Analyzing our wings.

Lately I've been thinking about how we're going to handle our SG and SF positions next season. If everyone were healthy, there would be several disgruntled players because theres no way to divvy up the minutes that would make everyone happy.

Of these guys who do you think will be on the roster at the end ofnext season? Who do you think will be gone?
Do you think that the Bobcats would do something crazy like take another wing in this year's draft?

Gerald Wallace:
The good news: Hes been the heart and soul of this team. Hes fearless and nobody plays with more energy
The bad news: he has a great contract but he has those concussion issues and a style of play that puts him at a high risk of getting hurt.

Jason Richardson:
The good news: Hes met or exceeded everyone's expectations of what they were going to get from him this season
The bad news: Thats still a hell of a lot of money that we're going to have pay out on that contract. Will he keep up this level of play for 5 or 6 more years?

Jared Dudley:
The good news: He has a high basketball IQ, hes a glue guy that more times than not makes the right basketball decision.
The bad news: Whats his ceiling? Will he ever be a star? Or will he be just a "nice" player? If you don't think that his ceiling is that high, Do you want to settle for that?

Adam Morrison:
The good news: Hes a creative scorer, an intense player that plays with some attitude (which is something that this squad desperately needs). Looked substantially improved in the preseason prior to his injury.
The bad news: He had a horrid shooting slump that lasted the majority of his rookie. He has to answer the critics questions of whether thats what we're going to see throughout his career, or if that was just a severe case of rookie-itis. Also hes coming off an ACL. How is sitting for an entire year going to affect his game?

Matt Carroll
The good news: A solid long distance shooter 44% from 3 point range.
The bad news: Other than long distance shooting, what else does he really give you?

Derek Anderson
The good news: Hes a smart player that plays hard, makes good basketball decisions and appears to be well respected by the other players
The bad news: His birth certificate... He'll be 34 years old going into next season.

Personally, I think we're pretty much perfect at the wings...

I'd be content if we just kept who we have this year for next season. Carrol does well when he gets playing time and DA is one hell of a 12th man. If Wallace stops wanting to hog, Rich continues to shine, and Morrison comes back strong I'll be happy.

All Dudley can do is grow, he'll only get better. Yet, even if somehow he just stopped getting better, I'd still be very satisfied with the pick we made in getting him.

When I saw the topic header I said to myself, "Too Many" but looking at the list I may be wrong. 

Gerald is a wing, he's an outside in player, not a banger, PF or undersized big or anything that will get him hit in the face or head.  He has developed a pretty nice outside shot, still as Henry Williams says a "no,no,no ok" looking shot but he's 30% from 3 and almost 45% fgs (true he dunks a lot).  He drives to the basket as well as anyone he fills up the box score as well as anyone in the league.  He does play somewhat wreckless and he is injured a good bit.  Again, he's got one of the best contracts in the league.

J-Rich is a really really nice player.  I don't know the exact terms of his contract but he's only 27 and I think he's getting smarter and better as time goes on.  He has hit (and attempted) more 3s than anyone in the league, he throws up about one really nasty dunk a week and he averages 22 ppg.  He's a really solid player and I think he will be for a long time.

Those 2 are set, unless we have the chance to draft someone that is just on another level, I don't think we'll get a better 1-2 punch than those two the way things stand right now.  Let me put it this way, I doubt there is a better combo we could trade for at this point. 

The first guy off the bench should be either Matt or Jared.  I don't think of Jared as a wing.  Where Ray was thought of as a combo guard, Jared is a combo forward.  His outside shot is pretty good but he doesn't attempt much, only 32 3s at this point, but he's hit 25%, I think more attempts it would go up.  He is a strong player, with tremendus bbiq, he doesn't take bad shots, he doesn't turn the ball over, nice player, re-evaluate at the end of next year.

Matt Carrol, ah yes, Matty.  Matty Matty Matty, what's there to say.  He played well coming out of the D-League, he earned some pt, he hit almost all his FTs, he hit big 3s in big situations, he, at the behest of one Michael Jordan, was developing as a guy who could get to the hole.  This year, I don't know if it came from being buried on the bench by a guy who wouldnt tell his ass from a ham biscuit, let alone figure out what works best at any point in a basketball game, Matt has struggled a little bit until recently when he started getting PT because of Gerald's injury.  His ft % is down, he hasn't been hitting those 3s and he provides no spark off the bench.  I am not saying cut him, trade him, bury him on the bench.  He just needs more PT and a bit of confidence.  He needs to work hard in the off season and show me something early next season.

AMMO is the biggest question mark on the team.  I think the good news is he has worked hard to come back from this injury.  The bad news is he wasn't a 3 pick in his rookie year, he didn't play like it anyway.  He had spots of brilliance, he played big, hit big shots and could score when it looked like he didnt have a chance.  Adam has a lot of heart, a lot of passion and I think he has a place on the team, if he works hard and comes back strong.  I think he put on too much upper body weight, probably hit the gym too hard in the off season and his knee couldnt handle moving latterally with that additional weight. 

DA is a player coach out there, I think he likes Charlotte, likes these young guys.  He can come in and hit some shots get hot for a min or two and go off for 18 and fade into the background for a week.  That's fine for a 12th man.  He will probably hang out for a few years on the end of the bench.  I just don't want him to be an injury liability that we can't count on, sometimes you need your 12th guy.

The wings are definitely our strong spot.  We do have a lot of money tied up, but I think we are set for at least the begining of next season.  I think Matt gets a look around the trade deadline, piece for a 3 way deal maybe if he doesn't improve.  Ammo needs to come on strong or he's gone too.  I think the guys in this draft couldn't start over JRich or Crash so we don't need to look at one in the first round. 

I'm going to take a nap because this post is way too long.