Off Season Musings (Trades,Draft & Free Agency)

[Elden Payton]

First up I must say that I apologise firstly for my last trade on the board & secondly for creating another off season thread.

This ones purpose is that I am keen to hear the members on our board discuss the current state & direction you think the team is heading in?

when we are going to the playoffs

which players are integral to the teams success & who are our draft & free agent targets?..

What realistic trades do you want made?

Also what do you project DJ & Ajinca's stats to be 2-3 seasons from now?

Firstly I believe the bobcats current state is building for the playoffs and we are only a few pieces away now (after a few set backs..cough..ammo..mcmay).. We should keep our starting five and view them and Augustin + Ajinca & our draft picks as core players for our future..

I may mention rebuilding every now & then but that is only because I have a deep down fear that we will end up like Atlanta(pre 08) or Golden State(since..forever).. But I have faith in LB and know that traditionally it takes players a year to adjust to his system and success usually follows in year 2.. With a few tweaks (involving our overall depth) we will be playoff bound this upcoming 2009-2010 season and for a while after that ..

DRAFT 09
Secondly I must say that the RealGM mockdraft version 7.0 is quite interesting, Derozan to us at 12? Personally I don't think he will fall that far but will accept that draft pick gladly.. we need a superstar talent(which he may be?)..Holiday at 4?(too high)..Harden at 6?(too low).. Jennings at 9?(Earl Clark to TO?).. What do you guys think?..

Personally I want Either Clark or Blair, both fill positions of need on our team and will help with depth immediately..If we snare Derozan at 12 he will fill the SG spot for the next 12 years(hopefully)..High risk/ high reward but tremendous value at 12..

Despite Bob Johnson's recent financial troubles I really want the team to buy into the late first round.. I believe 21.. 25.. & 28.. might be available.. with these picks you can look at guys still available(or have slipped) like James Johnson, Gani Lawal or Tyler Hansborough or maybe Ellington..

I am high on all of these players & I believe we should draft big here whether we draft Derozan,Clark or Blair with our first pick.. Danny Green, Jodie Meeks, Dionte Christmas, Derrick Brown & victor Claver are guys we should be looking at with our second round picks is my way of thinking..

TRADES

I want to do this trade

CHA-CLE

CHA Trades: Diop & Radmanovic

CLE Trades: Wallace & JJ Hickson

So Wallace is thinking about retiring?.. That effects Cleveland's Front Court depth & Dan Gilbert's wallet as Wallace will surely want a buyout..

So Cleveland trades Wallace to Charlotte(who will play a final year with LB?) for Diop & Radmanovic with Hickson Being the price to get rid of Wallace's massive buyout..

Diop will give them a legitimate 7 foot backup defensive center who has playoff experience.. and even Lebron will make him look good.. Radmanovic gives them legit depth at SF/PF and he would excel at PF there(honestly!) with the space Lebron will give him to get his shot off on the perimiter..

The only thing that could hang up this deal is how much Cleveland is committed to winning now(well next season ) and giving up Hickson and his potential down the road for depth now (before the dreaded 010 offseason) what do you guys think?

The second trade gets rid of Nazr..

CHA-OKC

CHA Trades Nazr Mohammed

OKC Trades Damien Wilkins (who won't opt out)

This is simply C depth for a team that needs it & Wing depth for a team that needs it.. Wilkins had a bad year.. I believe that if OKC drafts either Harden or Rubio they will do this.. they may even do it if they land Thabeet..

FREE AGENCY

This is where we land our SG/SF i believe.. of the unrestricted FA's I want with the MLE are..

Morris Almond(scoring from sg).. or..
Trevor Ariza(my favourite who offers the most) or..
Quinton Ross(Defensive sg/sf)
Yakhouba Diawara(as above)

So what do you guys think?

END RESULT

FELTON/AUGUSTIN
BELL/ARIZA?/WILKINS
WALLACE/ARIZA?/WILKINS
DIAW/BLAIR?/HICKSON/AJINCA
OKAFOR/WALLACE/HICKSON

What do you guys think of this team? we need a third PG obviously and I"ve only listed 13 players.. Ariza(who I want usto sign) and Augustin would be 6th and 7th men respectively with Blair(who I assume we'll draft?) and Wallace filling out the big man rotation which gives garbage/development minutes to our youngsters... I haven't chosen 2 second rounders.. this rotation looks strong without them too

What do you think of my musings?? I look forward to hearing from you.

[fatlever]

morris almond and damien wilkens... interesting names. would be keen to add either as some depth at the wing. better than cartier.

i think ariza has found a home in LA

kinda want to hang on to nazr now that he is getting mad and working out. a fired up nazr and an improved diop gives us some flexibility if we decide to use okafor to get a high scoring wing or pf.

big fan of danny green with our first 2nd round pick

dont get too excited about the idea of trading into the 1st round. i dont see that happening 2 years in a row.

[Rich4114]

If we trade with Cleveland, then I want Varejo coming back.

As far as late 1st rounders and early 2nd rounders... don't expect much. Not even worth it trading back into the 1st round in this draft - it's weak. Be better off trading stuff away for picks next year (a deeper draft which we've got no picks in).

[Elden Payton]

Thanks Fats.. I'm glad you've got interest in ALmond & Wilkins, they could contribute here in our biggest position of need.. Ariza could be lured away with the promise of a starting job next season & a few touches..haha.. Not sure if I agree with you about Nazr.. Although I do agree with you on Diop.. He is quite servicable as far as backup bigs go.. I'm thinking it's only natural that he takes timeto acclimatise to LB after mostly playing for offensive coaches in his career..

Rich4114 what do you imagine we give them for Varejao in a S&T? He brings energy and what else? I would rather trade into the late first round and get Psycho T as our energy big.. That would be much cheaper..

What makes you say that this draft is weak?.. Following the words of the so called experts?.. As far as I'm concerned I would rather take advantage of the GM's who have dispensable picks & also believe this draft is weak.. There will be a lot of surprises in terms of the number of quality players/starters to come out of this draft..

[Takuya Kimura]

Again I love Marquis Daniels

14m for 3 years would be terrific.

[Elden Payton]

I'm thinking that is a little too much for Marquis Daniels.. I probably wouldn't give him 12m for 3 years.. Although he could play third PG as well as backup SG?

[Elden Payton]

I'm keen to hear from you guys how long you think until DJ becomes our starting PG? (if we don't trade him)

How many people groaned when we drafted Alex Ajinca over Slim Shady Darell Arthur?

[chrbal]

Before his rookie contract is up. I honestly have no idea.

As far as the Alexis pick, I was kind of hoping for Kostas Koufos (true center) or Ryan Anderson (Offensively skilled PF without a food obsession).

There is talk that Varejao might opt out. Hes a "Super-flopper" (Thanks Vlade Divac), but on the Bobcats it would be less annoying. Either way Bobcats could really use him, but I don't think he should be a starter.