RATE OUR ROSTER! Who is our most indispensible player(s)?

[August Us Seazr]

We did this last year, and with the summer coming up, I thought it would be good to do it again. We all have our favorites, but I think with some of our guys, the positioning might be a little different this time. Let's see how it goes!

Rank them in order- 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16

Players on the roster:
Derek Anderson
Earl Boykins
Matt Carroll
Jermareo Davidson
Jared Dudley
Raymond Felton
Othella Harrington
Ryan Hollins
Sean May
Nazr Mohammed
Adam Morrison
Emeka Okafor
Jason Richardson
Gerald Wallace
First Round Draft Pick (Currently 8th Subject to Draft Lottery)
Second Round Draft Pick (# 38)

Also please note whether you consider each player a keeper, trade bait, or minimal value filler.

[W_HAMILTON]

1-Jason Richardson (keeper)
2-Emeka Okafor (keeper)
3-Gerald Wallace (keeper)

***********************

4-Raymond Felton (trade bait)
5-Jared Dudley (keeper)
6-1st Round Draft Pick (trade bait)
7-Sean May (keeper*)
8-Matt Carroll (trade bait)
9-Adam Morrison (keeper**)
10-Nazr Mohammed (trade bait)
11-Ryan Hollins (minimal value filler)
12-Jermareo Davidson (minimal value filler)
13-Derek Anderson (minimal value filler)
14-Earl Boykins (minimal value filler)
15-2nd Round Draft Pick (minimal value filler)
16-Othella Harrington (minimal value filler)

***********************

* I list May as a keeper, because he can't be worth much in a trade, and if we've stuck with him this long, we might as well keep sticking with him and hope he pans out. The only thing worse than wasting three years on a player, is wasting three years on a player, cutting him loose, then watch him finally be a productive player somewhere else.
** Again, Morrison can't be worth much, so might as well keep him and hope he pans out, instead of trading him away, get nothing in return, and watch him do better elsewhere.

EDIT: I flip-flopped Okafor and Wallace, but I think the top three are interchangeable for various reasons anyway. Okafor is probably the most important and the least replaceable, Richardson is the "best," and Wallace is great all-around and will most likely have a better contract situation than Richardson or Okafor.

[McFurious1]

Raptor fan here: Don't mean to lurk but would you guys be interested in upgrading your point guard position (Ford or Calderon) the 17th pick in the 2008 nba draft, and the number 1 pick in the 2006 draft Bargnani for Emeka Okafor?

[CatNation]

Raptor fan here: Don't mean to lurk but would you guys be interested in upgrading your point guard position (Ford or Calderon) the 17th pick in the 2008 nba draft, and the number 1 pick in the 2006 draft Bargnani for Emeka Okafor?

well when you put it that way...

actually id do that trade. then could we afford to sign jamison? and trade felton+the pick for something good

[GoBobcats]

1-Jason Richardson (keeper)
2-Gerald Wallace (keeper)
3-Emeka Okafor (keeper)
4-Raymond Felton (tkeeper)
5-Jared Dudley (keeper)
6-1st Round Draft Pick (trade bait)
7-Adam Morrison (keeper)
8-Sean May (trade bait)
9-Nazr Mohammed (trade bait)
10-Matt Carroll (trade bait)
11-Jermareo Davidson (keeper)
12-Ryan Hollins (minimal value filler)
13-Derek Anderson (minimal value filler)
14-Earl Boykins (minimal value filler)
15-2nd Round Draft Pick (minimal value filler)
16-Othella Harrington (no value)

[fluffernutter]

I rate on replaceability, i.e. how easy or hard would it for the team to replace the player who presumably leaves?

My list is short.

I think JRich can't be easily replaced, nor can Okafor, nor can Felton. Those are the big 3.

May and Ammo should be kept just in case a miracle happens.

Nobody else on the team is really that tough to replace. GWall has an excellent contract and could fetch a nice replacement player with fewer health concerns, etc. I would not want to trade GWall but it seems to me he is the easiest one to get equal value from trading.

So, that's it.

[DaBassSource]

I rate on replaceability, i.e. how easy or hard would it for the team to replace the player who presumably leaves?

My list is short.

I think JRich can't be easily replaced, nor can Okafor, nor can Felton. Those are the big 3.

May and Ammo should be kept just in case a miracle happens.

Nobody else on the team is really that tough to replace. GWall has an excellent contract and could fetch a nice replacement player with fewer health concerns, etc. I would not want to trade GWall but it seems to me he is the easiest one to get equal value from trading.

So, that's it.

Fluff I agree...but my list is a little longer...and thinking about who could make the switch from Sam to LB...without wasting a year...

1-Raymond Felton (should fit LB system with modification)
2-Emeka Okafor (should fit LB system and could be Defensive Player of the Year. Blocks and Rebounds should increase)
3-Jason Richardson (Defense will be alot better...due to overall team defense)
4-Gerald Wallace (Will shoot fewer jumpshots but will seem like the old Crash 100% effort)
5-Jared Dudley (He will love this kid...does anything required)
6-Sean May (If healthy will be important off the bench)
7-Nazr Mohammed (Smart player...not sure of his history with LB)
8-Matt Carroll (used to stretch the defense)
9-Jermareo Davidson (Big men will have to become better defensive players and rebounders)
10-Ryan Hollins (Big men will have to become better defensive players and rebounders)
11- 2008 pick (depends on who it is...Will be hard for LB to play a project much)

We will have to get another pg that can fit the LB system...Probably the Chris Duhon type...

[GoBobcats]

[quote="DaBassSource"][/quote]
Morrison????

[DaBassSource]

-= original quote snipped =-


Morrison????

Sorry, but I would put Ammo at the end of my list. Not that he will not be a good player. I just think he has a long way before LB would think of him as an important part to his team....Hell he did not even know who he was until Tuesday....

[BigSlam]

At the end of the day, everyone is trade bait - for the right price. It's improtant to note that this is not a list of importance - but more who is indispensible. My list of importance to the team would be in a different order.


1-Jason Richardson (keeper)
2-Gerald Wallace (trade bait)
3-Emeka Okafor (keeper)
4-Raymond Felton (keeper)
5-Jared Dudley (keeper)
6-1st Round Draft Pick (trade bait)
7- Adam Morrison (trade bait)
8-Matt Carroll (trade bait)
9- Jermareo Davidson (minimal value filler)
10-2nd Round Draft Pick (minimal value filler)
11-Ryan Hollins (minimal value filler)
12- Nazr Mohammed (trade bait)
13- Sean May (trade bait)
14-Earl Boykins (minimal value filler)
15- Derek Anderson (minimal value filler)



100-Othella Harrington (minimal value filler)

[fatlever]

my rankings are a combination of my perceived trade value and who is the most irreplaceable

1. emeka okafor
2. jason richardson
3. gerald wallace - only lower than jrich due to concussions
4. raymond felton
5. lottery pick
6. adam morrison
7. jared dudley
8. sean may
9. nazr mohammad
10. matt carroll
11. jamereo davidson
12. 2nd round pick
13. ryan hollins

[Battery]

I think it's impossible right now to rank the roster until we know where we're picking in the draft. If we get a top 3 pick then we have so many different avenues we can take. But if we remain where we are, then I'd like to see what Brown can do with the roster the way it is now.

But in order of importance if everything remains the same, you would have to say

1.Felton
2.Okafor

We will only go as far as those 2 take us because everyone else on the roster you already know what you're getting. Without serious improvement from Felton first, then Okafor, no matter what anyone else does, we won't be making the playoffs.

And if Ammo comes back fit and healthy, I would prefer to trade Carroll over him. Dump Boykins because he serves no purpose.

[Uncbird]

I have to say I am a bit confused on why Wallace is rated so high. It seemed to me that the Cats played quite well when Wallace was hurt. They got off to a rough start without him but learned to play without him quite well down the stretch. That early rough patch included games @Den, @Phx, @Det, and LAL. Not sure he would have been one to push us over the edge in those cases. After a loss @Bos by 8, the team went on a run winning 5 in a row which included 3 playoff teams and GS which was very close to qualifying and certainly would contend in the East.

Not trying to argue that the Cats are better without Wallace but as far as being indispensible I dont know that I would put him in the top 3 with JRich, Okafor or Felton. Not to say he isnt better players than some on that list but depth at a couple of those positions is very weak.

[W_HAMILTON]

I have to say I am a bit confused on why Wallace is rated so high.

Because most people aren't foolish enough to look at our record towards the end of the season and use that as a reason to believe that we are a better team without Wallace.

If we were better off without Wallace, we would have won more than one game in February, a month where he was out injured most of the time.

Wallace was averaging over 20ppg this year until he got injured and had his minutes messed around with, and that alone makes him indispensable, seeing as how we've never had someone average 20ppg outside of Richardson, who we just added this year. Add in the fact he always busts his butt and is a great all-around player, and it SHOULD be obvious why he is more indispensable than most of our other players.

What SHOULD be our top three, they add things to this team that no one else does, and more importantly, no one else ever has.

[fluffernutter]

I guess I look at it differently.

If we traded GWall for Lamar Odom+picks/filler, for example (a semi-reasonable trade concept), we would be getting a slightly older player with a very different skill set. But I don't think we would actually be a worse team with LO. In this way, GWall is "not irreplaceable" in the same way Okafor might be (assuming he gets his act together next year). I can't see trading Okafor for anyone and getting better as a team (assuming sane trades, not give-aways). Similarly, if we traded JRich we would be screwed; there simply are not a lot of quality 3 point shooters who are actually athletic and able to board, assist, finish, drive...barring insane trades. That's where I am coming from.

[W_HAMILTON]

You can go down the list and say that for almost every single one of our players. The two you bring up, almost everyone had them above Wallace in their lists anyway. Who else is gonna take his spot?

On the team, he finished the season 2nd in points, 5th in FG%, 4th in 3pt%, 2nd in rebounds, 2nd in assists, 1st in steals, and 2nd in blocks. That's a helluva lot of production to make up. And that's after a "down" year for him.

If we have to go without him over the course of the season, instead of a small sample of games, it will be even more obvious.

[fluffernutter]

To be totally above board: I also have a personal desire to trade GWall (in a good fair trade).

It's not that fun watching him play, for me at least.

I'm too worried about his health, frankly. Watching him being strapped and carted off the court earlier in the year made me say to myself: "and this is fun? How, exactly?"

I honestly thought he was paralyzed or something.

The dude just scares me I guess. It's not relaxing for me. I don't want to worry about players so much - at least on a real level. The game - so what. A guy is paralyzed - not funny. It's one of the many reasons I also avoid football. Just don't like seeing people seriously injured for my "entertainment."

In theory, I'd like to trade GWall and then have him play on some soft squishy team like the Raptors where he would not be expected to go crazy every game. (if he can even play any other way).

[Uncbird]

With GWallace, I just dont think his skill set makes him indispensible with the group we have around him. Again it doesnt mean we are better as a team without him or is the worst player out of JRich, Felton or Okafor but I just dont think he fits very well.

We dont run enough to really take advantage of his athleticism and a lot of times that is what is getting him hurt. In the halfcourt his lack of a jumper hurts in a big way IMO. If we could surround him with a better shooting PG and had a 4 man that could really shoot it out to 20 feet than he would fit in perfectly.

No one can give us what Okafor does with his defense in the lane and rebounding. His offense wouldnt be extremely hard to make up for.

Felton is pretty much the only PG on the team. Do we really want to rely on Boykins for 48 minutes a night?

JRich is by far the most complete offensive player we have. We would be hard pressed to replace that.

IMO it comes down more toward the roster make up and depth as much as it does talent and production. Dudley and Carroll can pick up the minutes with less drop off than the other options at other positions. They dont play nearly the same way as GWallace but I would rather count on those 2 guys rather than Holllins and Davidson or Boykins and ?. Now depending on who is drafted the make up of the roster could very well change and make it a different decision but as it stands now, I think we could adjust better without GWallace than the aforementioned 3.

[W_HAMILTON]

So, if Felton misses next season, and Boykins is the only PG on the roster, he becomes more indispensable than Wallace?

Depth as a factor might be useful among similarly-talented players, but not when there is such a discrepancy in talent. Richardson/Okafor/Wallace are the best, most-talented players on our roster.

[Walt Cronkite]

1-Richardson: If he improves his defense he's mvp, as it is, he's the most indispensable for both the franchise and Brown. If Brown does what he normally does (and we all expect him to) then Richardson should be asked to carry the load offensively. If he shoots the rock like he did this season and improves in other areas (work ethic points to this not being a reach), we'll be money.

2-Okafor: obviously was peeved with how Vincent misused him. I expect to see Okafor play the best we've ever seen him play next season. I will be the first to call for Emeka's head if he disappoints next season, I'm inclined to write that he's the most important cog in Brown's system because of his ability to be the defensive anchor and an efficient offensive contributer.

3-Felton: Tough choice, but I think if we do well next season a lot of the credit will/should go to Raymond. His shooting percentage will go up, his bad pass tos will go down and he sinks or swims with his bbiq.

4-Wallace: It's hard to place him this low, but I think he'll still perform really well, but I think it's bound to become expected contribution.

5-Dudley: Seems like the perfect Larry Brown player.

6-Carroll: Depending on who we draft and the returns of Ammo and McMay, I expect for Carroll to be amongst the two best bench players on the team.

7-Mohammed: I don't know his history with Brown, but he's a great cog for right now and if he repeats this year's performance I'll think he's well worth his contract.

That's it. Hang on to McMay and Ammo. I like Davidson more than Hollins, but that's it for who I currently rank as indispensable.