Who should the Heat protect in the upcoming Charlotte Bobcats expansion draft?

The Charlotte Bobcats expansion draft is coming up soon, and this means each team in the NBA must protect 8 of their players and then Charlotte gets to choose one player that is not on the protected list from each team.

The Miami Heat will have to place 8 of their current players on the protected list and the Charlotte Bobcats will take one of our unprotected players.

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[*]If you were the GM of the Heat, which 8 current Heat players would you protect?
[*]If you were the Bobcats GM, which one player from the Heat unprotected list would you choose?
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Here is my list:

Protected Miami Heat Players:
Lamar Odom
Eddie Jones
Dwyane Wade
Brian Grant
Rafer Alston
Caron Butler
Udonis Haslem
Rasual Butler

Un-protected Miami Heat Players:
Malik Allen
Jerome Beasley
Bimbo Coles
Samaki Walker
John Wallace
Loren Woods
Wang Zhizhi

And if I were the Bobcats GM, I would choose Samaki Walker.

BTW, thanks sportsrock37 for giving me the idea to make this thread.

 

LOL "Bimbo" Coles. I thought Zhizhi was alright? Those are definitely worth protecting, not those guys that is but the ones whom you mentioned. I don't know about Eddie Jones or Brian Grant though, they seem to be outliving their usefulness now.

 

yea i agree with the players they are protecting if any of the people who are on the protected list werent it would be a mistake considering the fact that this team will be a contender in the east in a few years

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CANT STOP ME:</div><div class="quote_post">yea i agree with the players they are protecting if any of the people who are on the protected list werent it would be a mistake considering the fact that this team will be a contender in the east in a few years</div>

That protected list you see above is my own list of who I think the Heat should protect, not the actual list that will be used by the Heat.

 

Your welcome for the idea, Accord. I would actually not protect Brian Grant. The reason being is that he doesn't deserve the contract that he has been given. It's worth a try to see if they can unload the contract for nothing. (kind of like the Magic and Grant Hill, sorry for bringing up the Magic)

 

Brian Grant is a hard worker, some nights he pull off clutch shots and other nights he can't even get into double digits. If we were able to get a real quality center to take over Brian Grant's role then I agree he should be unprotected.

After Udonis Haslem's performance last night, I wouldn't be surprised if Stan moved Odom to center and Udonis to starting PF. Up until now we really haven't had a guy capable of completely filling his role, but last night Udonis got the opportunity and proved himself worthy of a starting position, the question is can he consistently pull off that same performance?

If Brian Grant is unprotected, then there is no doubt in my mind that he is the one Charlotte would pick.

 

can't argue with your list. i'll bet those are the ones that will make the actual list.

guys, leaving jones or grant unprotected is a real bad idea. why lose them and get nothing in return? trading is much better. i think the expansion draft is held before the lottery, so we won't even know which pick we got if we don't make the playoffs. plus, the bobcats don't want to saddle themselves with big contracts, they'll want to be a player in the free agency market the following season, especially since they can't have the #1 pick for two years i believe.

unprotected players are going to be either young players that can't get minutes or veterans who have outlived their usefulness (derrick coleman, this means you).

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Accord:</div><div class="quote_post">Brian Grant is a hard worker, some nights he pull off clutch shots and other nights he can't even get into double digits. If we were able to get a real quality center to take over Brian Grant's role then I agree he should be unprotected.

After Udonis Haslem's performance last night, I wouldn't be surprised if Stan moved Odom to center and Udonis to starting PF. Up until now we really haven't had a guy capable of completely filling his role, but last night Udonis got the opportunity and proved himself worthy of a starting position, the question is can he consistently pull off that same performance?

If Brian Grant is unprotected, then there is no doubt in my mind that he is the one Charlotte would pick.</div>

one night doesn't make him a starter, altough he is playing well, is hungry and has a lot of upside. odom can't play center, he's not even that comfortable at pf. if anything move odom to sf and haslem at pf, and caron comes off the bench. and again, yes it would be nice to have a quality center to replace grant, the question is, who's that quality center and who is giving him up?

 

odom at center? no way
i would be suprised if they do move him to c spot

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting cubanballer:</div><div class="quote_post">one night doesn't make him a starter, altough he is playing well, is hungry and has a lot of upside. odom can't play center, he's not even that comfortable at pf. if anything move odom to sf and haslem at pf, and caron comes off the bench. and again, yes it would be nice to have a quality center to replace grant, the question is, who's that quality center and who is giving him up?</div>
What I meant for making Udonis a starter was just until Grant comes back from his knee injury, not permanent. He is obviously a far better player than Malik Allen that he came off the bench for.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Accord:</div><div class="quote_post">What I meant for making Udonis a starter was just until Grant comes back from his knee injury, not permanent. He is obviously a far better player than Malik Allen that he came off the bench for.</div>

got it. yeah, he's already better than malik.

in times like these i wish they would have kept stepania... he was decent last year, sometimes even surprising.

 

list is alright ...if i was bobs gm ill take walker..big man in the east is a pretty good advantage nowdays..

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TMac_OwNz:</div><div class="quote_post">list is alright ...if i was bobs gm ill take walker..big man in the east is a pretty good advantage nowdays..</div>

Samaki Walker just underwent surgery only a few days ago, he may be too much of a risk.

 

Heat would love to get nothing in return for Brian Grant. That means they'd have 10+ million salary cap room for this upcoming FA.

 

I'm not sure who to lose, but i'm sure to keep Dwayne Wade, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Eddie Jones, and Brian Grant.

 

if we put a Dwyane Wade bobblehead dool on the unprotected team, think the Bobz will pick it anyway?

 

I think Samaki Walker and Malik Allen should be protected. Why not leave Grant and Jones unprotected? Jones is hated in Charlotte and Grant is inconsistent, the fact that they have big contracts will even be a bonus. The Bobcats won't likely want to saddle themselves with these two underachievers, so the Heat still get to keep them and two young players with potential.

 

protected
Lamar Odom
Dwyane Wade
Caron Butler
Jerome Beasley
Udonis Haslem
Rasaul Butler
Rafer Alston
Wang Zhi Zhi


unprotected- Eddie Jones, Brian Grant, Loren Woods, Malik Allen, Bimbo Coles, Samaki Walker
the Bobcats wont take EJ or BG because that would eat up much of their cap space and they have to fill at least 12 roster spots so leave them unprotected and protect some younger guys

DEFINATELY protect Wade, Odom, Haslem, Alston,CButler, RButler and Beasley -- FOR SURE

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting DeceptionMC:</div><div class="quote_post">protected
Lamar Odom
Dwyane Wade
Caron Butler
Jerome Beasley
Udonis Haslem
Rasaul Butler
Rafer Alston
Wang Zhi Zhi


unprotected- Eddie Jones, Brian Grant, Loren Woods, Malik Allen, Bimbo Coles, Samaki Walker
the Bobcats wont take EJ or BG because that would eat up much of their cap space and they have to fill at least 12 roster spots so leave them unprotected and protect some younger guys

DEFINATELY protect Wade, Odom, Haslem, Alston,CButler, RButler and Beasley -- FOR SURE</div>

Beasley? You gotta be kidding.