Jordan will lose money at the poker table...

[Absinthe]

but won't go over the luxury tax for an NBA team he owns? What a great owner. To make matters worse, he's taken a gamble on Kwame not once, but twice. I'm sure he's been hard at work honing his skills and wowed Jordan with his cement hands and low basketball IQ.

I've lived in NC all my life, but I wish the Panthers and the Bobcats would both go. I'm sick of watching teams that are mediocre from top to bottom. Poor draft pick after poor draft pick tends to do that. Neither one of the owners are willing to spend money so the fans are going to be indifferent. Ever wonder why the attendance is so low at Bobcats games? Lack of winning. It's a talent issue. Larry Brown is a great coach, but he's not going to be able to work magic with a team that trots out Mohammed/Diop as their starting center. Oh, and a lazy, overweight Diaw. No one wants to come play here and the Bobcats will never land a huge free agent. Someone will point out that the Bobcats made the playoffs last year. Big deal. They also got raped by Orlando in the first round. This off season has been a total step backwards. Anyone that thinks the Bobs are better off this year than they were last year can have fun watching this team play in a half empty arena (or at home on their couch, considering they've finally worked out a %&@#ing cable deal).

[ohara831]

No need to sugar coat it. Tell us how you really feel.

[Absinthe]

I'm pretty pissed. I thought that maybe Jordan was going to be a step up from Bob Johnson, but I'm not so sure. It's a well known fact that Jordan is a huge gambler so I have no idea why he didn't try to trade someone for Dampier's contract. It was a luxury tax issue, plain and simple. I don't buy the, "there were no trades on the board" excuse for one second.

[Toocool]

It's okay. Let it all out. You'll feel much better.

I do admit this organisation has been through hell and back, but we're not so much in the deep end as we use to. I mean come on, the Fine Ham Biscuit himself and Jeff McInnis, it doesn't get any worse than that. And they're both gone. It's not so bad anymore, at times it's still really bad but it's not as bad as it use to be.

[BlockParty]

I'm pretty pissed. I thought that maybe Jordan was going to be a step up from Bob Johnson, but I'm not so sure. It's a well known fact that Jordan is a huge gambler so I have no idea why he didn't try to trade someone for Dampier's contract. It was a luxury tax issue, plain and simple. I don't buy the, "there were no trades on the board" excuse for one second.


They made the right decision, keeping Damp would've cost MJ $23M more than waiving him. $23M to a small market pro franchise is huge. If we average 15,000 people per night for 41 home games....that's $37/seat per game for everyone in attendance. It would've been irresponsible to stay in Luxury Tax land and have to fire 90% of the employees, and raise ticket and concession prices and not having a roster that is much different than what we have now.

Like it or not, it's a business, which means some of the decisions are made for the health of the business, not to make the talking heads in the media happy.

[ND22]

I don't buy the, "there were no trades on the board" excuse for one second.

I do. I feel fairly sure that Higgins and Jordan pursued both Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony using Dampier's contract and got turned away.

If you think about it, this off season can best be summed as a pure gamble. We traded away Tyson for a DUST chip and two mediocre players in hopes that we could package that chip for a player we really wanted. Nobody wanted the chip or the pieces offered along with it, thus the gamble failed. Also look at the trades they almost made. For a couple hours Boris Diaw and Tyson Chandler both thought they were Raptors.

My point is, the front office tried this offseason to "significantly" improve the team, and failed to do so. They weren't looking to make us a little better, they were trying to make us contenders, and because of that, I am not too upset with how things played out. Are we worse off than last year? Yes. Do I think its impossible for us to make the playoffs? No.

And one last thing, not sure if you read the article but the Bobcats had one of, if not the biggest season ticket holder renewals in the league this offseason. The fans are coming back. And to want the Panthers and Bobcats out of NC? It could be worse man, we could have the Lions, T-Wolves, or a handful of other bottom feeder teams that have no chance of ever becoming relevant.

[GoBobs]

as long as we don't get Jose I won't complain

[DY_nasty]

I will say this... The Tyson Chandler/Erick Dampier trade shows how bad our FO is when it comes to planning. You simply don't make that kind of move without another trade already in place. I see a lot of people saying that 'well, he almost got Carmelo or Paul' but the thing is, if the FO was efficient and forward thinking, they never would've jumped the gun.

That trade never should've been made without the endgame already clearly in sight.

[SWedd523]

I'd have done it regardless. They have the same contract and Dampier isn't any worse. If Tyson's contract could've been waived for nothing--like Damp's--I imagine they'd have cut him too.

[millst2]

I agree that the tyson for damp trade was good. Chandler has been injured for the past couple seasons, hell Darius miles is probably more durable than TC is.

I applaud the front office, for getting rid of some garbage to try and make us better. We aren't in any worse shape without TC

[QC Thundercats]

I've lived in NC all my life, but I wish the Panthers and the Bobcats would both go. I'm sick of watching teams that are mediocre from top to bottom.

You know, I will never understand statements like this... you wish your teams would go? Really?? Part of being a fan is you ride with your team through the highs and the lows, good times and bad. And if they ever win a title, it makes it that much sweeter for being along for the ride the whole time. And even if not, do you think Cubs fans wish their team would go? Browns fans? (Well, they may have changed their minds by now)

I am an NBA fanatic, loved the Hornets, hated Shinn - but once the team was stolen away, it felt very hollow. I still followed the NBA, even tried adopting a couple teams, but it wasn't the same. The passion of watching a game was completely gone, as I didn't really care as much if my adopted team won or not, or if I even caught their games. But once I got word of us getting a new team, I was all on board from the start, from occasionally checking out the construction feed for the new arena, to the unveiling of the team name and colors. I actually hated the name and the color scheme, but you know what, I had a team again, and it was good to feel that passion again for watching the games, no matter how frustrating it got over the years.

Watching the Bobcats finally develop into a playoff team was one of the best rides I've been on. Since Jordan took over, he's made enough important moves to improve the team's on court success, as well as its standing in the community and the league, that I will give him the benefit of the doubt of taking a couple gambles this off season. We actually aren't in as bad a shape as it seems. I look forward to the Augustin/Livingston tandem, and honestly, we just changed replaceable parts on our Frankencenter - I don't see it(them??) being worse than what was available to play at center last year.

[DY_nasty]

I agree that the tyson for damp trade was good. Chandler has been injured for the past couple seasons, hell Darius miles is probably more durable than TC is.

I applaud the front office, for getting rid of some garbage to try and make us better. We aren't in any worse shape without TCNever underestimate a guy playing for his job. Tyson on a contract year/Nazr/Kwame > Ghost of DUST past/Kwame/Nazr + Najera and Matt "Best seats in the house" Carroll.

The Dampier trade never needed to happen.

[Absinthe]

This off season has been a disaster. Tyrus Thomas is a headcase with attitude problems. Livingston had a terrible injury and is a shell of his former self. Kwame was a draft pick bust and a perennial disappointment. They get Dampier, only to wave him. They take back Carrol's shitty contract. Now they invited Crittenton who was involved with Arenas. It's like the Island of Misfit Basketball Players at this point.

[dvdbumpus]

This off season has been a disaster. Tyrus Thomas is a headcase with attitude problems. Livingston had a terrible injury and is a shell of his former self. Kwame was a draft pick bust and a perennial disappointment. They get Dampier, only to wave him. They take back Carrol's shitty contract. Now they invited Crittenton who was involved with Arenas. It's like the Island of Misfit Basketball Players at this point.

ILBIT.....I remember Crash and Jax were misfit players too. They're on minimum contracts and training camp invites so we'll hope we get lucky! Worst case scenario we cut them or don't sign em.