Email
Print
Bobcats must wait for early chips to fall
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 25, 2009
CHARLOTTE - Louisville's Terrence Williams, come on down! ...
And if he's gone, how about Duke's Gerald Henderson? And if those two are off the board, it might be Wake Forest's James Johnson or a trade down.
Ideally, the Charlotte Bobcats would use tonight's No. 12 overall pick to select Williams, a versatile shooting guard-small forward to back up Raja Bell. Henderson also could fill that role. Either or both could be left
when the Bobcats turn in their draft card.
Three teams in the top11 figure to be key to who's left: Minnesota at Nos.5 and 6, Toronto at No.9 and New Jersey at No. 11.
Here's the deal:
The Timberwolves made a major trade Tuesday, acquiring the fifth pick from the Washington Wizards. There's
been talk they could use their abundance of picks (four during the first round) to move up to No.2 and select Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet.
If the T'Wolves keep those picks, they figure to rebuild their backcourt, maybe with Arizona State shooting guard James Harden and whichever point guard new general manager David Kahn likes best.
Toronto, at No. 9, is the wild card because there seems no consensus within that front office. The Raptors have scrambled a bit during the past two days, bringing in Johnson and Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn for second looks. The Raptors could move in any direction, maybe taking Henderson or Southern California's DeMar DeRozan.
With no shooting guards or small forwards under contract, it's logical the Raptors would want a wing player.
Then there are the Nets: Williams, Henderson or a point guard makes great sense, considering their needs.
New Jersey has plenty of power forwards. But North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough was so impressive duringa workout this week that the Nets might disregard what they have and grab him.
That would just about clinch the Bobcats having access to Williams or Henderson, and possibly both. Williams, because of his ball handling and ability to play multiple positions, figures to get the nod here.
But what if they're both gone? Johnson had a second workout Wednesday with the Bobcats in what looked like preparation for Plan C. The other alternative, if both Williams and Henderson are gone, might be trading down: The Chicago Bulls seem receptive to packaging the Nos.16 and 26 picks into one lottery pick.
But in the NBA, where picks in the 20s sometimes never become rotation players, swapping quality for quantity is risky business.
Email
Print
