Strategy moving foward?

[dnbman]

Assuming no magical trades pop up, what do you think we should be doing over the next couple of years?

There's strong speculation we'll buyout Diaw. (Shame we couldn't get SOMETHING for him.)
We've got a few months to figure out if DJ is in the long terms plans, which doesn't seem likely. If that's the case, do we try to make a sign-and-trade? Cut our financial obligations and let him walk?
Obviously, we are building cap room to eventually get talent, but what do we need this off season, if anything?

[MadBOBCATfanUK]

Draft day trades? and then wait for the Caroll, Diop, Maggette contracts to run out.

[dav7z]

I think we are going to need a sevicable small foward . If we get lucky and get A Davis. Maggs may continue to start next season but i think we are real weak at that position . We all so have to address a shooting guard to play in frunt of or behind Hendo.
With Smack, MULLY, A Davis and DJ White i feel we should be strong at the 4 and 5 positions. If we end up going Barnes we can address a big in 2013. I would love to make a serious run at Harden in 2013 . I feel he could be a #1 option for us . Add him to Smack and Kemba and either Davis or Barnes would make a contending team . I know it would still need fillers but they could be very very good.

[Zoolander]

Now, I'm very interested in all this supposedly bountiful cap space that we can potentially free up. It would be nice to have at least one superstar wanting to come here...

[Chevalier au Lion]

If we get Davis in the draft...

What about if in the free agency G.Wallace and CJ Miles??

Kemba/ ¿?
CJ Miles/Hendo/Reggie Williams
Wallace/Maggette/Reggie Williams
Davis/DJ White/Tyrus
Bismack/Mullens

And in 2013, when Maggette, Diop, Carroll, Williams expire contracts... we sing Harden!!

Kemba/ ¿?
Harden/Hendo
Wallace/CJ Miles/Derrick Brown
Davis/DJ White
Bizmack/Mullens

ohhh... How beautiful is dream...

[dnbman]

If we get Davis in the draft...

What about if in the free agency G.Wallace and CJ Miles??

Kemba/ ¿?
CJ Miles/Hendo/Reggie Williams
Wallace/Maggette/Reggie Williams
Davis/DJ White/Tyrus
Bismack/Mullens

And in 2013, when Maggette, Diop, Carroll, Williams expire contracts... we sing Harden!!

Kemba/ ¿?
Harden/Hendo
Wallace/CJ Miles/Derrick Brown
Davis/DJ White
Bizmack/Mullens

ohhh... How beautiful is dream...

My guess is that Wallace will never be a Bobcat again. As for free agents, I just hope they're saving all of this money to try and make a really big splash.

[spectre]

What big FA is available this offseason?

My position (since we decided to tank) is not bring in anyone for no more than 2 years unless it's a absolute no brainer...and under no circumstances overpay anyone. Let the young guys grow, hopefully get a few more wins but still get a top 5 pick next year. Possibly repeat that for yet another year. If the right guy becomes available who is worth the money and is a game change then by all means go for it...but AFTER next season.

If we're gonna tank...we need to REALLY do it right. I don't want to be back here in another 8 years.

[marino13882]

Draft Davis, sign Jamison, amnesty Tyrus.

[dnbman]

What big FA is available this offseason?

My position (since we decided to tank) is not bring in anyone for no more than 2 years unless it's a absolute no brainer...and under no circumstances overpay anyone. Let the young guys grow, hopefully get a few more wins but still get a top 5 pick next year. Possibly repeat that for yet another year. If the right guy becomes available who is worth the money and is a game change then by all means go for it...but AFTER next season.

If we're gonna tank...we need to REALLY do it right. I don't want to be back here in another 8 years.

I agree completely, but I want a little more fight in my team. It's too bad guys like Sheed wouldn't play for one year contracts.

[Chevalier au Lion]

What big FA is available this offseason?

My position (since we decided to tank) is not bring in anyone for no more than 2 years unless it's a absolute no brainer...and under no circumstances overpay anyone. Let the young guys grow, hopefully get a few more wins but still get a top 5 pick next year. Possibly repeat that for yet another year. If the right guy becomes available who is worth the money and is a game change then by all means go for it...but AFTER next season.

If we're gonna tank...we need to REALLY do it right. I don't want to be back here in another 8 years.

Eric Gordon restricted
O.J. Mayo restricted

I think we really have choices to sing one of them to the SG.

[tondi]

I would build the team around the guys under contract next season and hopefully Davis. That means we suck again next year and probably end up with another top 5 pick. Add in Portlands 1st rounder and all of the cap space we will have after next season and we should be positioned to bring in a impact player. That means (assuming we draft well) that the season after next we have a core of Kemba, BB, Davis, Hendo, 2 2013 1st rounders, and 1 or 2 big money FA's we sign after next season. That SHOULD be a competent, competitive, even possibly playoff, team.

That will require us to suck ass once again next season but after that we should really start to improve if we make good decisions.

[dnbman]

Eric Gordon restricted
O.J. Mayo restricted

I think we really have choices to sing one of them to the SG.

The problem is that those aren't franchise guys and they have little FA competition. Inevitably, they're going to get bigger contracts than they deserve. Meanwhile, we stay bad to mediocre and don't make significant strides towards our long term goal of fighting for a championship.

[spectre]

I agree completely, but I want a little more fight in my team. It's too bad guys like Sheed wouldn't play for one year contracts.

I understand...it's kicking my ass too.

Jamison would be a good acquisition and I think he'd help keep the others competitive. Hopefully Kemba and the coaching staff can fix his shot (did you hear them say last night they're going to "break down" his shot in the offseason?) and we'll get to see Smack for a whole freaking year after a summer of improving...how great is that going to be!

Hell, some additions by subtractions will make us better too. Oh...and we'll get a top 4 pick this year!

We'll be more entertaining for sure next season.

[gamecocksmitty4]

Well, since you asked, this is what I would do...

-Get rid of Tyrus Thomas
-Draft Anthony Davis, Perry Jones III, John Jenkins in 2012 (I know we only have two picks. Figure that part out when it comes)
-Sign Chris Paul and Stephen Curry in 2013
-Draft Michael Kidd Gilchrist (hopefully he comes out) in 2013

Paul/Walker
Curry/Henderson/Jenkins
MKG(or whoever we sign or draft...or PJIII)/Henderson
Anthony Davis/PJIII
Bismack/???

Fill out the question marks with solid role players through free agency and we've got a solid team.

[Dcarnys]

Chris Paul's not going anywhere. Steph Curry though is a potentially different story.

[bes628]

lol at waiting 3 years to rebuild. This is fucking basketball..it should not take that long. Money is king, fucking stop being frugal.

[dnbman]

lol at waiting 3 years to rebuild. This is fucking basketball..it should not take that long. Money is king, fucking stop being frugal.

The last couple of years have definitely proved money is not king. Top players are taking less money to play with each other for championships. Just because you have a lot of money doesn't mean you can go buy championship talent.

Our biggest issue a few years ago was doing just what you're saying: spending a bunch of money on players that we didn't need to. As for it not taking that long, there's a reason why you see about 8 teams year in and year out and everybody else goes through cycles: the storied franchises get stars easily while everyone else takes a few years to build a competitive team.

And you don't wait 3 years to rebuild, you rebuild now and wait for the right time to pay for free agents.

[DashGlobal]

All I know is I want Davis in the draft this year

And suck again next yr and get the number one pick and draft Shabazz Muhammed. All star SG and we will be SET!

[adam187]

lol at waiting 3 years to rebuild. This is fucking basketball..it should not take that long. Money is king, fucking stop being frugal.

yeah that really worked for the knicks these past 10 years.

[bes628]

yeah that really worked for the knicks these past 10 years.

Not my fault they choose the wrong personnel. Im not saying spend money in stupid situations.

[superb1]

Right now if we did have an abundance of cap space but the team we sport now, who would be lining up to sign here. But if we build some and have a core of players then the superstars may give a second thought. like it was said elsewhere, Rome was not build in a day.

[Chevalier au Lion]

What about Josh Howard??

He can be helpful with a small contract like he has currently in Utah. He´s veteran and born in North Carolina. He can be a great backup if they sing a SF with a certain level.

Another veteran that is making a good season is Tinsley. Good job from the bank... and he´s expiring too. He could teach Kemba and play good minutos being a backup.

[dav7z]

Do we have to sign any free agents next season to get over cap mimium next season if DJ leaves ? Spectre , Sweed, Too , Help on this one . Because i don't see any atainable free agents coming out this season worth a max deal who would consider hear ?
Hardon , Curry, both look nice the next season ?

[millst2]

We have a few needs we could possibly get done this offseason via free agency. I may be looking at slightly old data ( some of these may have inked new deals) but i think these are a few people we could have a chance at getting.

Center:
Chris Kaman
Spencer Hawes
Greg Oden ( risky but should be cheap )

Power Forward:
Brandon Bass
Jared Jeffries
Louis Admundson
Kenyon Martin

Small Forward:
Steve Novak
Matt barnes
Sam Young

Shooting Guard:
Eric Gordon
Landry Fields ( think he is gone even though ny'ers love him, he is expendable now JR SMith is in knicks uni)
Josh Howard
Danny Green ( but doubtful pop lets him go)

Point Guard:

This is tough, it would be nice to overpay for a veteran like Kidd or Nash to come in and show kemba how to read the floor. But they would want a longer term deal i would think.

===

The thoughts was to have guys that play on both sides of the ball while also drafting younger energetic players. I am tired of old lazy ass diop, diaw style players. And bringing in the old guard players a'la jackson, maggete . If we are going to rebuild snatch a few of the guys this summer in free agency, they are making next to nothing now we just need to pay them well enough to consider us over others, get rid of some of this garbage we have on our bench now, bring in guys that are young, willing to learn and play defense.

[SWedd523]

Do we have to sign any free agents next season to get over cap mimium next season if DJ leaves ? Spectre , Sweed, Too , Help on this one . Because i don't see any atainable free agents coming out this season worth a max deal who would consider hear ?
Hardon , Curry, both look nice the next season ?

We might, the minimum is something like $48-50 million right?

Let's say next year's minimum is $50 for ease of math.


If DJ goes to another team, Diop pick up his PO, Carroll waives his ETO, and we retain White through his QO. Then we're sitting at around $39 million.

If we get the #1 draft selection, that's $4.286 million (Davis), throw in a second rounder (if we keep him) for about 800k (Machado). Then we resign UPS to his typical contract, (~800k). That puts us at 13 players for something between 44 and 45 million.

This is how our team would look


Kemba/Machado
Hendo/Hammer/Reggie
Maggette/UPS
Davis/Tyrus/White
Bismack/Mullens/Diop


That means we'd HAVE to spend about 5 million.


Keep in mind we're still linked to Jamison, so he'd likely bite into a few of those remaining dollars. After him, I'd look at a vet PG like Kirk Hinrich, Aaron Brooks, or Randy Foye.


We also still have the amnesty that we could use so that would free up a lot of cap depending on who it is.



One thing is for sure, we're in for a very busy and entertaining summer!

[spectre]

Pretty sure the minimum salary (just like the tax) isn't calculated til the end of the season. Theoretically we could stay right with the squad Swedd laid out and then pick up a MLE guy at next year's deadline. That way we'd only pay a prorated amount next year...but for the calculation purposes the whole salary would count.

That minimum salary isn't really a big concern. I've seen people try and use that for justification to overpay DJ...and it's just not credible. Hell, even if we never picked up that extra guy the difference would just get split amongst the current group on the team.

[anton273]

If only we can get rid of diops 7mill contract!!! His agent must be laughing hard all the way to the bank with that deal!

[dav7z]

With the draft picks , and say 4mil for Jamison. We should at least be bottom feeding the minium .My main concern is we got to start getting assets out of the Feltons and DJs or we never going any where. It could be DJ , Daiw, Felton didn't have 1st round pick value without taking back trash like we did in the past.

Im hoping OKC is running out of $ after signing Westbrook . And Harden is ready to start and be a #1 o2 option on a max deal.

We would be ready with Kemba, Harden, Hendo , Davis , Smack . A early 2013 pick and Portlands pick . To go along with a couple fillers we have now ,

[spectre]

Im hoping OKC is running out of $ after signing Westbrook . And Harden is ready to start and be a #1 o2 option on a max deal.

We would be ready with Kemba, Harden, Hendo , Davis , Smack . A early 2013 pick and Portlands pick . To go along with a couple fillers we have now ,

I would LOVE to go into next season with that starting 5.

Is Harden worth the max? Would that be a decent gamble?

[dav7z]

I would LOVE to go into next season with that starting 5.

Is Harden worth the max? Would that be a decent gamble?
Yea im kinda betting the house on him but i think his upside is much more than J Johnson, R Gay,. I put him in right up thair beside Mello with a better attitude and defence. Very close to a sure thing. All so the Cho thing might give us a better chance of landing him.

[anton273]

HARDEN is a beast... IMO he gets amazing numbers on a team that has 2 ball hoggers and shooters...

Will he thrive as the top dog? Yes he will, i think he has the right mentality and potential to be a star...

Just a lil comparison with Hendo this year...

PPG : 17.0 - 14.1
RPG: 4.2 - 4.1
APG: 3.7 - 2.1
FG%: .484 - .454
FT: .839 - .700
3pt: .380 - .276
mpg: 31.9 - 33.0

Compare him to most Starting sg's... his numbers are a littlle lower due to less minutes but his %'s are higher..


He would be amazing for any team where he will be free to take the reigns

[JohnnyTimmons]

Even not being COMPLETELY sold on Harden's defense numbers I would give him upwards of 12 a year to be my starting shooting guard. Easy.

[JohnnyTimmons]

Oooh I just got excited about the hypothetical lineup of
Kemba
Harden
Davis
Biyombo
(True 7ft post presence center gotten... somehow)
Henderson as super sixth

[adam187]

personally, i like:

kemba
harden (or beal)
shabazz
davis
biyombo

c'mon draft luck!

[JohnnyTimmons]

Adams team beats my team.

[MadBOBCATfanUK]

personally, i like:

kemba
harden (or beal)
shabazz
davis
biyombo

c'mon draft luck!
we'd also have plenty of cap to go after anyone we want to play on the bench or a new PG if kemba isn't up to the task

[superb1]

going forward next season if we got A. Davis and we still had TT, how do justify not starting TT when he is making 8+. If we did not amnesty TT or wasn't able to trade him, would fans and FO be happy with him off the bench. Granted he may start the season maybe but Davis will eventually start. I'm not saying he should start but I think I would have a problem paying that much for a backup. Basically he would have to be moved somehow. Any ideas or input

[Bosnian-Bobcats-Fan]

going forward next season if we got A. Davis and we still had TT, how do justify not starting TT when he is making 8+. If we did not amnesty TT or wasn't able to trade him, would fans and FO be happy with him off the bench. Granted he may start the season maybe but Davis will eventually start. I'm not saying he should start but I think I would have a problem paying that much for a backup. Basically he would have to be moved somehow. Any ideas or input

i think we have to amnesty tyrus thomas.....no matter how much the FO likes him you cant justify paying him that much money for how much production hes giving us

[dnbman]

i think we have to amnesty tyrus thomas.....no matter how much the FO likes him you cant justify paying him that much money for how much production hes giving us

Amnesty is only cap relief. We'd still be paying him, which is why he's still a Bobcat.

[superb1]

i think we have to amnesty tyrus thomas.....no matter how much the FO likes him you cant justify paying him that much money for how much production hes giving us
I know, we see it that way but I wonder if the FO will do it. For some reason I don't think they will

[dnbman]

I know, we see it that way but I wonder if the FO will do it. For some reason I don't think they will

They won't because they'd still be paying his entire salary unless another team picked him up. The Bobcats would still owe the difference of the original contract if TT was signed for, say, $4M/year.

That's why we haven't cut anyone yet. We'd still have to sign another player and then be paying both guys.

[Chef]

I know, we see it that way but I wonder if the FO will do it. For some reason I don't think they will

because they still have to pay him. he just doesn't count against the cap. so unless we are going to use the cap space (which we won't) there is no point in amnestying.

[superb1]

that's why I say he wont be amnestied. I understand how it works. But do you let him backup Davis making the salary he makes. It does not sit well with me. Do we start him over Davis or move one to maybe SF (moving Corey) i dunno. Seems like no choice.

[dnbman]

that's why I say he wont be amnestied. I understand how it works. But do you let him backup Davis making the salary he makes. It does not sit well with me. Do we start him over Davis or move one to maybe SF (moving Corey) i dunno. Seems like no choice.

I would never make a decision on playing time based on how much a player is payed. It's unfortunate that your highest payed players aren't your best, but there's no way you start inferior talent just because they cost more.