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March 03, 2008
Bring in D-Leaguers for 10-days?
Stray thoughts after an honest-to-goodness regulation victory:
- I got the sense from coach Sam Vincent Sunday that he isn’t pushing management to fill that 15th roster spot that opened when the team waived Jeff McInnis. “The flexibility of being on 14 is nice,’’ Vincent said before the Raptors game. It’s not like they’re going to add some veteran who will jump them back into the playoff race. If I were them, I might bring in a series of young guys – maybe D-leaguers – on 10-day contracts (one at a time), just to see if there’s someone worth developing for the future. Remember, they found Matt Carroll out of the D-league a couple of winters ago.
- Interesting how Jermareo Davidson has vaulted so far ahead of Ryan Hollins in the rotation. Davidson has offensive skills Hollins will never possess, but I like Hollins’ defensive presence.
- It was clear from Vincent’s pre-game comments Sunday that waiving Jeff McInnis won’t necessarily translate into a larger role for Earl Boykins. Boykins is getting about 12 minutes a game and shooting poorly. I’m guessing his minutes won’t rise here unless his shooting percentage does.
Posted by Observer Sports on March 3, 2008 at 12:45 PM | Permalink
Comments
Hollins is good on defense, but he is too aggressive sometimes. His tendency to get into foul trouble really decreases his playing time. I hope he can get that together in the off season. I think Davidson will be a lot better once he figures out what role he needs to play on the team. He seems to defer his shot in favor of others most of the time.
I know a lot of people bash the Bobcats for their draft picks, but Davidson, Hollins, and Dudley have been pleasant surprises. Felton and Okafor aren't as good as advertised, but they are far from busts. Hopefully, the ping pong balls are kind to the Bobcats this year.
Posted by: Token | Mar 3, 2008 2:11:07 PM
Like the D-League Idea...in fact...I would like to offer that instead of taking 1 D-leaguer...we take 2. Send Sean "Trailways" May down to the D-League for a younger, trimmer and I hesitate to say, "hungrier" player. Can't imagine anyone hungrier than ole "$7.95 All-you-can-eat Buffet" May. Maybe about 6 months riding a bus to the games might make him lose his appetite long enough for him to get to a weight where his flying doesnt interfere with fuel consumption during liftoffs. Its about time the Team and "Fry-baby" May realize that even with the contract extension, his career is over now since he will likely never be in good enough shape to withstand 28 minutes or more in the NBA. And
he wonders why his knees give out. Shoot...same reason the bridge gave out in Minnesota...TOO MUCH WEIGHT! So lets go grab a couple D-Leaguers and give Sean a bus ticket to a new life before the DOT declares him "UNSAFE".
Posted by: Mike | Mar 3, 2008 2:36:41 PM
I agree that both can be rotation players in the future, but since he entered the league, Davidson has just looked like he "gets it" better than Hollins, even though the former has spent one more year in the league. They are indeed both good values for second-round picks, though it should be noted that Davidson came 15 picks earlier. I will digress, though on Felton. A league-average point guard (which is the absolute BEST you can say about him thus far in his career) is not what you should be getting from the 5th pick in the draft.
I agree, Bonnell, that we should have been using our open roster spot on D-Leaguers. If we just get one good hustle guy in the post who can provide 4 and 3 in 10-12 minutes per game, that's a steal.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Mar 3, 2008 2:41:19 PM
Hey Blue Devil Mike,
I remember Sean May being an excellent contributor as a power forward when healthy. It's way too early to give up on Sean. He and Adam will be excellent additions next year. Get to bed early, the 6th grade is tough. Loser.
Posted by: DanCat | Mar 3, 2008 7:28:28 PM
Vincent is the most wishy-washy coach in the league. He'll have Felton at small foward before the season ends. Please make a change MJ. I think the team has already tuned him out. Maybe he can be Steven A. Smith's sidekick on the radio. "Ridiculous and more Ridiculous!"
Posted by: DanCat | Mar 3, 2008 7:34:44 PM
DanCat...Sean May hasn't played in enough games to remember him doing much of anything. A 25-game a year All-NBA-er isn't worth much, particularly if he's missing time because he's too lazy to get in shape.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Mar 3, 2008 11:15:02 PM
Procton, I love how you act as if you know Sean May and what he does on a daily basis. Bobcats.com has video of him training & he even talks about the issue of people worrying about his weight.
Posted by: Q? | Mar 4, 2008 12:02:17 AM
Geez this team is terrible. Sadly, the fans are close to being just as bad. What does it say about the team that we are now talking about "taking a look" at some D-leaguers. Unbelievable. Matt Carrol? One of the worst signings this past off season, and now we're talking about hoping to find another "gem" like Carrol.
This front office needs to take our lottery pick for next year and trade down. Obviously they haven't a clue on how to handle a first round pick. Here's another an idea... LET OKAFOR WALK. He is certainly not worth any more money than we have already offered him. We already have plenty of overpaid players as it is.
Posted by: Swolestice | Mar 4, 2008 12:19:07 AM
Well of course they do. It's called a "photo op", Q. Just like politicians shaking hands and kissing babies.
And Swole...to turn a D-League signing into a legit 6th man/deep threat is quite a coup, current contract withstanding. The issue with his contract doesn't even have anything to do with the money he's getting paid. It's just too long a committment for a role player.
And as for Okafor, he'll get his shot. If he gets signed to big money by somebody (which WILL be limited by his deficient offensive skills), then we can let him go. If not, then worst case scenario, he'll be ours for under $7 mil.
And you're totally right about our first round picks...Emeka Okafor is among the best defensive and rebounding big men in the NBA, Jared Dudley has already been among the top 15 rookies this year (better than his pick), and that status will only increase as he gets more PT towards the end of the season. Adam Morrison was among the best 5 rookies last year, and tore his knee up. Granted, May and Felton were bad picks, but I wouldn't say that has anything to do with "handling" first round picks.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Mar 4, 2008 2:56:30 AM
My idea: our lottery pick plus Okafor for #1 and grab Beasley.
Posted by: ELEAF | Mar 4, 2008 10:54:15 AM
Complain about our team's poor drafting, then say to let Okafor walk? Are you as incompetent as them? There's a reason why he was able to turn down a 10m+/year offer, and that's because he's good. Crappy big men in the NBA can make 8m/year easy, so it's not a surprise that one of the better big men would command more than 10m/year.
Luckily we shouldn't have to worry about retaining the services of our other lottery picks, because they have been colossal disappointments.
Posted by: Will | Mar 4, 2008 11:28:37 AM
Procton... I think you're being a bit of a homer, but I guess I respect your loyalty. Personally, I don't think the front office has done a good job to this point, and at the end of the day, MJ is the man signing off on all personnel moves.
I'm sure that you know the free agent class of 2010 is shaping up to be one of the best in recent history. It would be nice to be a player when the time comes around, but loading our team with more long term contracts is going to leave us out of the free agent market come 2010. I like Okafor and would like for him to stay with Charlotte. He could potentially average 15/10 for the next 4-5 years, ASSUMING HE STAYS HEALTHY. Okafor has averaged 55 games per season during his 3 years in the NBA(though he has played every game this season). We all know about his history of back trouble etc. He obviously can't carry the front court of this team by himself [I actually think Gasol would've been a nice addition, large contract aside of course:)]. The question is do you want to pay +$10m/year for a 15/10 defensive power forward with some injury history? I'd love to be able to agree with you in thinking that we'll be able to sign Okafor for $7m/year, but I highly doubt that considering the salaries of comparable players...
Will, I agree with you... crappy big men get ridiculous contracts every year in the NBA, but that is no reason to go out and over pay a player (see: Ben Wallace). Worth noting, Tyson Chandler, who I feel is a comparable player to Okafor, is making $10.5m/year. This is why I find it hard to justify paying Okafor more than $10m/year. I suppose you could say our combo of Felton-Okafor is the poor man's version of CP3-Chandler. The difference is the Hornets have David West playing all-star caliber ball and while Sean May is currently in charge of keeping bench seats warm for the likes of Nazr Mohammed. Not to go to far off course here, but Chris Paul is truly the type of player that makes everyone around him significantly better. I am yet to see this trait in Felton, but I still have a little faith in the old TarHeel.
Regarding draft picks... I am yet to see any all-star potential from any of our former first rounders. I know we can't change the past, but it is worth pointing out that a number of people including myself wanted to draft Brandon Roy ahead of Adam Morrison. AdMo has next year to prove himself, and then thats it. RE: Ray-Ray, he now has his chance to prove himself as a starting PG in this league. I'd prefer to not even talk about what Sean May needs to do to prove himself.
Posted by: Swolestice | Mar 4, 2008 1:47:29 PM
Hey DanCat...are you nuts or what? Sean "Taco Bell" May a contributor? less than 20 games per year avg since being in the NBA doesnt come close to being a contributor at ANYTHING. Unless of course you consider he's learning spanish in his spare time to talk to the seat servers at B'Cats Arena. If Sean worked as hard at his athleticism as he does tracking booty downtown at nights he'd be taking Jordans place on the Nike ads. You really gotta being kidding DanKitty...his career is over....
Posted by: mike | Mar 4, 2008 4:18:50 PM
The less than $7 million figure came from Okafor's qualifying tender. That's what we have to offer him (and basically, what he has to accept) if neither we nor another team can work out an extension. I was a little off, but the exact number is: $7,082,635. As for comparing Okafor and Chandler, I think it's more relevant to compare their career numbers rather than their current ones. Chandler's point guard is 10 times better than Okafor's right now. Over their careers (and these are rates, independent of playing time), Okafor has scored 5.5 more points/48, averaged about .7 less reb/48, averaged more blocks and less turnovers, averaged far fewer fouls (1.2 less/48), and slightly fewer assists. Okafor does shoot slightly worse than Chandler, but has been improving over the course of his career, and is better in that category than Chandler was through four years in the league (I know that Okafor was older.) If this team ever legitimately gets into the playoff hunt, Okafor has a very reasonable shot to become an All-Star. He was in the discussion this year despite a slow start.
Morrison, while disappointing given his draft status, was still one of the better rookies this year, and he's obviously the kind of player who had to learn to translate his game into the NBA. Yes, there may be players who have done better thus far, but it's also tough to hold his knee injury against him. Further, it was almost a consensus opinion that Morrison was going to go on to a long and productive NBA career, better than the view of Roy at the time.
The '05 draft class was the biggest thing to set back this team. May has produced well when he's been in, but he's only played in about 25% of the possible games. As for Felton, well, I heard an interesting answer from Mike D'Antoni (Suns head coach) as to why the West had gotten so good. In short, he said the addition of Deron Williams and Chris Paul had made those teams instantly better. Not surprisingly, Felton wasn't mentioned.
People complain all the time about Felton "not getting his shot", or "having his growth stunted", but think about it. Do you really think it makes any sense for an expansion team to keep the 5th pick in the draft out of the starting lineup at his position if that's not the best move for the team? The team (and Felton himself) have ALWAYS been more successful when Felton played off the ball. He has never learned to play within himself and still makes rookie mistakes trying to hot dog it for the Carolina fans in Charlotte. Check the splits if you don't believe me. In his career, his A:TO ratio is 10% better on the road, and has been higher away from Charlotte every year of his career. Further, his 3PT% trends are disturbing as well. Unlike Chris Paul, who has gone from a 28% shooter behind the line to 36%, Felton has gone from 36% to 27%. When you read the stats in addition to looking at his play, Felton simply hasn't done the work necessary to refine his true point guard skills. His slashing skills are good for his size, and his basic passing ability is good too, but he struggles with the basics of running an offense and making good decisions to make his teammates better.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Mar 4, 2008 5:02:08 PM
Procton - we get it, you don't like Felton. Stop posting the same info over and over and over. PS Felton's numbers tonight: 14point, 10asts, 2stls, 1reb. I know he only shot 3/11, but he got to the line where he is a strong shooter and the 10asts show he can run an offense. He's been better since McInnis was waived.
Posted by: Q? | Mar 4, 2008 10:40:16 PM
quit bashin raymond. he's our point guard like it or not. compare him around the league and you'll see he's more valuable than you think.
Posted by: kylerdurden | Mar 5, 2008 9:27:05 AM
I have compared him...he's led this team to one of the most disappointing seasons in the league.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Mar 5, 2008 1:23:12 PM
There are a lot of reasons for the disappointing season: injuries, schedule, moron coach, etc. Felton wasn't even given the reins until the last Celtics game (where he performed quite well.)
Posted by: apauldds | Mar 5, 2008 2:03:37 PM
I will have to agree that like the Panthers..this front office has NO idea how to draft! But hey I wont get into that now bc the topic is concerning our current roster. I say NO Okafor should not be let go but we cant pay him Amare or Dwight Howard money neither. We need to cut the "fat" with May (pun intended) and focus on getting some depth in the backcourt. I think next year a lineup of Felton, J-Rich, Crash, Oak and Nazr will be a formidable lineup in the east with definite playoff potential. That way we can bring Adam off the bench for scoring punch and he will play against subs instead of starters. And he may have been a ROY candidate but he was also the LEAST efficient player in the league too if you go by those ratings so...he has ok in spots but gave up waaaay too many ez buckets to the guy he was guarding each night.
Posted by: Bobcat Terry | Mar 5, 2008 2:34:59 PM
It is always interesting to see people who look at drafts with great hind site. It is easy to say someone is good after they have been in the league and proven that they are good. Okay, now it a great time for you guys to be able to tell Jordan and all, "I told you so". You can do this by listing the top 10 players in priority order that we should draft if they are available when we pick. It's pretty obvious that some of us know talent better than Jordan so lets tell him what we think then that will qualify us to say, "I told you so...my judgement is better than yours".
Whatcha think Procton?
Posted by: TakeaDare | Mar 6, 2008 12:25:54 AM
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