Eastern Conf Forecast - ESPN

[ohara]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/stor ... tStandings

Surprised that ESPN is picking us 7th in the East. Did not think that they would give us credit for contending for back to back playoff appearances.

[fatlever]

so many teams below us have major question marks. i think at this point, we are the safer bet compared to the rest.

[Paydro70]

I think we have a good chance to make the playoffs and be viciously swept off the court again.

[JDuaneWayne]

by Paydro70 on Tue Aug 10, 2010 12:28 pm

I think we have a good chance to make the playoffs and be viciously swept off the court again.

That's probably -1000 in Vegas right now.

[ohara]

And right now, I think it is reasonaable to say that Indiana just leapfrogged Charlotte. This is getting to suck real bad now.

[ball teacher]

I have tried to write a post on this subject for the past couple of days, but for the sake of not offending my fellow Bobcat fans I've decided against posting it, however, with the trade that went down today, I have to get my rant in. The Bobcats front office has really screwed up this offseason. we have probably the worst bench in all of the NBA. Najera, Carroll, Mcguire, Diop, Nazr, DJ, Ups, Henderson and possibly Tyrus or Diaw. We appear to be content going into the season as a average to slightly below average team that is a injury away from being lottery bound, and the head coach appears to have been strong armed into keeping his job. What is going on with these guys? We'd have been better off keeping everybody from last year and giving them a full season and training camp to grow together than to let half the team go for a bunch of DNPer's. I'm not happy with the way this team is going, we lost 4 quality players and replaced them with one in Livingston, the numbers don't add up! We would've been better off getting Calderon and signing a cheap big man to play center, we could've gotten Shaq and that would've made this a dangerous playoff team, instead we got Dampier who's only three years younger and alot worse! You mean we couldn't have given N.O DJ and Ups for Collison? I don't mean to be negative, but this is starting to stink. If you want to win get quality players. There are a ton of talented players around the league, even in the d-league, why is this team so bad at judging talent? Anyways, pardon me for the rant, I just think this team is regressing instead of progressing.

[JDuaneWayne]

I agree with your post teach. I honestly wish we would have kept our team from the beginning of summer. We have dropped the ball all summer. Everybody supports the Tyson trade because MJ took a "gamble" well you don't gamble like that until you the other trade set up. Blunders this off-season.

1. Not exploring all options to trade for Beasley, we couldn't trade just a pick for him because we were over the cap (the hold from Tyrus) had we rescinded Tyrus we could have made this trade easily saving ~2.6 million (Tyrus 2yr/13.9mil vs. Beasley 2yr/11.3mil) this season with a team option for next then owning Beasley's bird rights for next year. Instead we overpaid Tyrus. (-25 point for FO)

2. We rejected the original Calderon/Evans deal (I almost pooped my pants when it was originally Diaw for Dwayne Jones & TPE.) In that deal we took on Calderon 3yrs/29.4mil Reggie Evans 1yr/5.0mil giving up Tyson 1yr/12.6mil Diaw 2yr/18mil. We lose 3.8mil over the course of the contracts but have a starting PG. (-200 points for FO compared to what we wound up actually doing)

3. Instead we trade Tyson 1yr/12.6mil & an arguably decent big man prospect Ajinca 2yr/3.7mil for Dampier (who will likely be cut or resigned for less price) Najera 2yr/5.8mil & Carroll 3yr/11.7mil so the salaries almost match up but talent doesn't and if we cut Dampier we currently have a large void at the 5. If we resign Dampier for less this deal becomes even worse. We've added 2 more friends for Diop to talk to at the end of the bench. Although it looks like right now he's going to see the floor for a lot of minutes this season. This looks real stupid with how Tyson played in USA scrimmage.

4. We had our eyes on CP3 so much we missed out on a potential upgrade at the point. You can't tell me NO wouldn't have done an Okafor/Dampier then DJ/Collison trade. I'm not a huge fan of it but we're better than we are now. (-10 points for FO)

5. Now we're pursuing a trade for a 4th PG (LB's fetish must be out of control) which would most likely have us trading DJ at his low point. I don't understand what we have seen in DJ comparing the 2 years that doesn't warrant at least giving him a chance to start first 1/4 of the year. (-50 points for FO because this just doesn't make sense)

So for all of you reading at home we could have potentially had this lineup with massive cap flexibility coming up this summer to make a trade for a legitmate 5.
Calderon/DJ/Livingston
Jax/Hendo
Crash/UPS/McGuire
Beasley/Evans
Nazr/Diop

We could have signed someone at the 5 back when players were available. I didn't want Shaq but whatever.

Instead we have this and limited flexibility that we seem to want to piss away more and more everyday.
DJ/Livingston/Collins
Jax/Hendo/Carroll
Crash/UPS/McGuire
Tyrus/Diaw/Najera
Nazr/Diop (I'm not including Dampier until he is cut then resigned)

Even our team with no trades and FA going down how it played out is better and we have more cap flexibility next summer.
DJ/Livingston/Collins
Jax/Hendo
Crash/UPS/McGuire
Tyrus/Diaw
Tyson/Nazr/Diop/Ajinca

This offseason has made me sick. I will always remain a fan but the FO is making it tough.
***EDIT*** How did I forget McGuire another one of our top level signings this offseason

[Bassman]

Interesting that after the 4 team trade, several writers are now picking Indiana as the 8th team (dropping the Cats out of the playoffs). Can you blame them? I think that pick of Indiana depends a lot on a healthy Grainger and several players contributing more than before, but that just demonstrates the level of value people are placing on Collison.

Unless we make a significant move or two, we won't get back to the postseason with our current group.

[SWedd523]

How do we drop from 7th to out of the playoffs because of Indiana's trade?

[daidalos]

Plus ... as I last checked the Pacers traded away their 2nd best scorer, and best rebounder.

I do not see how the Pacers became that much better with Collison ... they not traded Collison for Ford. They traded Collison for Murphy.

I think the top 5 are clearly better than us (Heat, Magic, Bulls, Celtics, Hawks)

Than there are they playoff bound teams ... in my order

Bucks, Cavs, Bobcats, Pacers


And there are the teams that would make a big suprise, if they would make the playoffs, but some of them have some chance ... Knicks, Wizards, Nets, 76ers

And at the end of the rankings there are the Pistons and the Raptors

So we clearly have a chance at the playoffs!

[Diop]

Cav's ? Really??

[JDuaneWayne]

Interesting that after the 4 team trade, several writers are now picking Indiana as the 8th team (dropping the Cats out of the playoffs). Can you blame them? I think that pick of Indiana depends a lot on a healthy Grainger and several players contributing more than before, but that just demonstrates the level of value people are placing on Collison.

Unless we make a significant move or two, we won't get back to the postseason with our current group.

I don't know that they're better than us currently. Is their future brighter? Yes. If I was them I'd look to trade Granger for a 4. Paul George is going to be a good possibly great player in the league. Their future starting 5 has potential & they have cap room.

[realfung]

i don't know if Bobcats will be in playoffs or not, cause Indiana got much better now.
And I think the Cavs is in the race

[Jaruff]

Collison does not put Indiana over the top. Many people are forgetting that they lost their starting PF. Look at their bigs on roster. Hansbrough is a huge question mark coming off of an ear infection that ended his season, Magnum Rolle is a prospect, Josh McRoberts, Solomon Jones, Hibbert, and Jeff Foster. That's their PF's and C's currently on roster.

If Hansbrough isn't ready to go, who's going to start? McRoberts? That doesn't make them a better team.