Bobcats on the clock

Nope. Even if you subtract Oden and Durant, obviously teams didn't believe that Wright was better than Horford, Conley, Green, Yi, or Brewer. Without the GS trade, there's no telling where Wright may have been picked since some recent mocks even had him falling just out of the top 10.

Okafor and Wright wouldn't complement each other well at all. If you don't have a true center, then you need to do what the Hawks did and put two solid defending PFs side by side to control the paint. They have that with Josh Smith and Horford, but Wright is a sorry defender. Not only is he slow with his feet, but he's obviously too skinny as well.

He's not a liability like Morrison. You have to remember that GS did not emphasize defense, so if you're judging him by his recent performance under Nellie, that's not representative of his abilities. Not that I expect him to be a plus defender, but I don't think he's "limited" either.

Dudley isn't a true SF. Well, he'll probably play there some, but he's more of a 'tweener who should get most of his playing time off the bench at PF. If May can handle being a backup C, then the situation works, although I'm not sure that you can count on May for anything.

Really? Did they trade one of their existing talents and I just missed it? The fact is that Jordan was right, and the Bobcats needed to add a veteran, not another project. Keeping Wright makes Charlotte the new Hawks, perpetually waiting for potential to develop.

 

I liked the Richardson deal immediately. Wright is not ready, and won't be for at least 2 years--he's not thick enough to handle the banging his position will command. No knock on Wright--he will be a good to better than average pro. he's just not what the Bobcats needed right now considering what they have (and hope to keep) in that spot.

 

I've never agreed with you more than this right here. For the last five years, the Hawks have hoarded cap space and draft picks. Eventually they had to trade two and some cap space for Joe Johnson, they still have plenty of both. The Bobcats have the potential to fall into that trap, since all things considered for equal money, most nba players will go elsewhere rather than Charlotte or Atlanta. That makes the cap space only valuable via trades and not for FA.

We recognized that and traded a duplicate asset for something we couldn't have gotten in FA or the draft. Assuming we can keep Wallace, we're a better team today by far than we would have been if we kept the 8 pick.

Three years from now that might not be the case, but it's a fair gamble imo.

 

Since we did not get a chance at one of the top two players in this draft I think trading our pick made a lot of sense. You have to spend some money to be a winner in the NBA. If they bring back Wallace and stay healthy they should definitely be in the playoffs.

 

agree that CHA has enough young players that need to develop. Wright may be a stud in 2-3 years but they need some more players who have already gone through the early part of the learning curve. love the trade for JR

 

Warriors Also Acquire $10 Million Exception

FYI, Warriors received trade exception Subscribe



Warriors Also Acquire $10 Million Exception

San Francisco Chronicle -

Along with Brandan Wright, the Warriors also acquired a $10 million trade exception from the Bobcats, they now become a major player in this summer's trade market. The Warriors now have the ability to absorb contracts up to $10 million while offering a team instant financial relief.

This could of course lead to another deal.

Chris Mullin acknowledged speaking to the Timberwolves this week, presumably about Kevin Garnett

 

Collin, you had some great points.

The problem is you shouldn't make dramatic trades and take on huge salary that bumps you from a sub-500 team to a barely .500, eighth seed, unless you are happy with being a bottom-barrell playoff team every year. You build through the draft (Okafor, Felton) and small free agent signings that pan out (Wallace, Carroll) -- then make the big trade or free agent signing(s) to take the team to the top tier (see Suns, Pistons, Spurs, Dallas, Miami, Chicago, etc). Doing this type of trade tends to lead to being a perpetual Knicks of the past 10 years.

Give me an example of a team that was out of the playoffs, traded a top 10 pick for a very good player (sub-All-Star caliber) and then all the sudden started making a lot of noise.

I know this will work out next year where the Bobcats will probably barely make the playoffs, but I think it was a little short-sighted.

 

If this is true, Jordan and his apologists (see above) just got hosed......

 

How can you include this in a trade? Is it equivalent to cash?

 

The Toronto Raptors traded Villanueva (a 7th overall pick) for T.J. Ford, and improved from 27-55 to 47-35. Richardson obviously isn't going to account for a 20 win improvement, but he fills a glaring need and could help the team improve by 15.

Who besides the Hawks has a team full of their own draftees? It's true in practically every sport that repeatedly building just through rookies gets you more losing seasons and more high draft picks to keep adding rookies.

Every single one of those teams you mentioned were more veteran-laden than young, and every single one of them had more players acquired through trades and free agency than their own draft picks.

My Hawks analogy rings true, while yours just comes across as desperate. Richardson is only 26, doesn't have a ridiculous contract, and isn't a malcontent. The Knicks wish they were able to trade for players like that.


PP:
Normally trades have to balance out under the cap. The exception allows teams to do that without including actual player salaries for that amount.