Provided that Luol Deng, Pavel Padkolzine and Dwight Howard all make themselves eligible for the draft, as expected, the Bobcats will be in good shape with the 4th overall pick. It is far to high a pick to consider Raymond Felton or even Hakim Warrick (whoever suggested Chris Duhon proably hasn't seen him play much since his sophmore year). Deng, Howard, and Okafor will very likely be the top 3 selections. In my mind the next 3 best prospects on the board would be Pavel Padkolzine, Tiago Splitter and Ben Gordon. I highly doubt it would be Gordon with two highly touted Center prospects still available simply because guards who can fill it up are a dime-a-dozen compared to 7 footers with strenght and mobility like Splitter and Padkolzine's. The downside with one of the bigs is that it is unlikely either one would be very productive in thier first year. However the Bobcats should be able to get away with this because no one will expect W's that first season. Provided Deng, Howard and Okafor are off the board, the 'cats will most likely take whoever they like better out of Splitter and Padkolzine with Sebastian Telfair as the sleeper pick, just for fun.
If the Bobcats want felton they should make a trade. Because as things stand right now, Felton would be going somewhere 10-16. They could swap 1st rounder with someone who is picking there and add get another 1st rounder or a young player in return.
The more I look at it, the more i agree with the assessment that Felton will go lower than the top 10. It would be nice if the Bobcats could swap a vet they pick up in the expansion draft and then get an extra first rounder to take a go at Felton, and take someone with potential with the 4 spot. Either Howard, Podkolzine, Deng, Okafor or Humphries(from Minnesota) would be a good choice, someone with the potential to become a superstar in the NBA. Felton is a guy who can impact the team now, and set a pace for it for years to come.
I agree that Felton can be a contributor in his first year, especially on an expansion team. If Deng or Okafor is available with the 4th pick, then they will have a very good player to build around. It would be an amazing move by the Bobcats if they managed to swing a deal for another first rounder (without giving up the 4th overall pick) with a player aquired in the expansion draft. Thier best bet is to swing a deal with a team in the mid-first round to take a player like Calvin Booth from Seattle. If they take him and his contract off thier hands Seattle might be persuaded to give up thier first rounder for a veteran.
