Letter from Cho

[BlackOutBuzz]

Yeah I'm definitely hoping the boring trade deadline will be reflected in FA. Hopefully teams will still be gun-shy due to the new tax and we can keep him at a decent price.

[HornetJail]

If Toronto finds a way to free up 10 million dollars and want to add to their overpaid wing collection only then we've got a problem. Only a moronic GM is going to pay Hendo more than 30M, let's be honest. I'd be perfectly fine giving Henderson the money JJ Reddick got, plus the extra years added on. 5 years, 30-32 million is probably the cut-off. I doubt anybody's giving him Tyrus Thomas money. Then again I didn't think we were going to give Tyrus Thomas Tyrus Thomas money. It's up to Cho, but I'll be damn disappointed if Gerald slips away too. In our first seven drafts, we have swung and missed on ALL but two 1st round picks: Jared Dudley (who was promptly traded for jack ****), and Hendo. Felton was decent but left for nothing. Even DJ was decent, but left for, you guessed it, nothing. We can't keep doing this.

[thruthefire]

Preferably, I'd like him back on the qualifying offer, but I'm not against re-signing Hendo and drafting Noel.

[Nanogeek]

Got this today.



Now that the NBA trade deadline is behind us our basketball operations department will now turn its attention to the college ranks. Our scouting staff is working hard evaluating the top collegiate players as they conclude their regular seasons and begin conference tournaments. We have a group of seven scouts, including five who are focused solely on college players, along with one international scout based in Italy and one pro scout. Between the seven of them, Rod Higgins and myself, we see over 1,000 games per season in order to secure as much information as possible as we try to make the best decisions possible to shape this franchise into one that can compete at the highest levels of the NBA.

Those of you that I've been fortunate enough to meet have probably heard me talk about building through the draft. When I was in Seattle and Oklahoma City that's exactly what we did, using three straight lottery picks to set the foundation for what is now one of the premier teams in the NBA. In 2007, we used our own pick to draft Kevin Durant and were able to make a trade that allowed us to get Jeff Green. The following year, our lottery pick was Russell Westbrook and we used a second first-round pick acquired via trade to select Serge Ibaka. And in 2009, we added James Harden to that mix.

Obviously there is a little luck involved, considering that we had top-three picks in two of those three drafts, but I see that process replicating itself for the Bobcats. With Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo in 2011, followed by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeffery Taylor in 2012, I am confident that we are well on our way to building a similar future here in Charlotte.

Despite our shift in focus from trade deadline to college scouting, we will continue to actively evaluate every possible opportunity to improve our team this summer, via free agency, trades and the draft. We had dialog with nearly every team leading up to the trade deadline and will aggressively pursue players and assets that will help us achieve our goals.

We appreciate your support this season and look forward to having you back for 2013-14.

Best Regards,

Rich Cho
General Manager
Charlotte Bobcats

A little luck involved? KD, Westbrook, Ibaka, Harden and Green as picks? That's not luck - that's hacking! I'd all of our 2011 and 2012 picks for KD or Westbrook and possibly Harden too. I'd probably trade any 2 of them for Ibaka.

[MasterIchiro]

I don't want to panic unnecessarily but I just had a thought and I really hope Cho did not pen this letter as damage control after getting shut out on trade day.

This is the message they pumped out to us before the deadline.

“We’re very active – our owner wants us to be active,’’ Higgins told the Observer in regard to the Feb. 21 trade deadline.

Higgins said owner Michael Jordan has given Higgins and general manager Rich Cho “the green light to go out and make this team better…I don’t think there’s any limits to what we’d try to do.’’

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/0 ... rylink=cpy

We go from this "no limits" business to:

Despite our shift in focus from trade deadline to college scouting, we will continue to actively evaluate every possible opportunity to improve our team this summer, via free agency, trades and the draft. We had dialog with nearly every team leading up to the trade deadline and will aggressively pursue players and assets that will help us achieve our goals.

Hey, we tried.

[SWedd523]

Don't know why it'd have to be damage control.


Cho can't force teams to make a trade with him. All he can do is be as active as possible and hope for the best. By all indications, he's doing everything he can

[Liver_Pooty]

Don't know why it'd have to be damage control.


Cho can't force teams to make a trade with him. All he can do is be as active as possible and hope for the best. By all indications, he's doing everything he can

[MasterIchiro]

Call it what you will. They went from "any limits" to big fat goose egg.

So I guess there were limits, other teams (as you mention), demands, the merchandise was unanimously considered junk.

The Hornets GM came out of the deadline raving about how teams inquired on all their players/assets.

Bobcats? They probably got called about Kemba. That's it.

[MasterIchiro]

Short version:

Every GM thinks all our players are junk.

But I was the assistant at OKC.

Thank you all for your support.

[catch20two]

Short version:

Every GM thinks all our players are junk.

But I was the assistant at OKC.

Thank you all for your support.

This pretty much sums up the letter to me as well. It didn't make me feel any better about our future. Actually it made me more wary of Cho's direction a bit.

[MasterIchiro]

Addendum:

And we have 7 scouts.

[Nanogeek]

Short version:

Every GM thinks all our players are junk.

But I was the assistant at OKC.

Thank you all for your support.

Nail on the head.