NBA Draft Thread

sounds like you have him confused with someone else.

 

For everyone who wanted Lopez, I don't think he is a very good fit here. First of all, he is by no means a dominant player, and not a great rebounder for a 7 footer. IMO, he's probably just going to be a midling player in this league, and as a pure Center, would have forced the Bobcats to play Okafor at PF. And in todays NBA, EO is a much better C than PF. He doesn''t have much of a game outside of 5 ft, and struggles covering the more athletic PF's that are in vogue in the NBA right now.

While Lopez would have been an upgrade to what we have right now, he's not the kind of player that's going to have much impact in making you a contender. If we didn't have EO, I might feel different, but with what we have (and the assumption we re-sign EO50) I don't think he would have given us anywhere near the value some seem to think.

 

Nothing wrong with the 9th pick. I don't think they wanted the Frenchy with the 20th pick, but all the guys they had their eyes on were gone at that point.

 

agreed

 

When the best center in the draft falls to you at #9 and you pass him up to take a 5'11" point guard then it is going to raise some questions. IMHO they needed help inside more than they needed an upgrade on Felton.

 

workouts are fine, but a pick at 20 for a kid that will stay in Europe to develop seems like a waste for a franchise that needed to inject some energy into an already small (to nearly non-existent) fanbase. Augustin will be fine, but Frenchy was a throwaway pick, one the Bobcats couldn't afford to make (unless somehow they get this kid in the states, and he's able to contribute.)

The newness of this organization is gone. They have to win. And they have to do it now.

 

the name Jerome Moiso keeps poping in my head...

 

They're saying that they expect Ajinca to come over right away, so who knows? I actually pulled up the Observer's website this morning to look for information on him. Silly me, expecting the fishwrap's sports department to have insight. Instead I got a three paragraph "Tom Talks" where Sorenson babbled about Hibbert.

 

But who would you have picked? Arthur, who reportedly has some sort of kidney problem that his team has been less than forthcoming in providing info on? Jordon, Kouskos (whatever), or any of the other "project" bigs that were available...and who Ajinca reportedly dominated in workouts, by the way. Or maybe another Guard like Chalmers, despite the obvious need up front since we went small at #9.

The point is that of everyone available, we had the choice of a project big, a big with serious medical concerns, or a redundant pick. And as of all the project bigs we could have chosen from, Ajinca clearly has the best and most complete skill set. Of course that's not even getting into the laziness and questionable work ethic of Jordan and some of the others.

Like everyone, I would have loved to get a highly skilled PF that is ready to start right away, but unfortunately, none were available. We had to go with what was there, and the more I see and read, the more I firmly believe that is Ajinca.

 

Not sure about that. Koufos was rated significantly higher by just about everyone, and he seems more NBA-ready. I'm not saying he'll definitely be better since I'm clueless about both, but it seems like a curious choice based on the public consensus.