5 Good Ideas for the Bobcats This Offseason

#3 sounds pretty intriguing . . .


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5 bold moves the Bobcats could make

Rick Bonnell offers some thoughts on possible changes before next season
It's baseball season, so I thought I'd swing for the fences this morning. Here are five bold predictions about the Charlotte Bobcats going forward. I'm not saying any of these will happen. I'm telling you any one of them could happen:

1) Some guy named Sam

OK, it's no revelation the Bobcats like Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell, and if he's available, they'll pursue him.But Mitchell probably won't be available. So don't be surprised if the next coach is Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Sam Vincent (above).

Michael Jordan, who ultimately runs the show on basketball decisions, wants the next Avery Johnson. Why not hire the rising star on Johnson's staff?

Vincent fits Jordan's vision: A former player with a varied coaching experience: (coached a developmental league team, coached internationally, now an assistant on one of the best franchises in the league). If they're going to go with a relative unknown, they could do far worse.

2) Mike Bibby or Chauncey Billups is starting point guard

Crazy, huh? Raymond Felton is this team's future, so why mess with that?

Maybe not. Felton has the toughness and the build and the pedigree (North Carolina, national champion, etc.). But there's a genuine concern about whether he really takes to being a point guard. He doesn't always get the ball to his teammates in their optimum spots and there's a question whether he ever will.

Felton has taken the most shots on this team, and is shooting 38 percent from the field.

I doubt he wants to be a combo guard, and if he's not the long-term solution at point guard, the Bobcats might be better off moving him. Bibby appears to be available in trade and Billups could be that impact free agent the Bobcats seem to crave.

3) Gerald Wallace signs elsewhere

I believe Wallace wants to stay here. He appreciates the opportunity, after sitting so long in Sacramento, and he likes both the town and the organization.However, Wallace's agent, Rob Pelinka, is a competitive guy who I don't see granting hometown discounts. The last time Wallace signed a contract, he was a restricted free agent, giving the Bobcats leverage. Now he's unrestricted, so if they don't make him a quick, generous offer, this thing could go sideways.

4 ) "Time Warner Arena"

The Bobcats moved into the new uptown arena two years ago, and haven't managed to sell the naming rights. Perhaps the solution is trading naming rights to Time Warner, in return for an exit from the TV deal.

C-SET was a disaster and the News 14 solution leaves holes in their coverage just miles north of Charlotte. The obvious solution is putting games on Fox Sports South, but that requires breaking their contract with Time Warner Cable.

A naming-rights deal might solve all of this.

5) Adam Morrison is on another team

They should think long and hard before throwing Morrison into a trade. There's a reason he was the third overall pick.

However, he could be gone.

This team is overloaded with wing players. Gerald Wallace and Matt Carroll are keepers and Walter Herrmann looks like one, too. Where does Morrison fit?

He needs to improve dramatically on defense. If Jordan or Bickerstaff has to add an asset to make a trade happen, Morrison could be the piece.




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THE BOTTOM LINE:

1) Marc Iavroni (Suns Assistant Coach) excites me more as the next Bobcats coach
2) Too early to give up on Ray Felton being the starting point guard
3) If I was the Bobcats with the cap room I have, I would do everything possible to resign him.
4) I think TIME WARNER FORUM sounds better . . Anything to give them a chance at a better cable TV deal would work for me.
5) See #2: Give Morrison another couple of seasons to develop; Its too early to dump him now.

 

I like the thought of Iavaroni as the next coach too; especially if he's gonna bring that Phoenix style of offense. And if that's the case, Morrison might actually flourish in it. We'd better get started early on that, though... He might have a lot of suitors this offseason.

 

If it were me I would keep the team they have intact and go after one big impact player in free agency. This team was close to making the playoffs. If not for injuries to Okafor they probably would have. Add the lotter pick they have coming and a free agent and this team is definately a playoff team.

They have built a good young nucleus, messing that up by trading Felton or Morrison is a bad idea.

 

If they let Gerald Wallace get away just trying to lowball him then I give up on this team. Most consistent and hard working player this franchise has. Seeing him in another uni would be disgusting..

 

I don't think they'll let Wallace get away. Everything I've heard the team say talks about re-signing him, and they know the cost for that is going to be huge.

 

They have plenty of cap space. Wallace should stay. There might be a point where he prices himself out of town though. He is a good but not great player with limited shooting ability.

 

Wallace is a fine player, but he's not a star, or an all-star, or anything that can't be replaced or upgraded with enough spending.

It's more whether the team wants to, or can, get a player better than that, that would cause the decision to go back to Wallace. But it seems like some of y'all are talking him up to be elite. He's not a guy to build a franchise around. That the team can't seem to land on any one player worth that, isn't something that should cause Wallace's value to be greater.

 

dont you guys have mock draft #229 to tend to??