Bobcats Mock Draft

The word “mock” in the title is an adjective, not a verb.  While a lot of fans have felt like the Bobcats have indeed made a mockery of the NBA draft in their 7 previous attempts.  Well, we have to amend that, don’t we?  The Bobcats didn’t have any picks last year, totally sat the draft out, although I’m sure they were in the “War Room” ready to make a trade to jump in or something.  I’d hope so anyway.

The tone I’m going for here is lackadaisical.  I really don’t get into the draft anymore.  I don’t get into college ball much either.  I’ll keep up with March Madness and whatnot but I don’t get into it like I did in my younger years.  I don’t have the energy or the false sense of meaning behind these one year wonders and false prophet/honest/caring/teaching coaches.  You know I don’t get into the European game.  Seriously, other than Fran Fraschilla, does anyone get into the International stuff outside the Olympics and World Championships?

What I will do, because this draft is important to the Bobcats future, (as important as ’05 when they took Felton and May, might be as important as the next year where they took Adam Morrison and Ryan Hollins), what I’m determined to do over the next 2 months is do some research.

The projections most everyone has, because of the weighted lottery and the Bobcats’ high standing among the teams in the lottery, have the first pick falling at #9.  We’ll see how the ping pong balls fall on May 17th but the bottom half almost always goes the way they think it will.  The second first round pick is coming from New Orleans by way of Portland, in exchange for Gerald Wallace.  Then there is also a second round pick, #39 overall.  That one shouldn’t be ignored.  There have been some solid players drafted when Adam Silver is calling the names.

Everyone is calling this year a “weak draft.”  With no life changing, franchise shaking talent like a Blake Griffin or a John Wall or Derrick Rose to be taken, unequivocally #1 or #2 overall and not much depth or talent fans and pundits drool over.  There are players to suit every need though.  There are solid guys and true winners and big time scorers, rebounders and defenders available throughout.  Nothing flashy, not to me anyway, hell you might not even find a couple guys that’ll be in the Slam-Dunk competition next year but it’s solid and I won’t dismiss it as many have.

I started to try and establish needs.  Then came across this brilliant post on RealGM.com from a poster called teamjosh04:  “All posters on here seem to be so concerned with filling a need. Forget what your team needs, they are in the lottery – no player on the Bobcats is safe. I dont see any players on the Bobcats that are even close to be above average starters a few years down the road. And its not like players are exclusive to one position.”  It’s true.  DJ Augustin is solid in his PG role because no one will ever be behind Shaun Livingston as their starting point guard, not even the doctor who repaired his knee.  Augustin is a one year starter with mixed results and if something better came along it’d be “Bye-Bye, Augustine (mis-spelled intentionally).”  Gerald Henderson at the #2, a partial year starter with no real competition, and given the chance he did well, but hardly a stalwart.  Stephen Jackson might be the team’s only legit starter on any other team in the league, but he’s older and not tied to either the #2 or the #3 position, plus the team’s best bargaining chip (aka:  Trade bait).  Boris Diaw, Tyrus Thomas and DJ White sort of have the PF position covered, at least from a salary stand point.  Kwame Brown isn’t on the books for next year and we realized very quickly that there is no backup in place if he goes down.

If I were setting the philosophy for the Bobcats for this draft it would be simply, best available.  Just best available, by all scouting and analysis without regard for position.  What would I deem qualities for “best” in any position though?  I’d want a proven winner, and a leader amongst winning players.  I’m done with these mild-mannered guys who don’t seem to lead as much as wait for Jack to tell them what to be or how to act.  I’d want athleticism, but not the raw type where the guy is just a freak athlete that someone has to teach him to play basketball.  I’d want scoring, but not a slouch defenisively.  Rebounding if he’s a big, assists if he’s a guard.  Pretty much a well ounded complete sort of player.  I don’t know if that guy is out there, somebody would have to tell me and I’d have to spend time researching but that’s my criteria.

So, I’ve compliled a list of who the Bobcats will pick, according to people who prognosticate such things, click their links for their whole lists, it’s interesting.

With the 9th Pick, in the 2011 Draft, the Charlotte Bobcats select:

NBADraft.net –        Alec Burks (Guard) Colorado
ESPN.com (Chad Ford) –        Terrance Jones (SF) Kentucky
FirstRegime.com –        Marcus Morris (PF) Kansas
DraftSite.com –        Bismack Biombo (PF) Congo
HoopsAddict.com –        Jan Vesely (SF) Czech Republic
NBADraftRoom.com –        Marcus Morris (PF) Kansas
DraftExpress.com –         Donatas Motiejunas (PF/C) Lithuania
WalterFootball.com –        Jonas Valanciunas (PF/C) Lithuania
MyNBADraft.com –        Terrence Jones (SF) Kentucky
TheHoopDoctors.com –        Terrence Jones (SF/PF) Kentucky

That’s ten sites, 7 different names.  (Check out TheHoopDoctors.com’s complete list of links)  It’s easy to say, at this point, it’s wide open.  What most sites are doing right now, as far as I can tell, is ranking guys based on upside.  I get so worn out with this way of thinking.  This is the NBA, this is professional basketball and wins pay peoples bills.  Teams like the Bobcats, Timberwolves, Clippers, Wizards, can’t wait for 3-5 years for a guy to flourish.  It’s awesome when they do, it truly is.  Look at Zach Randolph in Memphis, dude has bounced around and now he finds himself in the conference semi-finals and has Kevin Durant calling him the best power forward in the league.  It’s awesome when a guy “get’s there” but for teams that are going to be in the lottery 9 out of 10 years (or 6 of the 7 total drafts for the Bobcats), don’t need a guy that could be good down the road or has all the tools, just needs help putting it all together.

I guess all I can do is keep looking.  I hope that’s what the Bobcats are doing, and I’m looking forward to seeing who they bring in for workouts.  Now can somebody from Kentucky get me up to speed on Terrance Jones?