant with Felton.

    In 2009, I'd keep Gerald as the pick. The next several guys were all frontcourt players we dont need and Gerald is the ebst player on the board at a position of need.

    No pick in '10 so let's move on.

    In 2011, Charlotte takes Kemba, but we've already got Felton. do we want Kemba as the change of pace reserve off the bench who can score in bunches? Hmmm. Chad Ford had Leonard ranked #7 overall and Kemba #9, so the Cats should have taken Leonard first of all as the better player and second of all because they traded away their SFs on the roster - Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw.

    For their second pick, they picked Tobias who was #17 on Ford's big board while Faried was #14. You have to go Faried here.

    This gives Charlotte a nucleus of Okafor (who they traded for Tyson Chandler), Felton, David Lee, Brandan Wright, Brook Lopez, Gerald Henderson, Kawhi Leonard and Kenneth Faried. They need some more backcourt depth which means maybe they swing a deal here or there. But all the guys above are productive NBA players. Only Wright has been a disappointment.
    You're logic assumes that Charlotte keeps all the players they drafted. Let's not forget that some of the biggest reasons the Cats can't stay competitive is that they don't want to spend money, which is somewhat motivated by inability to draw fans, which is somewhat motivated by their overall crappy-ness.

    They got rid of Felton because they didn't want to (over)pay him, which I think was the right move. Felton is an ok player, but not a game changer. I do agree that not taking Lawson was a mistake.

    Sean May, Brendan Wright and Morrison were by far the biggest mistakes by Charlotte, but let's be fair - every team in the NBA has made a terrible pick or two in the first round in the past 10 years. For instance, the pick they gave up in 2010 became Luke Babbit. What exactly has he done to make that look bad for Charlotte?

    I do find it hilarious that Charlotte keeps picking local players, as if that strategy has worked at all for them. Out of 10 picks, they've taken 3 UNC players and 2 more ACC guys...

  11. #71
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    Quote Originally Posted by FellowTraveler View Post

    In any case, while I don't expect Barnes to be an All-NBA type of player, I do think he'll be very good, and he's among the safest picks in the draft. His worst case scenario as a pro just doesn't seem that bad to me -- good shooter with size and athleticism. I do have concerns about his ability to play defense, though he obviously has the physical attributes necessary to be a good defender, and I suspect he's willing to put the work in.
    I feel similarly about Barnes' pro potential. Actually, I think his ceiling is probably Joe Johnson with the Hawks. Johnson has a lot more ball handling ability and is a tad shorter, but he is similar in that he uses his height to get his shot off at any time over shorter SG defenders. Barnes will probably be able to do the same thing at SF, most of the time. Barnes is unlikely to match Johnson's playmaking numbers (Joe Johnson peaked in 06-07 with a very solid 22% assist rate), assuming Barnes' college playmaking numbers are an accurate indicator of what he can do. On the other hand, with Barnes at SF, that won't be as much of an issue. Also, Johnson doesn't use his handle to get to the rim all that frequently. I would imagine that Johnson's and Barnes shot charts will look similar, with most shots coming off of iso sets inside the three point arc with a few shots at the basket and spot up threes from the wings sprinkled in.

    I also expect Barnes to channel Joe Johnson as a defender. Johnson doesn't get many steals, but he also does a pretty consistent job staying in front of his man, using his superior size, length, and strength more than quickness. Johnson has an insanely low foul rate. Barnes' college numbers also show him to be a low-risk defender with a low foul rate. Although Hawks fans (like me) lament forever how Johnson has been overrated and is not deserving of the max contract he was awarded, he IS a very solid player. Though his PER has never eclipsed 20, it has been right around the 17.5-19.5 range for the vast majority of his career. If Barnes is able to perform similarly, he would be a great 2nd or 3rd option on a championship caliber team, which is why I actually think the Cavs might be making a smart move in drafting him. It seems there are very few surefire stars in this draft after Davis. MKG will be off the board. In Barnes they'd give Kyrie another guy who can score and, better yet, one who can score with or without Kyrie feeding him the ball. He's got good size for his position, too. He seems very unlikely to be a bust while at the same time is also unlikely to improve the Cavs so much that they won't be back in the lottery next year. From a Duke vs UNC standpoint, I'd hate to have to root for Prince Harry AND Kyrie on the Cavs when I had hoped and even expected to be able to do that when they were at Duke. But from the Cavs perspective, I don't really see too much downside to Barnes even if there is a higher risk/higher reward player still on the board.

  12. #72
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duvall View Post
    Bear in mind, "the shooter he is" was average at best.
    Average at best!? You're crazy. He was phenomenal! Last year, out of all of Division I NCAA basketball, he was a top-ten shooter, at 9th overall... in field goals attempted.

    (FG%: 651st)

  13. #73
    LOL, good point by both you guys. I really meant more skills-wise than results-wise with his shooting; much like with his athleticism, the two didn't really align.

  14. #74
    Quote Originally Posted by superdave View Post
    Hindsight and all that....but it is fun to pick apart their choices.

    Let's concentrate on a few of the obvious ones here -

    They drafted Felton in 2005, which means he's the PG for the next 12 years for this team. That means they do not need Kemba, Tywon Lawson or DJ Augustin.
    I think you're overestimating how long a team can expect to be set at PG with one player.

    Quote Originally Posted by superdave View Post
    They screwed up drafting Sean May in 2005. He was overweight, too short to be a 4 in the league and injured several times in college. He played below the rim and was obviously not a long-term solution at the 4. So let's reverse that pick and give them David Lee instead. Lee can play both the 4 and 5 and would have started his career as a backup for Okafor.
    Clearly they'd have been better off taking Lee. But do you really think it was obvious at the time that they should have? If May was too short, so was Lee -- Lee measured 6'7.75 at the combine, only 3/4 of an inch taller than May, with a shorter wingspan and slightly better reach. Verticals were essentially the same, even though May was carrying around more weight. May was coming off an 18 and 10 junior year for the national champions; Lee was a senior on an inferior team who never put up as many points (maxed out at 13.6), rebounds, or as high a FG%. May was 1st team All America; Lee wasn't even third team. Chad Ford projected Lee to go between 21 and 40 and May to go between 9 and 16. And that's what happened: May went 13, Lee went 30.

    Again, using hindsight, it's clear they should've taken Lee. But using hindsight, every team could draft better. The Spurs are widely seen as being really good at the draft. Well, last year they passed on Isaiah Thomas twice, and took Cory Joseph instead. That could still turn out well, but a year later it looks unlikely to do so. Would you rather have James Anderson or Landry Fields? The Spurs took Anderson. They took Splitter and Marcus Williams when they could have had Marc Gasol and Carl Landry (or Ramon Sessions.) They took Ian Mahinmi two spots before the Knicks took David Lee. They took Beno Udrih two spots before Orlando took Anderson Verejao. And John Salmons 8 slots ahead of Carlos Boozer.

  15. #75
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    Waiting with interest to see who Newton picks #2 overall in DBR draft.

    I'd probably go Thomas Robinson, but not sure.

  16. #76
    When discussing the Charlotte Bobcats draft fantasy it is important to keep in mind that if the team improves then they don't get as high of picks in the draft. You can really only examine one year at a time and comment on players they passed on. Also, Adam Morrison wasn't that bad of a pick at the time, IMO. The knee injury really did him in. His defense was always questionable but I think he could have done well over time as he worked on taking efficient shots. He averaged 28 points per game and was widely considered a better pro prospect than JJ coming out of college. Hindsight is 20/20.

  17. #77
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    Quote Originally Posted by FerryFor50 View Post
    I do find it hilarious that Charlotte keeps picking local players, as if that strategy has worked at all for them. Out of 10 picks, they've taken 3 UNC players and 2 more ACC guys...
    Yeah, Barnes could actually cause a riot down that way right now though. Unc fans really cooled on him this year when he never progressed.

    Charlotte has cut some bad deals the past few years too -

    They traded Gerald Wallace for Pryzbilla, Cunningham and the #17 pick in 2011. They took Tobias Harris then traded him and Stephen Jackson for eventually Corey Maggette and Bismack Biyombo. Maggette is not a solution for a rebuilding team and the jury is out on Biyombo, a great athlete but possibly not a basketball player. Wallace was the only All-Star in franchise history. You sort of ought to keep a guy like that around.

    They traded Okafor for Tyson Chandler simply to save on the luxury tax. The Cats then traded Chandler and Alexis Ajinca to the Mavs for Eric Dampier, Matt Carrol and Eduardo Najera. The Cats immediately waived Dampier, while Chandler went on to win an NBA championship one year after helping Charlotte make its first ever playoff birth. You sort of ought to keep a guy like that around.

  18. #78
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    Quote Originally Posted by FireOgilvie View Post
    When discussing the Charlotte Bobcats draft fantasy it is important to keep in mind that if the team improves then they don't get as high of picks in the draft. You can really only examine one year at a time and comment on players they passed on. Also, Adam Morrison wasn't that bad of a pick at the time, IMO. The knee injury really did him in. His defense was always questionable but I think he could have done well over time as he worked on taking efficient shots. He averaged 28 points per game and was widely considered a better pro prospect than JJ coming out of college. Hindsight is 20/20.
    Adam Morrison played in 161 career NBA games and shot 124-375 from 3 (.331).

    He got paid $16.9 million for his troubles. That's $104,000 per game and $136,000 per 3-ball. Nice.

    I'm not a Charlotte fan by any means, but I hope they can demonstrate some level of competency drafting.

  19. #79
    Quote Originally Posted by FireOgilvie View Post
    Also, Adam Morrison wasn't that bad of a pick at the time, IMO. The knee injury really did him in. His defense was always questionable but I think he could have done well over time as he worked on taking efficient shots. He averaged 28 points per game and was widely considered a better pro prospect than JJ coming out of college. Hindsight is 20/20.
    Morrison was terrible as a rookie, before the knee injury. Negative 1.5 Win Shares, .376 FG%, 5.9 TRB% ... just an awful season. I can't think of a rookie that bad -- particularly a 22-year-old -- who went on to have a good career, though I'm sure there must be someone.

    And it isn't hindsight. In college, Morrison didn't demonstrate strong skills other than scoring -- no defense, not much of a rebounder or passer, etc. His three point shooting was good his junior year but bad his previous two. He wasn't particularly quick. He got to the line a lot as a junior, but lacking exceptional quickness, ball handling ability, size, or athleticism, that was unlikely to continue in the NBA. Redick, on the other hand, had a truly elite jump shot, was a good passer, and was a competent defender in college, with the athleticism to become one in the NBA, as well. (Both of Morrison's verticals were among the worst at the combine; even Redick was 2 inches better on the no-step and 2.5 inches better on the max vertical.) I'll agree that Morrison was widely seen as the better pro prospect, but that always struck me as nuts. Morrison seemed like the quintessential great-in-college/bad-in-NBA player to me.

  20. #80
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    Quote Originally Posted by superdave View Post
    Yeah, Barnes could actually cause a riot down that way right now though. Unc fans really cooled on him this year when he never progressed.

    Charlotte has cut some bad deals the past few years too -

    They traded Gerald Wallace for Pryzbilla, Cunningham and the #17 pick in 2011. They took Tobias Harris then traded him and Stephen Jackson for eventually Corey Maggette and Bismack Biyombo. Maggette is not a solution for a rebuilding team and the jury is out on Biyombo, a great athlete but possibly not a basketball player. Wallace was the only All-Star in franchise history. You sort of ought to keep a guy like that around.

    They traded Okafor for Tyson Chandler simply to save on the luxury tax. The Cats then traded Chandler and Alexis Ajinca to the Mavs for Eric Dampier, Matt Carrol and Eduardo Najera. The Cats immediately waived Dampier, while Chandler went on to win an NBA championship one year after helping Charlotte make its first ever playoff birth. You sort of ought to keep a guy like that around.
    And all those moves scream of trying to save money.

    They're the Clippers of the East, but the 1990s Clippers.

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