Was the #9 pick of DJ Augustin a deal that went bad?

[Walt Cronkite]

Hmm, interesting. Still, had Yi been there at 9 along with Wright, maybe Nelly gets his guy a year earlier and Mullin gets to select this years guy (hopefully out of the lottery).

Anyway, can you type more on this? The deal couldn't be announced until Davidson was selected, but with what you wrote above, I take it that the deal wasn't agreed to before the draft, only once GSW knew who was around at 9.

[spectre_]

Just out of curiosity, why would Jordan want Westbrook if we turned down Bayless becasue he's a "combo that can handle the ball"?

Because Westbrook can be an elite perimeter defender in this league. It's obvious we wanted someone that could possibly play PG and defend both guard positions, which is why we took Weaver in the 2nd round.

Bayless and Felton would basically be duplicates. The organization wanted to add something we didn't have, and they did that (a pass-first PG, and a potential lockdown perimeter defender that can play both guard positions).

I don't know...I haven't seen Bayless play. Since he can actually shoot though I wouldn't consider him and Felton "duplicates", at least no more than Felton and Westbrook...neither of those two shoot very well. In fact (again, not having watched either in college) I'd think Felton and Westbrook were more alike...other than Westbrook appears to be a MUCH better finisher. It's probably safe to say Felton has better handles than both.

Regardless, I don't think it's quite accurate to say we were against bringing in a "combo that can handle the ball" if Westbrook was anywhere on our radar.

I'll certainly defer to an opinion that has seen these guys play however...kind of ridiculous to fight too hard over info gathered solely on the internet.

[W_HAMILTON]

Felton had similar or better shooting percentages his last year in college as Bayless had this year, and he hasn't exactly torn it up shooting-wise in the NBA, so I don't know how much college success translates over to NBA-success if you are talking about shooting percentages.

Regardless, the difference between Westbrook's and Felton's defense is larger than the difference between Bayless' and Felton's offense.

Bayless would be much more of a Felton clone than Westbrook would be -- an offensive-minded PG. None of the three run a team especially well, but at least Westbrook's strength is his defense. A "defensive" combo guard is something different than the "offensive" combo guard we have now. That's why we probably opted for Weaver in the second round, since he is another "defensive" combo guard.

We didn't need another "offensive" combo guard, since we already have one on the roster.

[spectre_]

From what I gather Bayless was a scorer for Arizona, getting 13 shots and averaging near 20 per game. Felton was nothing like that, so I don't really understand going on shooting % in college to determine that they're clones? Felton was never a "sick" outside shooter regardless of his % nor was he called upon to carry the team scoring wise except on rare occasions.

Do they play alike? Does Bayless have handles and can penetrate at will?

I absolutely agree that Westbrook should be a superior defender at the 2 than any of the guards as he has incredible hops and a great reach. That was the one thing that bothered me on the idea of Bayless (tho the boy can flat jump out of the gym).

Either way my point still stands..."combos that can handle the ball" weren't off the table. Bayless might have been...but that's not the same thing.

[m23uza1hem36]

Yeah, It's just rumors, either way he's going to be a great player.

[aznjustice14]

i have a feeling that what we were trying to do was get joe alexander if the bucks passed on him (since they just got jefferson) and then trade wallace for ford since wallace and alexander are both super athletic high energy guys, and then trade felton for lee... and then draft hibbert or ajinca at 20. i dunno, just basing it on all the rumors this seems like what might have happened

ford/augustin
richardson/carroll/weaver
alexander/morrison/dudley
may/lee/davidson
okafor/mohammed/ajinca

i'm not saying thats wat i want..but i could totally see that being what could have happened

[floppymoose]

Anyway, can you type more on this? The deal couldn't be announced until Davidson was selected, but with what you wrote above, I take it that the deal wasn't agreed to before the draft, only once GSW knew who was around at 9.

I'm not sure what there is to discuss? Maybe you are asking something I'm missing?

Regarding league approval.. that part was easy. With the Cats far under the cap and only one current player in the trade, all the financials were known in advance, regardless of who was actually there at the 8 and 36 spots.

As for when the trade was agreed to, my guess is that there was a whitelist of players who, if there at #8, would mean that both teams agreed to the trade. I'm sure they waited until #8 came up to confirm the deal, just in case something bizarre happened and player the Cats never expected to be there, was.

Whether Yi was a player the Warriors would have done the deal for remains unknown. They've been consistent that they preferred Wright to Yi, though, from the time of the draft through to today.

[cucad8]

Portland fan here. I have to say I was confused reading the responses at the bottom of the linked article. The way I read the article, and maybe I'm wrong, it's happened before, but the way I read it, or thought of it was that there was never a deal in place with Charlotte. I think that sort of information might have been leaked to try to scare Sacramento out of making a trade with NJ to get Bayless. If they think Portland is trading with Charlotte for Augustin at #9, they have every reason to believe, with Harris in NJ, and Ford in Indiana, that Bayless would just fall to them at 12. So they don't trade up, ensuring Portland the ability to swap up to 11 easier to get Bayless. Seems to make sense, no?? I think KP knew that Charlotte wanted Augustin, and some might view it as a pick to be traded, because of Felton, so he, or others, were able to make it somehow seem that we were the ones trading for that pic, since we had a lot of talk about Augustin in Portland. But the target was Bayless all along. Anyways, just one fan's opinion. I wouldn't think a GM would ever risk "agreeing to a trade in principle" for a draft pick, and then saying, no, never mind after that guy was picked. Seems like a sure fire way to get blackballed from ever making a move again.

[Walt Cronkite]

Thanks Floppy, I'm satisfied.

Cucad--that makes a lot more sense. I didn't read it that way, but I think that is the way to analyze the blog. I agree that coning a gm into taking a player for a trade and then backing out would get you blackballed, that's why I thought it was a damaging blog for the parties involved.

[W_HAMILTON]

Felton was never a "sick" outside shooter regardless of his % nor was he called upon to carry the team scoring wise except on rare occasions.

Then why would Bayless be so much superior, if his percentages where similar to Felton's percentages in college?

Your point may stand with whoever you were making it to, but my point still stands is that Bayless is a lot closer to Felton than Westbrook is to Felton. Even if Bayless is a better scoring version of Felton, it doesn't change the fact that he provides the same type of game Felton does, and there's little reason to add him to the team, because it doesn't fill a need. Augustin fills a need. Bayless would just be another Felton, or maybe a rich man's Felton if you want to look at it that way. Either way, it wouldn't make much sense to add Bayless to this team.

[spectre_]

Felton was never a "sick" outside shooter regardless of his % nor was he called upon to carry the team scoring wise except on rare occasions.

Then why would Bayless be so much superior, if his percentages where similar to Felton's percentages in college?

Your point may stand with whoever you were making it to, but my point still stands is that Bayless is a lot closer to Felton than Westbrook is to Felton. Even if Bayless is a better scoring version of Felton, it doesn't change the fact that he provides the same type of game Felton does, and there's little reason to add him to the team, because it doesn't fill a need. Augustin fills a need. Bayless would just be another Felton, or maybe a rich man's Felton if you want to look at it that way. Either way, it wouldn't make much sense to add Bayless to this team.

Did I say Bayless was superior? I said I didn't see how they were "clones", esp. if we're comparing their college careers because they played totally different roles. I certainly don't see how a similar shooting % in college makes that so.

Did Bayless even play PG in Arizona?

[Walt Cronkite]

To my knowledge, Bayless was the one playing pg the majority of the teams minutes. Nic Wise and Daniel Dillon got a good amount of burn and Jerryd slid to the 2 with Wise, but I'm not sure which of Dillon and Bayless would've handled the ball in that backcourt. Even When Bayless was playing PG though he was looking to score first, playmaking was the fallback option.

[kllrnstnct]

After the trade of Bayless was confirmed, they had an interview with Kevin Pritchard. He said that teams before him were picking players with the hopes of making a trade and not who they really wanted. I was really surprised that the Bobcats selected Augustine, but after the interview I thought that the Bobcats might have been who KP was talking about. I know Brown said he was really high on DJ, but who really knows what to believe come draft time. I just hope the Cats got the player that can help take them to the playoffs.

[Walt Cronkite]

I'd like to read that interview.

[W_HAMILTON]

That sounds like someone bitter because they weren't able to complete a trade they "really wanted."

I guess I would also have to read the interview to see how it was worded, but why else would you make a comment like that unless you were at least a little miffed at those teams for picking players only as "trade bait" instead of because they really wanted them?

Of course, he could have also been referring to the Mayo/Love selections as well.

[kllrnstnct]

The interview was by ESPN on the draft broadcast. KP was actually
laughing when he was talking about the teams taking people for trade
bait. It sounded to me like he was not bitter and got the guy he wanted.
I do not have a link but it probably is on espn.com.