Leon Powe is Unemployed
As someone who advocated giving Sean May another chance to come back from injury, I'd be crazy not to advocate giving Leon Powe a shot. This upcoming season will be a tough slog, but after that? Whichever team gets him should "redshirt" him for most of this year, hope he contributes down the stretch run, then give him the opportunity to go out and earn a big deal after 2010-11.
Side note: My dad says without hesitation that Leon Powe was by far the best high school basketball player he's ever seen in person.
about 1 year ago
David A. Arnott
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I would love for the bobcats to sign Powe.
by Heyward is the next crime dog on Jul 1, 2009 10:50 AM EDT reply actions
I'm not saying he won't (or shouldn't) get an offer...
But the Celtics were entirely within their rights not to co-op his rehab like the Bobcats have done for so many years.
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
I have to disagree
As someone who advocated giving Sean May another chance to come back from injury, I’d be crazy to do the same for another injured player. I think the Bobs have to be economical about how they choose to spend any remaining money.
We need another forward on the bench, but why let ourselves be the team that’s always harboring injured players? Wasn’t May enough? I’d rather see what D. Brown has to offer as a rookie, offer May a league minimum contract, or look elsewhere with a portion or all of the mid level exception(depending on the talent).
The Bobs don’t get all that much better even w/ a healthy Powe. If we’re going to take a risk, it should be for a bigger reward than that.
1st time commenter here, great blog by the way.
Thanks for the comments. Hope you keep coming back!
Basically, at this point in the Bobcats’ success cycle, they’re not really in a position to decide that they can pass on superior talent the way Boston can afford to do it. Is Powe, potentially, a starting-quality power forward that we could bring off the bench? Absolutely. Could he be had for minimal cost? I don’t know what the going rate is for an injury risk who’s never been a regular starter and might have to spend a season recovering, but it’s got to be very low.
by David A. Arnott on Jul 1, 2009 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Superior Talent / Starting Quality PF??
Powe was an inspirational story and a very tough guy with a great attitude. But he’s also an under-sized PF/energy guy who was best suited to coming off the bench even before he destroyed his knee. While he was impressive in a few starts at the end of the season, that’s a very small sample size. He was a solid fill-in, but he really only excelled in hustle and toughness. Even if he is able to return to form, you can’t play him big minutes coming off his injury. So the most you can get from him is half a season of bench duty before he hits the FA market again. The payoff just isn’t there.
This situation reminds me a lot of Shaun Livingston’s circumstances last off-season. Livingston had much more upside than Powe but barely was able to land a guaranteed contract with Miami, who primarily wasted a roster spot until offloading him to OKC. The Bobcats should emulate OKC rather than Miami and scoop up a guy like Powe when he’s ready to play.
To improve and make the playoffs this year, the Bobcats need to acquire a PF to complement Diaw who can be counted on to play. I’m holding out hope for McDyess or Gooden.
This.
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 1, 2009 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions
This is irrelevant but...
I know he doesn’t really fit at all with the team needs but I actually like Marvin Williams.
Case of the beet bandit. Missing beets from all over the farm, no footprints. Inside job. Mose in socks. Boom. Case closed. -Dwight Schrute
Is Powe better than the random guys we could pick up to back up at PF? Yes. Thus, “superior talent”. Whether an injured Powe would be better than Rod Benson over this full year is an open question, but whether Powe would be better than random guys over the second half of the season and all of next season (or whenever he gets back) I don’t think is really being questioned. I guess it comes down to whether or not you think we should be primarily planning for this upcoming season or primarily planning for a future season when we can make a real run. I’m currently for that second option, which would require us to stockpile talent at the expense of the present day.
by David A. Arnott on Jul 1, 2009 9:06 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't know how you can't say there are questions.
He destroyed his knee, and his effectiveness could be lessened severely.
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 2, 2009 1:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Random PF Backups
I agree a healthy Powe is better than some of the options the Bobcats could choose, such as Malik Rose, Shelden Williams or even Sean May. But you seemed to rate him quite a bit more highly than that.
Until a team knows how Powe’s knee will heal, they would be foolish to offer a multi-year deal. Maybe you could sign him to a one year minimum contract with a couple team options and hope for the best. That could be a good strategy if roster space wasn’t a concern and the team already had adequate depth at the 4. But the Bobcats will have Nazr and Ajinca taking up roster space and only tweener forwards in the rotation.
If the Bobcats do sign Powe, they still need to sign someone else to be the backup PF until he returns in February or so. Assuming Felton or a replacement PG signs with the Bobcats, they have 12 roster spots claimed and likely will start the year with 14 players. One of those two openings should be used on a backup PF, but I’d like for the other to go to a 3rd PG or combo prospect (possibly your fave Dontell).
+1
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 2, 2009 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions
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