For some reason Chicago comes to mind. In 2001 they traded proven commodity and a very good player in Elton Brand for the rights to Tyson Chandler. Most experts scratched their head at that move at the time. With two HS players as their mainstay they sucked again and picked Jay Williams (who due to a variety of reasons never panned out). In 2002 they get Kirk Hinrich. In 2003 they get Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. The next season 2003-04, they are pretty bad. 2004-05 season they make the playoffs and have made the playoffs since except for one season. Although they were mostly a marginal playoff team, that was not that slow of a turn around. Considering they gave Elton Brand up for what turned out to be unproven rookies at the time and neither player became a mainstay, if you throw enough darts at the board some of them are bound to hit. Who knows maybe one of these darts will hit, or maybe it will take longer to rebuild. Charlotte probably wasn't going anywhere anyway with their roster last year.
Let's look at Charlotte's situation another way. Next year's draft is supposed to be stacked. They'll have their own high lottery pick (almost a guarantee with their current roster) and our middle first rounder (assuming we make the playoffs as a low seed ... also likely). So who knows what can be done with two firsts and DJ Agustin ... maybe they'll get a real stud or two? They'll need some luck and some ping pong balls to bounce their way, but I like their chances of maybe even being good in two years.
What I found interesting about Charlotte's draft is that it appears that it could have been Portland's draft. One of my concerns about Cho was whether he could orchestrate a good trade. Quite bluntly I think we may all look back on this draft and realize that we could have chosen at 7 or 9. Time will tell but it sure looks like Round 1 of Cho versus Paul goes to Cho. I really don't think he gave up much to move up.
I liked the Bobcats moves as well. Biyombo was probably drafted too high, but there was not that much available at where they picked. If they would have drafted for need instead of Walker, critics would be slamming them for it. I would not be surprised to see DJ moved since he is due for an extension and the Bobcats could gain other assets plus future cap space. They have some pieces to build around. Next year they get a franchise player in the draft since they do not have one on the roster currently. I can see how the Blazers did not want to go the same rebuild route, but it works for Charlotte given the situation.
How so? By giving away one the Blazers' best players for the #7 pick? That's basically what Charlotte did. They got MUCH worse in the present to try and rebuild for the future.
Tell me which player they gave up that has the makings of an NBA championship team? Just because they gave up their best player doesn't mean the Blazers would have to. It wasn't that high of a price to move up that far. Hopefully cutting Cho loose and the subsequent handling of the draft will turn out okay in the long run but all I'm saying (if I'm scoring this one today), is that the Blazers didn't appear to do as much without Cho. Basically the Blazers biggest problem might be Paul Allen. Time will tell.
Nice little story on Bobcat draft; sounds a lot more exciting than ours, and for me it's kind of funny that Cho did his scouting of Biyombo on Paul Allen's dime. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/06/24/2405586/bobcats-id-targets-made-deal.html Incidentally I think Cho gave up next to nothing to get that #7 pick and I think both Biyombo and Walker are real leaders, my guess is they will eventually be seen as both top 5 players from this draft.
The more I think about it, the more I like this draft for Charlotte ... you never know how point guards and big men are going to turn out at the next level, but both appear to have at least a little "grit" to them to go along with some fairly prodigious physical gifts (Kemba's speed and Biyombo's length and athleticism).
Outside of Harrison Barnes, who lacks elite athleticism, which 2012 lottery pick has franchise player potential? It's not like there is an Oden, Durant, Rose, Wall, or even Blake Griffin available. Barnes is projected at #2 right now in many mocks.
i think cha has been universally lauded for that move...swap maggette for sjax and they let you move from 19 to 7? no brainer maggette will get them just as close to a championship as sjax would, nowhere near one
Plus, there are protections on that pick. At best, Charlotte gets a 13th pick until 2016, according to realgm.
Barnes isnt a franchise player, IMO. He didnt live up to expectations at UNC at all this year, big letdown. He has glaring weaknesses in his game. There's going to be about 4 or 5 freshman next year that I think can be franchise types. Davis, McAdoo, Quincy Miller (getting comparisons to Durant), Perry Jones, Rivers and maybe even Andre Drummond might be eligible for the draft depending on the new CBA. Here's a video of Drummond, who I think is the next great big. [video=youtube;e-79yUG1Lp4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-79yUG1Lp4&feature=player_embedded#at=48[/video]
