1. Knowing the MJ/Larry Brown philosophy, I’m guessing that they trade the pick. Brown doesn’t like to play rooks and Jordan wants to add more veteran presence to the team. I wouldn’t be suprised if the team gets involved with the ‘Melo trade talks given MJ’s personal and Nike relationship with the young man–although Mike15 would probably leave his post as Baseline editor if the team ended up trading G-Force for Carmelo Anthony.
2. In the event that they keep the pick, I’d go with either Anthony Randolph or Kevin Love. One of those guys will be there and they’ll both contribute at the 4 eventually. My preference is Randolph—only if Brown gives him a little PT throughout the year. Love is probably more capable of playing and contributing right away but it looks as though Randolph = Dwight Howard and Love = Okafor.
Bonnell has a note in his blog about the team considering DJ Augustin at #9. Not sure I get that. Yeah, he’s probably a better distributor than Ray Felton but he’s gonna get killed by Deron Williams/Chauncey Billups-type big PGs. I also don’t think you draft your backup PG in the top 10 either.
3. With the Bulls getting the #1 pick, look for them to try and move Drew Gooden or Tyrus Thomas if they take Beasley. I wouldn’t mind having either one of those guys if the price is right.
4. Almost every national publication is trouncing MJ for taking Kwame #1 and then AMMO at #3 but I’m not so sure that you can call AMMO an uberbust on the Kwame-scale just yet since the guy hasn’t even played a second season in the League. Yeah, the odds are stacked against him becoming a superstar however, as another Baseline contributer was saying last year, there is no reason that he couldn’t go on to be a WallyWorld-esque scorer in the near future. Either way, it’s really hard to imagine him doing anything under coach Brown, who will certainly push Adam out of the rotation in favor of a guy who could actually guard someone. I wonder what D’Antoni could do with AMMO in NYC?
-aschin
Agreed that the pick will most likely be used as part of a trade. However, I like the idea of an Elton Brand sign-and-trade — assuming the Bobcats could put together a package the Clips would like (and Jordan/Brown could handle a Dukie on their squad).
Like your idea about Ammo with D'Antoni. It's a shame everyone has written him off. The fact is that he came into the league with some known limitations, was force-fed minutes in his rookie year on a young, bad team with the expectation that he would put up numbers, and then went down with a major injury before his second season. Why the rush to label him as a bust?
If the Bobcats trade for Carmelo, I'm out.
the bobcats could do all these nice things but the bottom line is they won't. what they will do is use that pick for some far fetched project player, who would feel right at home with felton and may. if they make a trade involving the pick they more than likely will get ripped off. settling for a keith van horn contract and jr rider. all the bells and whistles mean nothing if you can't play as a team. this team needs a leader.
C'mon, a 'Melo rumor?
There's no basis for that. Carmelo Anthony is not what this team needs. His recent arrest and high-maintenance rep would kill this team. The Bobcats have to treat this coming season as a "building" season. It's not going to be a total "rebuilding" project, but I certainly see them pursuing additions. At least two roster spots are up for grabs with the departure of Othella Harrington and Derek Anderson.
The team does have needs that a trade could address. I just don't think it will be a big name player or anything like that. Boykins or another average reserve PG will be around next season, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Hollins/Davidson moved in a trade. Bigs are always worth a sense of equity when it comes to trading talent.
Carmelo is a whiny little girl. Someone needs to straighten him out…maybe he and Kobe should go get a room at a lodge in Colorado.
We need to do something this summer. It was a great move to nab Larry Brown. That will finally give us some structure compared to the "chicken with its head cut off" offense that Vincent was running. Its no secret that we have a ton of talent on our team, mostly young. I'm torn because I love Anthony Randolph, but if he gets taken earlier (which I expect he will), we need to trade away that pick without hesitation. We need a swing power forward that can guard the perimeter- something neither Nasr nor Emeka has the ability to do. It wouldn't hurt for that swing bigman to be able to score, hit the mid-range jumer too. That would space the offensive much better by spreading the defense. We have expendable small forewards, look for a trade to balance our roster this summer. (I hope)
Melo isn't what we need, even though an offensive presence like that isn't a stretch if we decide that our G-Force/J-Rich combo isn't our scoring options of the future.
PS. I am absolutly ecstatic that I've found people who are as passionate about the Bobcats as I am. You guys have made my day.