The Charlotte Bobcats are once again headed to the NBA lottery by virtue of their dismal 21-61 record and fourth place finish in the Southeast Division. Without a doubt the Bobcats are the least talented NBA team out there. They could use roster upgrades at virtually every position including at head coach and general manager.
The nucleus of the team thus far is Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, which obviously leaves a lot of roster holes and questions about just how good these two guys could be. The roster is in a constant state of flux as players are cycled in seemingly based on how cheaply they can be acquired, while the team has undergone six coaching changes since 2006 and as if that wasn’t enough upheaval they might rename the franchise as the Hornets.
The NBA draft has not been kind to the Bobcats. There was the Adam Morrison debacle of 2006, followed by two drafts that were light on impact talent and then no pick for the Cats in the 2010 draft. The last two selections seem to have been solid though as both Walker and Kidd-Gilchrist have been solid contributors. Charlotte will need to build off this recent success and make a smart selection here that is beneficial for the long term good of the franchise and not a selection that will appease the fans for the short run.
Areas of Weakness:
Quite simply the Bobcats need talent and athleticism. Weather or not they will be able to find something to their liking in this draft remains to be seen, but regardless of how the pick is used the Bobcats will be lottery bound again next season. This might not be a horrible situation to be in as the Bobcats are clearly the worst team in the league and they might be able to put themselves in a situation to draft Andrew Wiggins come next season.
Draft Projections:
With the fourth overall pick the Bobcats will be at the mercy of the top three teams. Right now it is a crapshoot as to who is being targeted by whom among the top three. That isn’t to say there shouldn’t be a very solid pick available here for the Bobcats, but it just might not be whom they expected.
Despite all the hype coming out of Cleveland, I don’t think that they will make Nerlens Noel the top overall selection. Once Noel gets passed over at the top he could conceivably slide down to the Bobcats at the four spot. Orlando isn’t likely to take him and Washington definitely doesn’t need him so that leave Charlotte as a viable landing spot. Should the Bobcats have Noel ranked higher than say an Anthony Bennett then they could very well find themselves with a previously top-rated prospect at the four spot.
If the Bobcats ownership and management group can buy into the fact that they will be horrible for yet another year regardless of who they draft, then why not pick Noel and let him take as much time as necessary to rehab properly and get his body ready for the rigours of an NBA season. If they don’t rush this kid along and they procure a top three pick in next years draft then they could all of a sudden have some tremendous building blocks in place for the foreseeable future.