Bobcats Ready To Make Splash
With two of the first 20 picks in the 2011 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Bobcats find themselves in good position to either trade for or draft players that will inject a much-needed boost of talent.
Charlotte finished the 2010-2011 NBA season with a 34-48 record, sixth-worst in the Eastern Conference, as injuries and lop-sided trades decimated this squad down the stretch. The good news for the Bobcats is that they have acquired some young talent as they approach next season and beyond.
With the number nine and 19 overall picks in this year’s draft at their disposal, Charlotte finds themselves trying to fast track the rebuilding process going into next season.
In terms of the talent already on the team worth keeping, the Bobcats have a total of five players (if forward Dante Cunningham in re-signed) under the age of 24 with an abundance of potential. D.J. Augustin, Gerald Henderson, Tyrus Thomas, D.J. White, and Cunningham have all shown flashes of brilliance, but also much inconsistency so far in their young careers.
Going into the draft, the obvious needs for the Bobcats are at center and power forward as Kwame Brown (who is better utilized as a quality back-up center) and Boris Diaw (likely better served as a member of another team based on his unenthusiastic play this past season) are not up to snuff for a team trying to reach the playoffs. Contract-wise, Brown will be a free agent while Diaw would seem to be an enticing trade chip as his $9 million contract comes off the books after next season.
The word out of Charlotte is that all signs point to the Bobcats having serious interest in guard Kemba Walker out of U-Conn with the 9th overall pick, and small forward Chris Singleton out of Florida State at 19. However, it’s unknown if either player will drop to those spots for Charlotte to snatch them up.
Of course, Walker (listed at 6’1) is a small guard in the same vein as Augustin (listed at 6’0), so drafting him would almost certainly signal the end of Augustin’s run with Charlotte. Then again, either one of these picks could be packaged with other pieces in order to trade up or to acquire some veteran talent.
Let’s take a look at where the Bobcats could go with their two first-round picks Thursday night, along with the 39th overall pick in the second round:
9th Overall:
Five HOOPSWORLD draft experts each have a different player going to Charlotte at this spot, which should tell you the amount of unknown involved in terms of this team’s agenda combined with the overall uncertainty surrounding this draft. I mentioned briefly the Bobcats’ interest in point guard Kemba Walker earlier in this piece, but it would be hard to believe that Charlotte is giving up on the 24-year old Augustin when he has shown the potential of being, at the very least, a quality, pass-first point guard in this league.
The biggest drawback with Augustin is his size because he has trouble getting a hand in the face of most point guards in the league. Coming off the bench, the much bigger Shaun Livingston would sometimes close out games for Charlotte just because he had a better shot at locking his opponent down on the defensive end. The size concern would be the same with Walker as he is nearly the same height so — unless Charlotte believes he is a head-and-shoulders upgrade on the offensive end — I can’t see them drafting Walker, or any other guard for that matter, with the ninth overall pick.
The Seminoles’ Singleton might be a more realistic option here. Praised as likely the best defender in the draft, Singleton is someone the Bobcats are enamored with and they’ve kept their eye on him hoping he would slide to them at 19 so that they could grab another impact player at number nine. With Stephen Jackson likely near the end of his career with the Bobcats, Singleton could start his Bobcats’ career coming off the bench while being groomed as the small forward of the future.
While not an offensive juggernaut, Singleton has developed into a more efficient scorer over the last year of his college career and, with his elite defensive prowess, could be a big part of the Bobcats’ developing future.
Other options at number nine could be power forward Marcus Morris out of the University of Tennessee or forward Kawhi Leonard from San Diego State.
19th Overall (From New Orleans via Portland):
This pick, acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers in the Gerald Wallace deal, gives Charlotte another avenue to go about increasing the talent level on this team. It’s anyone’s guess who will be around in the late teens, but power forward Tristan Thompson out of the University of Texas would be an absolute steal here for the Bobcats.
{AUTHOR_BOX}Thompson was an inconsistent player this season for the Longhorns, which may lead to him sliding in the draft — possibly right in the Bobcats’ hands at number 19. The only problem for Charlotte is that teams may grab Thompson in the low-to-mid-teens of the first round because, just as the Bobcats are fully aware, this guy has immense potential and could develop into an All-Star type talent.
Power forward is a legitimate need that Charlotte could conceivably secure in this draft, and number 19 could be the time in which the Bobcats grab their big man.
Other options for Charlotte with this pick include power forward Markieff Morris out of Kansas, power forward Tobias Harris from Tennessee, or forward Jordan Hamilton out of the University of Texas.
39th Overall:
Charlotte has the opportunity for a steal here as first round-type talent could drop into the top 10 picks of the second round. It’s difficult to project a pick, even early in the second round, simply because so many different things can happen up to that point.
If the Bobcats are unable to get a big man in the first round, JaJuan Johnson out of Perdue or Jordan Williams out of Maryland could conceivably be available with the 39th pick. If Charlotte does get it’s big man in the first, the Bobcats could take a flyer on shooting guard Malcolm Lee out of UCLA or forward Jimmy Butler out of Marquette.
The 2011 NBA Draft is going to be a fun night for all NBA fans simply because not many have a clue as to how this is actually going to pan out. The Bobcats, with an abundance of options as their disposal, have the opportunity to make a mammoth splash Thursday night.
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