“Playing the right way” isn’t go to take you very far if you haven’t assembled ample talent through “rebuilding the right way.” I’ve been an advocate of blowing this team up and rebuilding the right way for the past two years. There were only a handful of posters who were of the same opinion
Instead of repeating myself to make my point, I’ll just relist a few of the posts I made below between September 9th and November 16th of last year when we acquired Jackson.
When I've stepped on the soap box on different occasions the past 9 months to bloviate about shortcut trades, this is exactly the sort of thing I've warned against.
If you look up bandaid trade in the dictionary you'll see pictures of >30s players like Brand and Jackson who will help teams in the shortrun, but only so far as making them less mediocre.
And in return for this slight improvement, a team relinquishes future cap flexbility for years and even worse, disqualifies themselves from possibly getting a high draft selection to select a real difference maker.
If Johnson and Browns singular goal is to make the playoffs as a #8 seed only to get swept and forfeit their draft pick , they can congratulate themselves because I think this gets the job done. But if Brown had any plans of having a team with the potential to grow and advance beyond the first round in the next half decade, I think he's just officially shot himself in the foot (he'd already blown a few toes off last year by consenting to take on Diop).
"If we were at a position to win the east and acquiring an aging veteran like Jax could have put us over the top, I’d have been gung ho. But, we’re not that team. Jackson has made us much better but the shortcut moves management has made have plateaued us into a first round caliber playoff team with no prospects of advancing any further for the next few years.
It’s the opportunity cost the short-cut route represents. For better or worse, Diaw, Jackson, Wallace and Diop represent our core for the next 3 years. Because of the money devoted to these players we have no capacity to make any significant FA acquisitions or, more importantly facilitate trades.
Also, by electing to be salary heavy and mediocre (in lieu of being salary light and bad), we miss out on the opportunities to draft the franchise type players like the Derek Roses, Tyreke Evans and Evan Turners.
As they make their playoff push this year, I’ll be pulling for them. But I recognize in the back of my head that in doing so, I’m living for the moment since, because of the shortcut moves they’ve made to taste some immediate success, they’ll be back in the lottery starting from scratch 3-4 years from now."
If this team's sole objective is playoffs or bust this year than this type of trade would do the trick.
Jackson is definitely a go-to scorer. However, it's important to remember that Jackson is turning 32 this season and will be under contract for several more years at astronomical number's until he's 35.
Personally, I would pass and opt to rebuild the right way. Yes, it will take a couple years but teams that try to take shortcuts in rebuilding can never hope to be good - only less mediocre. Just ask the Isiah Thomas run Knicks.
If Charlotte decides to throw caution to the wind with regard to their future and go for broke in their playoff quest, Jackson/Turiaf/Law for Radman/Diaw works salary wise. It'd be even nicer if we could get them to take Diop instead of Vlad but with his contract, that would likely be a deal breaker.
Felton / DJ / Law
Jackson / Hendo / Bell
Wallace / UPS / Graham
Turiaf / UPS
Chandler / Diop
This lineup could probably sneak in at a 7-8 seed but they'll be playing Boston, Orlando or Cleveland and there's no way in hell theyll be winning a series.
Good post glover. Alot of us share your sentiments. I still watch nearly every game but I'm becoming increasing distressed by the direction this franchise is going.
I was a die hard Hornets fan for their entire charlotte campaign. They were fiscally responsible and extremely well managed by their FO. There were a few seasons (one in the JL/Zo era [foiled by Jordan], one in the 54 win Rice Era [stopped by the Knicks] and one in the Mashburn era) when they had legitimate chances to make the NBA finals and actually compete for a championship. All of this, especially their potential to compete with anyone is what made them so compelling.
All of these elements are missing from the Bobcats organization. Long term, there is little to be excited about.
In my eyes, making the playoffs in and of itself isnt all that important. Context is critical: When the Hornets made the post season for the first time, the magic was palpable because it represented only the first step towards a greater goal. They had gradually and methodically been assembling young talent the previous few years and now had the potential to go deep. And they did just that, eliminating Boston and advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Contrast that to the Cats: a poorly managed, mediocre team who, if the stars allign for them, might be lucky enough to slip into an 8th seed by default in a top heavy east, only to be embarrassed/swept by Cleveland or Orlando, consequently forfeiting their draft selection in the following year's draft to only regress further into mediocrity the following season.
The sooner they blow everything up for picks a young talent to start over, the better.
The gist of these posts was that the Bobcats are leveraging their future to become slightly better in the short-run at the expense of ever improving enough in the long run to actually have the potential to advance in the playoffs; Instead of being patient, the front office and ownership mortgaged their future for instant playoff gratification.
As predicted, they snuck into the playoffs as a low seed and got manhandled by a team with vastly superior talent. Now that they’ve played their hand, we’re stuck with a mediocre 38-45 win caliber team that has no first round picks for the next two years, no significant salary cap flexibility and no hope of ever advancing past the first round because, quite frankly, they lack the talent.
In the past couple months, they’ve hurt their future prospects even more by trading away yet another future first rounder for Tyrus Thomas, who I fear they may end up overpaying to resign for fear of losing him for nothing.
It will be much harder now than it would have been 18 months ago – when they should have started the process had they been smart – but it is not too late to make the right decision and rebuild.
In the immortal word’s of Apollo Creed’s trainer to Stallone as Apollo is getting pummeled by Drago in the exhibition bout before subsequently drying in the ring: “somebody throw in the damn towel!”
