The Charlotte Bobcats and Draft Night 09

by Civardi on Jun 23, 2009 5:16 PM EDT Comment 10 comments

Its draft night. The most important night of the NBA offseason. The night, which makes or breaks coaches, general managers, owners, and team executive careers. The night which can make your team a championship contender. The night which can crumble their dreams. Coming into the 2009 NBA Draft, the Bobcats don’t know what’s in site. This draft is different. There’s no set order of how the picks will go down. Teams are keeping a tighter lip, not letting many people know which direction there going. But what they do know, is that a future star will be available.

All along in this process, Larry Brown and company have said that they will take the best available player. No matter what the position, Larry Brown will take the highest player on his board. Remember last year. How we all thought it was a given that Brook Lopez would be walking up to the podium when David Stern announced the Bobcats selection. How could the Bobcats not select the second coming of Chris Kaman? He would be the perfect low post compliment to Emeka Okafor, and form one of the best Power Forward/Center combo’s in the NBA. But Lopez and the Bobcats weren’t meant to be. Larry knew better. Remember the silence that ensued after Stern announced DJ Augustin as the Bobcats selection. Bars in Charlotte went silent. The thought “Who the ___ is DJ Augustin” went through everyone’s mind. Most didn’t even think Augustin was the best point guard on the board. Add in the fact that Charlotte had former top five pick Raymond Felton already on its roster, and to most people, this pick made no sense. Yet look at how well its turned out. Augustin outplayed number one pick Derrick Rose numerous times, and a bunch of other point guards when he saw the floor. The guys a beast. Hes the type of playmaker you can build your franchise around. The guy who from day one is the first one in, and last one out to everything he does.

What makes you think this years pick will be any different? At this point in time, all the Executives, all the media, all the mocks, have the Bobcats selecting Gerald Henderson. You know the guy. Star of the Duke team who has the hearts of many Bobcat fans. The guy who is combines NBA ready defense, along with excellent shot selection, and a knack for making the big play into one complete package. The guy who would be our shooting guard of the future. The guy who would make a difference now and on our playoff teams of the future. It makes perfect sense. A match made in heaven. A North Carolina guy playing on North Carolinas team. But don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen.

Recently, Brown said “I hope the best player does fill a need, but I’ve always felt you get in trouble when you go by position, Go with the (greater) talent and figure it out.”

The best player on the board could be Brandon Jennings. The 19 year old point guard who shows glimpses of a younger Allen Iverson. Terrence Williams, the type of player in that Andre Iguodala mold who has more talent than most players in this draft will ever have, or B.J. Mullins, who reminds many of a younger Chris Kaman. But no matter how little sense the pick may seem at the time, one things for certain. Charlotte will make the right choice

Poll

Would you be happy if Charlotte opts to select a player other than Gerald Henderson?

Yes

11 votes

No

4 votes

Depends on the player

16 votes

31 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 10 comments |

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Comments

Who didn’t know who DJ Augustin was?

He played for Texas. His team smoked Lopez’s in the tournament. How could any basketball fan that watches college not know who DJ was?

Case of the beet bandit. Missing beets from all over the farm, no footprints. Inside job. Mose in socks. Boom. Case closed. -Dwight Schrute

by mjschaefer on Jun 23, 2009 5:20 PM EDT reply actions

THIS.

And who, precisely, was the better PG on the board than he was? George Hill was the next point to come off the board at #26.

Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.

by MichaelProcton on Jun 23, 2009 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Jerryd Bayless?

I like Augustine, and I won’t criticize this selection (unlike most Bobcat draft picks). But if the Bobcats could redo last year’s draft, they would pick Brook Lopez. Last year I wanted Augustine because I thought Lopez would just be a stiff, but I was wrong.

by ClipCat on Jun 23, 2009 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Shooting Guard...he only played point last year because they're not moving Roy

And I’m sure they wouldn’t pick Lopez. He’d have given us a slow, immobile frontcourt whose skillsets would have largely canceled each other out, and we’d still have had absolutely nothing on the roster at PG outside of Felton (as opposed to frontcourt options in Hollins, Davidson, Mohammed, May, etc.)

Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.

by MichaelProcton on Jun 23, 2009 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions

With hindsight, Lopez would be the better pick

It’s not fair to judge the Augustine pick in hindsight, but I was reacting to the original post, which greatly exaggerated Augustine’s abilities and the success of the pick. At the time of the draft, I thought Augustine was the better pick, too. Lopez seemed to be too slow to pair with Okafor, and I believed the Bobcats would sign a decent power forward in free agency.

But if Lopez had been the draft pick and the Diaw trade still happened, Lopez would fit very well in a rotation with Okafor and Diaw. Diaw would be the key because Lopez would still come off the bench. He’d be cheaper and better than Diop so that trade wouldn’t have happened. They also wouldn’t have traded for the Ajinca pick although if they did, Courtney Lee might have been their man instead. Aside from May, for whom there was still a glimmer of hope, the rest of the Bobcats’ frontcourt players had already been revealed as duds (at least to me).

The Bobcats would have been thin at PG, but they would have at least had a starting PG, a better situation than not having a starting PF. While the PG pickings were slim last year in free agency, a veteran backup could likely have been picked up in a trade. Matt Carroll would still be on the team to back up Bell, and this year the Bobcats could draft their PG of the future (Flynn, Lawson or Holiday).

by ClipCat on Jun 24, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions

The Denver pick was acquired before the draft.

Also, do you really think Lopez would have had the impact he did playing 25 MPG as a backup?

Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.

by MichaelProcton on Jun 24, 2009 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions

New Jersey was a great situation for Lopez,

But I do think Lopez would have had at least the impact that Augustine had. Lopez was the rare productive center drafted in the late lottery, while decent PG prospects are almost always available there. And I’m assuming the Bobcats had already decided to target a guard with their first pick when they traded for Denver’s pick to draft a big man.

by ClipCat on Jun 24, 2009 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Bayless

I’m not saying that Bayless is better than Augustine, just that Civardi probably was thinking of him when he wrote the original post. Bayless played great in summer league and then never played enough during the season to really evaluate him. Bayless is more of a combo guard, but then Augustine played college ball as more of a scorer than a distributor, too.

by ClipCat on Jun 24, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions