NBA Draft 2011: What Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers are looking for?
Team: Charlotte Bobcats
Draft Pick: 19th and lottery pick
Recommended Position: Centre or the best available player
This is a team that is known more by the name of its owner – Michael Jackson – than its plays on the court. It was last year, when the Charlotte Bobcats made it to the playoffs for the first time in their history. They were however knocked out in the first round and then came the chaos. Jordan fired the legendary coach Larry Drew and then followed it with his penchant of trading the players in the mid season trade window. Gerald Wallace, the only All-Star in the franchise history, was among those who left hours before the deadline.
At present, Stephen Jackson gives them solid numbers, but his future is also not certain at the moment. If he leaves, Charlotte obviously need to replace him. If he doesn’t, they can look at other positions.
Charlotte doesn’t have many exciting players, but they are a young team. There back court is pretty fresh and has plenty of room and time, to improve. Charlotte are also well stocked in the forwards department. The centres’ are the oldest bunch in the group and they are not very good either.
Hindsight is a cruel thing. The Bobcats passed on Brook Lopez not long ago and now they are stuck with Kwame Brown as the starting centre. Meanwhile, Lopez averaged over 20 points for New Jersey this season. Charlotte fans can only wonder “What if?” For now, if Jackson stays, the Bobcats should go all out for a strong centre. If he leaves, they should get their hands on to the best player available in the slot.
Team: Chicago Bulls
Draft Pick: 28th and 30th pick
Recommended Position: Shooting guard
The Bulls are a strong side. They have good players of good ages at most positions. Centre is safe with Joakim Noah and Omer Asik. Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson and Luol Deng are very good options as forwards. However there is an issue in the back court.
They have the regular season MVP at point guard, and he’s pretty young too. So he can’t be the problem. However, the brilliance of Derrick Rose has hidden the fact that Bulls have poor options at shooting guard. They currently cover that position through a combination of Ronnie Brewer, Keith Bogans and shooting specialist Kyle Korver. Although good players, none of these would be picked for an NBA championship winning side, which is what the Bulls are aiming to be.
Derrick Rose carries too much burden, in terms of defending, scoring and even creating. He needs someone in the back court to ease the load.
Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Draft Pick: Two lottery picks
Recommended Position: The best available player, in any position
The loss of LeBron James has hit the franchise hard and within the space of one year, the Cleveland Cavaliers have gone from title contenders to nobodies. They had the worst record in the East this season, losing 63 games and were also the second worst side in the NBA.
LeBron James’ defection not only stung them but also led to an abandon ship mentality. As such they lost many of their better players. A team that won just 19 games all season needs pretty much all it can get. They have Baron Davis at point guard, who can stay in a successful team. Ramon Sessions can perhaps turn into a quality player. Antawn Jamison is a pretty good forward.
But the fact is that one has to look around to find a good player in this Cleveland side. Plus they are completely bereft of star quality. Cleveland have two lottery picks and they need to identify the best players and pick them regardless of their position. They need new blood and they need new stars, to get over LeBron James.
Cleveland cannot change their fortunes overnight. However, they should look to get the best that they can and build around it, so that they might go back to the fore front of the NBA one day.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in the article are the writer’s own personal views and has nothing to do with bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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