They'll sell seat all right. I doubt the 4th pick will get traded. What veteran will go for as light as a 4th pick, who is actually worth it? Not many. It's not often that a team offers its franchise player for a high lotto pick(although it does happen, see Jerry Krause). I don't think Lang will end up on the team. He'll be playing minor league for at least 3 years now that the Hornets cut him. I expect the Hornets to go for at least one big scorer who can put up better than 20 ppg, and if they can't find one in the expansion draft, they may pick up some small salaries and trade them for a scorer with a big tag. With Bickerstaff, don't be surprised if he goes for some shot blockers with little offensive prowess for the middle. As for the Fratello idea, I agree. A young team that will have little in terms of talent will only win games through hard work and defense, which Fratello brings to the table in large quantities.
By veteran I actually meant somebody like Jon Barry, Bryon Russell, Toni Kukoc, etc. -- they are very important to young teams. So some teams would unload 2 mid-round picks + veteran for the 4th pick, and the Bobcats may be better for it (again depending on those picks... 7th and 11th? Sure. 15th and 19th? No.). Scenerio: NBADraft.net has the Suns picking 7th and 8th (they'll have the Knicks pick) currently and taking Ben Gordon and Hakim Warrick. At 4th the Bobcats take Luol Deng. Now assuming the Suns would give up 2 picks to get Deng, the Bobcats should take Gordon and Warrick for Deng, develop 2 good players rather than bank on a single player (i.e.>> Grizzles/Reeves Raptors/Stoudamire) I just don't see any players in the draft who really stand out... it's not like 2003 with LeBron, Carmelo, Bosh, and Wade -- therefore why not drop a few picks and gain another 1st rounder? If possible. If they are really high on one of the young guys (Howard or Smith for example) then they probably should take them if they fall to #4, and hope for a Garnett or T-Mac, otherwise they shouldn't do what Washington did... bank on a high schooler (Kwame Brown) when they could have traded down to Memphis, Boston, or Houston who all had more than one 1st round pick. --------- Does Charlotte definately have the 4th pick or are they going to be placed in the lottery as well with the 4th best chance? Anybody know? I think it's fair if they are also placed in the lottery.
There is some word that the Timberwolves might not protect Wally Szczerbiak. Would you like him on the Bobcats?
They're not going to sign Grant Hill, too high of a salary for a guy who's been injured. Now if he comes back this year.., which shouldn't happen, because we won't make the playoffs and don't want to take a chance on Hill, just let him rest, ..and plays good then they might take a chance and hope that Hill will opt out of his deal after the end of next season for a lower salary. I don't think they will take a chance on Hill.
New Rick Bonnell write-up..... Read this..... http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/spo...ats/7683306.htm Shaun Livingston, Emeka Okafor , Dwight Howard, and Josh Smith sound pretty promising to me
I think Deng has more upside than Livingston. But getting Shaun would be intriguing. Many scouts are saying that he, and not Bassie Telfair, is the best HS pg right now, especially after they matched up in some summer camp. But again, I think a guy like Ray Felton has as much chance to make an impact playing point as Shaun Livingston. Oversized points don't last that long in the NBA at their original position. They invariably switch over to 2 guard. Look at Penny, Jamal Crawford, Larry Hughes, Jalen Rose(although he's back at point right now after years at 2 and 3, how long will that last), all those guys were compared to Magic, and then fizzled after a few promising years playing point. I think the same will happen to Livingston, and when it happens it will cause controversy. Felton will always be a point, so from a consistency standpoint he's a better bet.
That's a team that could be interesting to advocate for: .C- Chris MIHM - qualifying offer - PF- Stromile SWIFT - qualifying offer - SF- Rodney WHITE - free-agent - SG- Deshawn STEVENSON - qualifying offer - PG- Ben GORDON - rookie - On the bench, it could be great to try a new tendancy: a mix of veterans & 3 excellent Rookies. A trade has to be made to have Monya & Khryapa around 15-16 in the 2004 NBA draft. 6th- Arvydas Macijauskas - Free-agent SG/PG - Europe n?1 scorer 7th- Viktor Khryapa - Rookie SF/PF - Player of European best team 8th- Sergei Monya - Rookie SG/SF - Player of European best team 9th- Adonal Foyle - Free-Agent - 10th- Brevin Knight - Free-Agent -
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Dom_Sensei:</div><div class="quote_post">According to me, it would be wise to advocate for this choice: C - Chris Mihm (qualifying offer) PF - Stromile Swift (qualifying offer) SF - Rodney White (Free-Agent) SG - Deshawn Stevenson (qualifying offer) PG - Ben Gordon (4th NBA Pick) 6th - Ron Mercer (Free-Agent)</div> They will do more worse than the Hawks and plus i'm sure the Spurs will keep Ron Mercer.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ming637:</div><div class="quote_post">They will do more worse than the Hawks and plus i'm sure the Spurs will keep Ron Mercer.</div> One of the reasons the Spurs traded for Mercer was because his contract would be up. They want some cap room so they can resign Ginobili at the end of this season. Even after resigning Manu, Turkoglu's contract will be up at the end of this season too ( as a restricted free agent ), so I don't see them resigning Mercer.
Houston Rockets Protected Players: Yao Ming Steve Francis Kelvin Cato Cuttino Mobley Maurice Taylor Bostjan Nachbar Jim Jackson Scott Padgett Unprotected Players: Mike Wilks Adrian Griffin Clarence Weatherspoon Eric Piatkowski The Bobcats might take Adrian Griffin for some defense.
According to the latest ESPN Insider info, Luol Deng's family has said he will return to Duke for his Soph year! But who knows? If someone promised him he'd be a top five pick, he might change his mind. Good example...Chris Bosch.
Here's my proposed starting roster... C: Chris Mihm -or- Stromile Swift PF: Keon Clark -or- Emeka Okafor (if avaiable) SF: Gerald Wallace -or- Rodney White SG: Josh Howard -or- Ron Mercer PG: Travis Best -or- Mike James I would love to be in Charlotte's postion right now, with such a high selection, and plenty of solid talent to choose from in the expansion draft, they honestly have potential. Not to mention that they'll be in The Eastern Conference, chances of them making the playoffs right off the bat looks possible. I truely believe they don't need a star to beat out teams like Atlanta and Washington, they simply need to have solid players from one to five and play hard basketball. Although with that number 4 selection bringing in a star to Charlotte may be easier than expected.
PG: Jannero Pargo SG: Gerald Wallace SF: Nikoloz Tskitishvili PF: Stromile Swift C: Dwight Howard 6th Man: Marcus Fizer
Bobcats will definitely NOT do better than Washington. If they're healthy, the Wiz are an extremely talented team that can make a run for the playoffs.
My projected Charlotte lineup: PG - (undecided) Pargo? SG - Josh Smith (4th pick) SF - Rodney White PF - Slava Medvedenko C - Stromile Swift 6th man - Ron Mercer I really dont know much about the free agency on PGs other than Nash, so I wouldn't really know who to put there. I wouldn't be surprised to see Charlotte go for a guy like Josh Smith whose game should be good to entertain the crowd. I also think Slava would like to go there, because he'll likely have the chance to finally show what he can do as a starter. For years he has waited for his chance in L.A. and I think this is the year where he finally leaves to get a shot at another team. Slava would be a great pickup for Charlotte and if they can work something to get Swift and White I think this team would be the most exciting in the league. Ron Mercer I think will come to Charlotte trying to prove himself again after being burried in the Indiana and San Antonio bench.
PG- Jannero Pargo SG- Josh Smith SF- Darius Miles PF- Jumaine Jones C- Stromile Swift Bench: Marcus Fizer Brendan Haywood Maurice Williams Reggie Evans Tariq Abdul-Wahad
