Bobcats Back To The Lottery
Are we really going back to the Lottery?And with the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Bobcats select…
I can see it now: David Stern at the podium, Sean May and Adam Morrison on their third knee and Larry Brown (after getting a pink slip as one his eight presents for Chanukah) already talking about which squad he’d like to get involved with next.
Sure preseason doesn’t count, but after last night’s double overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Bobcats are one of the only teams in the League without a W.
For a team that averaged a league-worst 24 points per game last season off the bench, the Bobcats this season are just having trouble taking care of the ball – averaging almost 20 turnovers per game during their first six exhibitions.
On paper, they look like they’d be a serviceable squad with Emeka Okafor, Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson, Ray Felton, Mays and D.J. Augustin. But let me be clear, the Bobcats will have the most ping pong balls with their name on ’em come June.
Nonetheless, owner Bob Johnson isn’t worried about his squad and has no interest in selling.
“I’m not selling the team,” Johnson said. “We have had calls from people wanting to know if they would want additional investors in the team. But there have been no discussions and I’m not interested in selling the team.”
With a payroll of about $63 million this season – well above the NBA’s $58.7 million salary cap – Charlotte is invested heavily in Okafor (re-signed to a six-year, $72 million contract) Wallace (signed a six-year, $57 million contract last off-season) and Richardson (who has three years and $40 million left on his deal).
If you’re Michael Jordan, a thought I often ponder, what do you do?
Source: Hickory Daily Record
-->
October 21st, 2008 at 11:52 am
Kev says:
J-Rich needs to be the guy-to guy in Charlotte…
http://ezinearticles.com/?Jason-Richardson-Dunk-or-How-to-Increase-Vertical-Jump&id=645198
October 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Sam I Am says:
man they need a VETERAN clutch Point or 2 guard.
One who can discipline their sorry butts that winning is possible
J-Rich does NOT Count !
and of course the fountain of youth to bring Jordan back to play for them, but not like he JACKED UP the Wizards
October 21st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Ashlov says:
Have a threesome. That always clears the mind.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:30 pm
loganlight says:
Aron,
Bold prediction, but I like it! The Cats need to let Richardson go… Trade him quickly. In his place they need a guy who is willing to put the team before himself. I think J Rich is a SICK dunker and a nice 2 guard. But no team with him is going deep in the playoffs let alone a championship. Period.
I think I might be declaring him the Ricky Buckets 2.0. Yep, just did.
Trade J Rich, keep Crash healthy, and make sure the next work out session DJ attends is with J Kidd and CP3.
LL
October 21st, 2008 at 12:34 pm
jimmhumm says:
I agree. For some reasons these guys just don’t win much. They don’t have a killer. Kobe is a killer. LBJ, Wade, Melo, Duncan, Shaq, Pierce these guys will eat your team alive!!! No one on this team would eat your young to win, and so they often lose.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:36 pm
hahns says:
do what the knicks are doing. wait out the bad contracts….and just be as entertaining as they can for now. and then conteinue building through the draft. they should draft palyers w/ more upside, bc they’re not going to be contending for a while. not ppl like sean may, dj, moorison, et al, even okafor.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
ATLBred says:
Thank you for saying this! I do not see why people are saying that this team is gonna make the playoffs (namely ESPN). They aren’t that bad, but come on now…these are the Bobcats. They’ll find away to lose 50 games. Hawks/Heat/Pacers > these fools.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:42 pm
ATLBred says:
well…make that Hawks/Heat > Bobcats.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Aron says:
@loganlight
Thanks. I like 2.0!
@jimmhumm
“No one on this team would eat your young to win” – that is hilarious!
@hahns
It’s not that they’re bad contracts with bad players like the Knicks though.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:08 pm
GEE...Up with hope, down with dope! says:
If I am Money I just go buy my own team. Then do the threesome lol or do the threesome before then buy my own squad.
Either way a win win.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
dagwaller says:
A little early to panic. The Southeast division is good, but not great. They should make strides on what is still a relatively young team. The Trailblazers were seriously bad a couple years ago, as were the Warriors, and the Clippers…and now those teams have been threats in the playoffs (or will be in the case of the Blazers). Good points in the article, but I wouldn’t worry yet.
If they don’t have a win in a month, though…yipes.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
gangsta of love says:
I live in NC, and you can’t really appreciate how bad this team sucks without being able (forced?) to watch them on a nightly basis. Every year they have a high draft pick and every freakin’ year they spend it on a guy that EVERYONE outside the organization knows is going to be less effective in the pros than he was in college. You could make a great all-decade college team out of the BobJohnsons, but you could make a damn all-star team out of the guys they’ve passed up in the draft. Whether they consider J-Rich, Crash, or Bad-Back their “go-to guy” doesn’t really matter because none of the three should be anything more than a third option on a good team. What would I do if I was MJ? Wait until Bob himself shows up to practice one day, get Crash (and maybe Augustin) out of the building, and blow that place up. At least then the team would have a chance.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Brown says:
They have a horrible draft record and haven’t made any trades to improve the team much. That’s a recipe for mediocre at best if you ask me. Outside their starting five, this team doesn’t have much.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Sam I Am says:
lol @ Emeka Okafur AKA “BadBack”
October 21st, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Brown says:
Because they’re so thin on talent and their cap isn’t great, they’re hands are tied when it comes to improving the team. If I were MJ, I’d fire all their scouts and the GM. They need to stop making horrible draft choices. Barring a draft-day miracle, this team is going to suck for quite some time. They need to draft well for 2-3 years to even be in the vacinity of chasing the #8 spot.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
johnny says:
I would keep Gerald and Emeka. They’re young and their contracts are decent. Those two make them decent on d.
Get rid of everybody else. Everybody. Everybody. Get expiring contracts and 1st rounders. Don’t even be too picky. Raef & 2-3 1st’s for J-Rich – stuff like that.
Also, can you get rid of LB without having to pay him to go away? I doubt it, but they should look into that.
They should get the best pt staff that money can buy too.
Keep Emeka in the games and keep Morrison/May from ever happening again. (Not that those 2 guys would still be on the team.)
Keep the colors and the mascot. They’re alright.
October 21st, 2008 at 2:12 pm
karizmatic says:
Quit, Jordan can’t and never could pick talent. So quit or hire a guy to specifically pick talent a VP of basketball operations to handle things while I play golf.
October 21st, 2008 at 2:18 pm
QQ says:
Come on… This is just the preseason. I remember Denver winning the West, and the Spurs having a losing record in the 2007 pre. And who would’ve forget LBJ’s mediocre performance on his first pre. Not to mention the hundreds of no names who average 20 per here, but sees less time in the court than the towel guys when the real season begins.
Come on. Don’t make no fucking guarantees, bruh.
October 21st, 2008 at 2:53 pm
dapro says:
It’s starts at the top gentleman
I think Bob Johnson went on record saying he doesn’t follow the team that much
Then Mike is really there to say he has some ownership in the League
The coach is retread that wants to cement his legacy in the League
The players are pieced together, although they have good pieces, they are not a palyoff or championship contending squad
I’d make a move for a big time free agent or swap out some of the contracts for expiring ones and make a play for LBJ IN 2010 or DWADE
King James would at least consider playing under the watchful eye of HIS AIRNESS
October 21st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Aron says:
@QQ
Are you serious? There is a greater chance Wilt comes back to play than the Bobcats make the playoffs. I’m not judging this solely on the pre-season, but on their track record as a franchise.
Let me put it this way: who do you see having a worse record than the Bobcats?
October 21st, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Brown says:
@Aron
OKC will give them a run for their money as worst team in the league. I wouldn’t be surprised if Indiana is in the basement as well. That’s about it though.
October 21st, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Tony says:
Jordan, GET OUT OF TOWN!!!
Bernie Bickerstaff had a great chance of developing the Bobcats into a playoff team, but he decided to stop coaching and move into the front office. And guess who shows up right when everything goes down the drain?
October 21st, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Wow says:
I really believe somebody at Dime is still upset about what Larry Brown did (or did not do) with the Knicks. I have never seen the Bobcats get so much run on the Smack entries like I have this PRESEASON. Let sleeping “bums” lay if that’s what they are…I rather the NBA media stay quiet on the Bobcats and jump on the bandwagon when they’re battling for one of the final spots in playoffs.
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:28 am
sweetv0mit says:
MJ should bet all of his dough in vegas for his team to get number 1 pick next year.