Wednesday May 30th, 2012 will be known as the day the Charlotte Bobcats could have turned their franchise around. Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins said, during a press conference which I attended, that when he talked to GM Rich Cho after the lottery he could tell that the "air" was let out of him. When Higgins was asked if he felt the same way, he simply replied, "yes".
I admire Higgins and Cho's responses to questions Wednesday night and today. They keep stating that it's not the end of the world, and that things are going to move on. While many fans in Charlotte are overreacting to the loss of the number 1, especially to the Hornets, I believe the number 2 pick still has a great amount of value to it. Higgins was just on WFNZ in Charlotte and said that the Bobcats received phone calls about trading the number 2 pick almost immediately. Whether we trade the pick or not, I still think this draft can brighten up the Bobcats future. Columnists in Charlotte are putting a lot of players as possibilities for number 2 but I believe there is only 4 possible candidates.
Let's look at the possible picks for the Bobcats at number 2:
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky, SF:
Kidd-Gilchrist is a very nice athlete; At 6-7 & 1/2 and 232 pounds with a 6-10 wingspan, MKG fills all the measurables up nicely with his size. I love the fact that his Kentucky teammates said that MKG has the "leader" and "heart &soul" of that National Championship team. His winning mentality and work ethic will just add to the great amount character the Bobcats already have. His strengths is using that blend of athleticism, power, speed to punish people in transition, driving to the rim, and on the defensive end. Kidd-Gilchrist is about as good as it gets coming out of college when it comes to transition and defense. Having the speedy and crafty Kemba Walker, the athletic MKG and the high-flying current guard Gerald Henderson out on the break could lead to some easy buckets the Bobcats desperately need. I like MKG because he can create his own shot, something you have to do in the NBA, and he can drive to the bucket, finish and get the foul possibly. On defense I love the fact he can guard positions 2-4 because versatility is becoming more and more important in the NBA today. MKG, however, needs work on his ball-handling and his jump shot. Current Bobcats G Gerald Henderson improved his jump shot greatly this season if MKG can do the same over his first few years in the league he could be a superstar.
Thomas Robinson, Kansas, PF:
Robinson is a player that I can't quite figure out. I like his intensity, his power, his work ethic and his attitude. I am a guy that is usually high on production, which Robinson surely has plenty of. I seem to find a few things I like about him then find a few things that I don't like about him. Robinson had great numbers in college at close to averaging a 20-12 which is very impressive. To go along with that he simply put Kansas on his back and led them to the National Championship game where they lost to a simply better Kentucky team. Now, I think Robinson has hit his talent ceiling. I don't think he's getting any better, I think he may be one of those double-double guys, that could end up just being a bad team-good stats guy. Those kind of guys don't get you a championship. I think his work ethic and attitude will make him have a good NBA career but not a winning career. Yes he had 18, 19, and 18 the last 3 NCAA Tournament games, but he had those numbers with terrible shooting percentages. That makes me thing he struggled against the length of UNC, Ohio State, and Kentucky, and their is all kinds of length in the NBA. I'm not very high on him and I don't think the Bobcats should draft him, I think he is Emeka Okafor. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, maybe he won't.
Andre Drummond, UCONN, PF/C:
Another enigma is Andre Drummond, who at 6-11 270 lbs. has the exact size you want in your NBA big man. I am always very hesitant to take a player who doesn't have a great motor, or plays hard and even worse admits to not playing hard and giving it his all, which Drummond did. I love his size and his insane ability to move laterally with all that size. When I went back and looked at Drummond's complete game log, I saw that he brought it when UCONN played the nations top teams, excluding their lone NCAA Tournament game against Iowa State (2 pts, 3 rbs in 26 min), which I guess erases his whole regular season because he didn't bring it for UCONN when it mattered most. There were only tiny flashes this season that said he was ready for the NBA. Drummond is without a doubt a project, while the Bobcats aren't going to find any immediate stars at number 2, they certainly don't need to add another project to the team.
Bradley Beal, Florida, SG:
Florida SG Bradley Beal is a player I am very high on. Beal is a better athlete than I think he gets credit for, if you watched any of UF's NCAA Tournament games you saw that. Beal was regarded as by far the best jump shooter in the Class of 2011 coming out of high school. Scouts love his shooting ability and his shooting range. He's a good athlete as I said before but is not a great defender, he is serviceable which I would usually be fine with but we have point guards who can't play defense to save their lives which worries me if we draft Beal. I think Beal is a much better passer than he gets credit for and taking a look at his performances, the most impressive one to me was a 20-8-5 against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament Semi-Finals in a 3 point loss where all of his other teammates clearly didn't show up. Although my favorite thing about Beal is not that he's a sharp-shooter but his ability to do it with very high percentages (45 FG% & 36% 3pt). ESPN's Chard Ford described Beal as a "possible mix between Ray Allen and Dwyane Wade". Well I'm pretty sure Charlotte will take that, I at least would.
At this moment I'd take Michael Kidd-Gilchrist then Beal but as the summer goes, my choice was change. The Charlotte Observer put Jeremy Lamb, who I like, and Harrison Barnes as possible number 2 picks. If we pick Harrison Barnes at number 2......I just am not going to say anything because it wouldn't be very nice. The Bobcats need someone between a project with potential and someone that can contribute right away which is what I think Beal and Kidd-Gilchrist are. However, I am very intrigued about the possibility of trading the pick, but that's for another post.
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