Trade Raja

[Chrystos]

The more I see Raja bell the less I like of him. Yeah sure he can defend but he can't score. I remember the last time the Bobcats played the rockets, Raja bell took alot of shoots and he missed most of them. He might be the main reason why the bobcats are the worst scoring team.
They should trade him for J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets. Everyone may
disagree with me. But I just wanted to get my point across.>:(

[Slam]

The more I see Raja bell the less I like of him.
Then you need to see him some more.

You trade Raja for someone like JR Smith and our collective team IQ and defense drops by around 100.

[bing!]

Dumbing-down every marketable facet of today's life seems to be a hit amongst the crowd, why not intellectually lessen our SG position?

^ a blatant joke.

[hbk999]

The more Raja I saw the more I LIKED him. Want proof of why Bell was so important? Look at what D-Wade did in the last 1.5 quarters of the game where Bell went out? He was unstoppable,had done little until Bell left. We lost that game and effectively that ended our playoff chances. He takes good shots,knows his limitations,is a smart hard nosed player,and plays solid defense (see KOBE in Charlotte). I don't get the Raja hate!!!

[BETCATS]

The more I see Raja bell the less I like of him. Yeah sure he can defend but he can't score. I remember the last time the Bobcats played the rockets, Raja bell took alot of shoots and he missed most of them. He might be the main reason why the bobcats are the worst scoring team.
They should trade him for J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets. Everyone may
disagree with me. But I just wanted to get my point across.>:(

Hello Chrystos.
You appear to be new, welcome!
Always nice to have one more Bobcat fan on these forums
I found your picture...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j76/TempestReborne/godsock.jpg

[Weezy21]

The more I see Raja bell the less I like of him. Yeah sure he can defend but he can't score. I remember the last time the Bobcats played the rockets, Raja bell took alot of shoots and he missed most of them. He might be the main reason why the bobcats are the worst scoring team.
They should trade him for J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets. Everyone may
disagree with me. But I just wanted to get my point across.>:(

Naw i can kind of see what your saying...i too think he has a problem with scoring...yes he can defend but we need points out of a SG as well...thats why i would love for us to upgrade that position this offseason with a sure scorer...maybe have raja start the games like donte jones does for the nuggets, but have our better scoring SG come in half way into the the first quarter an start hitting lights out....im not sure who that could be...or if we were to get iverson (waiting for people to back out of this thread the second i mention that name), we could have bell as our 6th man

as for J.R. smith, il pass....i think chris webber said it best when he called smith Fools Gold...it only looks good haha...JR can be very inconsistant

[ohara831]

Welcome Chrystos! Glad to have you on board! I look forward to reading more of your posts. Although I do disagree with you on your first one. Raja proved to be one of the shining points of this season. Unless we get someone of significantly greater value back, I cant see trading him right now. it is not just his defense and scoring ability that makes him valuable. He is a leader, and a good presence in the locker room. You cannot put enough value on someone like that. Look at what happened to Detroit when they shipped off Billups. Leadership and team cohesion is something that you have to be very careful about toying with when you are trying to get better.

[spectre]

Hello Chrystos.
You appear to be new, welcome!
Always nice to have one more Bobcat fan on these forums
I found your picture...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j76/TempestReborne/godsock.jpg

:hysterical:

[teej]

Chrystos, I understandyour point, and it was a point of frustration for all of us, but trading Raja lowers the team's leadership, defense, and fan base in one step. And according to some poll Ziggy posted way back, the team's sex appeal :o

This is why we want someone like Terence Williams, James Harden, or Wayne Ellington, even Gerald Henderson, who can knock down a three with relative consistency. Or sign AI :D Raja is getting older, and wore himself out on D so he didn't have the legs to play offense. And he kept us in that Houston game, if it wasn't for Yao making the shot of his life we win. But I see your point, you're just going about it the wrong way.

[Marvel]

Oh no you didn't..........oh no you didn't........if there's 1 player who gives Kobe any problems scoring it's Raja.We absolutely need to keep Raja as long as he's in the NBA playing ball

[Keetch]

Actually Raja Bell is the one guy on this team I would not consider trading. He's a true team leader on a team desperate for leadership and a great defensive player. I think his shooting is just fine, even from the 3. He didn't frustrate me at all. The only negative tendency I noticed was a need to play a few games after a lay off, before finding his range.

And no, a marginal rookie is not going to do any better, not for a couple years anyway.

[Demon DeaCat]

While I think the initial post underappreciates Raja's value to the team, I do agree that his position is probably the one most in need of an upgrade. I'm not necessarily advocating that we trade Raja, but we also can't ignore the trade value he possesses as an expiring contract. If the right deal came along we'd obviously need to consider it. I'd also be fine if we kept him, but I'd prefer to see him used as more of a situational player, primarily as a defender, with a more prolific scorer (e.g. Iverson) getting the lion's share of the minutes at the #2. Raja would be the perfect guy to bolster our weak second unit.

[Marvel]

Why consider a trade when he's got 1 year left,and he is our best perimeter defender?:hypo: Like i said i want him to stay with Charlotte as long as he's playing ball in the NBA,no trades nadda

[b-nukle]

I would try to trade Bell for Mickael Pietrus (http://www.realgm.com/src_playerfile/838/mickael_pietrus/). He's been real big for Orlando in the playoffs. I hope the magic would take this trade straight up.

[Slam]

I would try to trade Bell for Mickael Pietrus (http://www.realgm.com/src_playerfile/838/mickael_pietrus/). He's been real big for Orlando in the playoffs. I hope the magic would take this trade straight up.
What motive would there be for them to?

[teej]

What motive would there be for them to?

None that I know of...other than they want D? Which they don't

But it'd be cool to have another Frenchy, but I'm worried he's just in a a phase, and Raja's still worth more to us than he is.

[spectre]

If we did that trade our team's collective BBIQ would drop 100 points.

[ohara831]

If we did that trade our team's collective BBIQ would drop 100 points.

Is that because Raja is so smart, or MP is so dumb?

[spectre]

Is that because Raja is so smart, or MP is so dumb?

Both! :cool:

I remember from a couple years back the GSW fans were always talking about his low BBIQ. Now I'll admit I haven't watched all the games in the playoffs, but in the ones I have seen Pietrus would make a very good play (block, hit a big 3, etc.) but then he'd follow it right up with a "WTF" moment. I remember twice in one game he took off at the top of the circle on a drive and forgot to dribble, resulting in two bad TOs (bad because they killed momentum, unopportune times).

If anything we need to continue to raise the team's BBIQ.

[ohara831]

Thank you for that explanation. I agree with you totally.

[WAM9]

...on Raja Bell.

I also agree that the original posters underestimates the value of Raja to the team. As others have pointed out, he brings an extremely high level of intensity that I really love and he is clearly our best perimeter defender. You don't always get heart like Raja has and you certainly don't get the commitment it takes to guard on the perimeter in this league from that many other players.

While there was a good point made about not ignoring his trade value and expiring contract, I am certainly in the camp that he is worth more to us than another team would be willing to give up for him. If someone really came with a great deal then so be it but it would really have to be leaing our way for me to trade Raja.

Ultimately, I believe he brings much more to the table than you can measure on any stat sheet. I am not for trading Raja.

[110oldeast]

I don't agree that Raja needs to be traded, but I would like to see him regain his deadeye form as a shooter in the halfcourt. His shot began to leave him in his last stretch of play last year. I like Raja's defense and tenacity but agree with the OP that we need a shot in the arm offensively at the SG spot. We need a guy who can get offense, but we also need someone to be able to consistently knock it down from the wing. That's what separates the teams who advance in the playoffs vs. those teams who don't. All the athleticism in the world seems sexy, but when you get to the playoffs and can't knock down the outside jumper (Philly and Atlanta), it usually keeps you from taking that next step.

The idea that the jumpshot is a bad thing is a myth that needs to be dissolved. You don't rely completely on it. However, in the current era of quasi-zone helping defense, in order to run efficient offense, you need to be able to knock it down from the wings and spread things out. That's what helps teams like Orlando and LA. Trevor Ariza's new ability to knock down the 3 in addition to being athletic and playing strong defense has been HUGE in the Lakers run. It's something that helped Boston last year when they could put out any combination of Allen, Pierce, Posey, and House. Floor balance and spreading is not simply a mental exercise. It takes physical skills that make teams pay when they help off or double a player.

The Cats need a SG who can put the ball in the basket IN ADDITION TO Raja if possible. But as importantly, the Cats need Raja to be able to knockdown shots with consistency. JR Smith's skillset would be great although his BBIQ definitely is not as ideal. Pietrus and Ariza are nice wing options although they are both more SFs and not realistic acquisition opportunities, IMO.

I am interested in if we make a run at Toronto's Parker as he can shoot and put the ball on the floor while having decent size.

[ALuhrs704]

raja bell can score, his jumper is silky. he doesnt need to be a leading scorer every night, and he certainly can fill the void when were not getting emeka the ball in the post or felton/wallace/diaw are having an off game. like everyone else said getting rid of raja will ultimately hurt this team that needs some vet leadership, and players that have actually played in games that counted.

[Ghost Kat]

Not a good idea to trade Raja. He can still play plus He's probably great in the locker room for this team. He's not a lock down defender anymore but he's still our best on ball defender.