2013 Mock Draft (As of February 15)

[Panther_Brotherhood]

As per nbadraft.net

1st Round - First Pick

Ben McLemore - SG Kansas

6'5" 195Lbs Wingspan: 6'9" or greater

NBA Comparison: Ray Allen

Strengths: Ultra smooth shooting guard with a lethal combination of athleticism and scoring ability ... Absolutely an elite level athlete with prototypical size and athleticism for the 2-guard position ... Shot has tremendous form, great elevation with the range to knock down the 3 ball consistently ... Shows a good feel for the game with the ability to create shots off the dribble ... Unselfish, team player who whows strong ability to pass the ball for an off guard ... Great length. At 6'5, he appears to have a 6'9 or greater wingspan ... Highly coachable kid. Solid feel for the game. Doesn't gamble for steals or play out of control ... Terrorizes opponents with back door cuts that often result in ally oop dunks ... Appears to be just scratching the surface of his abilities ...

Weaknesses: Feel for the game must continue to advance. Still figuring out what he's capable of and learning how to use his immense talents. Shot selection is good but can improve. Learning when to force the issue and when to pass up contested shots. Also when to be aggressive defensively and when not to, in order to stay out of foul trouble ... Must develop as a ball handler and become better at creating in isolation ... In high school he had some issues with consistency, so he'll need to learn to exhibit a high level of effort on a more constant basis ... Can be a streaky shooter at times ... Missed a year having sat out an Academic redshirt season in 2011-12, but it doesn't seem to have negatively affected him .

1st Round -Fourteenth Pick

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope - SG Georgia

6'6"205Lbs

NBA Comparison: Kerry Kittles

Strengths: Caldwell-Pope is an offensive minded guard with very good upside as an off-ball scorer … Has nice size on the perimeter at 6’6 and seems to have good length and a frame that should easily be able to get to around 205-210 lbs without any loss of athleticism … Possesses very smooth athleticism and is pretty fluid in his movements … Has solid leaping skills and can play above the rim, especially with a head of steam … Offensively, Caldwell-Pope is mainly known as a shooter who will let it fly in any situation … Attempted 6.7 3’s a night as a Fr., which showed his freedom early in his career and it will probably allow him to be more confident next season for UGA … Has all the tools to be a very good shooting prospect for a team, with the size to get shots off, a high release point, and a reasonably quick release and steady follow through … Already has NBA range on his shot, and is best spotting up, but will shoot from that deep off the dribble and off screens … Shoots a pretty ball and definitely possesses a soft touch … Is a good mid-range shooter too, but he prefers the deep ball … Was a bit of a streak shooter as a Fr., but he is a constant threat with his shot to the D and must be guarded tight when he has the ball … Doesn’t do a bad job finishing around the rim for a guy who is mostly lauded for his potential as a shooter … Is a rangy strider and shows potential getting a step on defenders off 1 dribble to get his shots off … Has a lot of upside and confidence, and should only improve offensively with the experience he garnered as a true Fr … Is good at getting a good jump in the passing lanes to get steals … Pretty fundamentally sound defender who is competitive on that end … Very willing and effective rebounder for a wing player … Slightly more physical than he’s given credit for … Really looks likely to blossom in the near future as a player, solid worker and wants to improve ...

Weaknesses: For a guy who was a very highly touted shooter/player out of HS, Caldwell-Pope struggled with his efficiency as a Fr … He has the tools to eventually be a big threat with his shot, but he has plenty of kinks … He has a natural shot, but he is prone to taking contested shots with a hand in his face and doesn’t show very good shot selection yet … Needs time and space to be most effective with his stroke, doesn’t react to tight D or closeouts that well right now … He also presses, and will try and shoot himself out of slumps even if better shots can be found later in the shot clock for himself and teammates … UGA needed immediate scoring from him and he had a much shorter leash than Fr. typically do, and it showed with his decisions quite a bit … Falls in love with his jumper, doesn’t put the ball on the floor often enough at all … Actually was better the closer he was to the rim last year, but doesn’t have the handles or willingness to slash to take advantage of it that often … Isnt more than a basic straight line ball-handler, not going to break down a defense off the bounce much…Got to the foul line at a poor rate (2.5 ftpg) for a guy who played 32 mpg and put up 12 shots per game, and was he only hit 65% of his free throws, showing the massive improvements he needs to make … Not very strong or big right now, still growing into his body … Can be prone to falling asleep defensively, as a result of his youth and inexperience … Doesn’t pass the ball much ...

http://nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft

I think if this were a way to go, you'd think the following things:

Hendo will have to be traded

FO is gonna push EXTREMELY hard for FA big man

It would give us a confident 3-point shooter who could come off the bench and produce (Caldwell-Pope)

It would give us a dynamic scorer/superstar potential player.

Concerns I have:

We desperately need a big, mainly the 4. Mullens is great, and has improved substantially, but how high is his ceiling?

None of our big men have a pure post game(where the FA would come in)

Is it worth going at two wing players in the same draft? In the same lottery?

I would Kemba and McLemore get along?

Thoughts of the huddle?

[teeray]

Anytime you can get quality players at any position I will be happy. That being said, until we get legit big men who can score, be a threat in the pick and roll, and rebound at a high level. We are going to suck.

But if McLemore is the next great SG, go get him. But we already have so many wings and not enough minutes. I want us to address our needs. FA is great but we are at a disadvantage being the Bobcats at luring free agents. The draft is going to be the best way to get a quality big man. At some point we have to address the post and there are some good skilled big men in this draft.

[Panther_Brotherhood]

Ive heard comparisons for Zeller being Lamarcus Aldridge, and he's rated higher than Noel on that site. That being said, this was done before last night's Indiana-Mich. St game, which in my opinion, hurt Zeller's draft stock. Proved he had trouble scoring against longer and above average defenders. (Nix) I like Noel but the fact he has already torn an ACL scares me, because hes very thin. Len has cooled off from earlier in the year, as well as Plumlee

[Carl Spackler]

If this happened, the Bobcats would essentially be the mid-2000s Duke Blue Devils in terms of age and lineup: over half the team would be guards and there would be little talent in the post.

[Panther_Brotherhood]

Which scares me. Most of our faults this year have come to an extreme lack of defense in the post. Dwight Howard had probably one of his best games of the year against us. I would love a complete all around big man, with above average post defense. I think Biyombo COULD be a nice defender off the bench (think maybe a longer Theo Ratliff) but hes so raw, how long do you think Cho will keep him? Long enough to reach his potential, which might've been met already?

[MrBubba]

Have to go big with one of those two picks

[carolina-chuck]

McLEMORE 2013 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ZB1224]

I've warmed up to McLemore recently (although still prefer Bazz) and would be thrilled if we got him. I'd like to get a big with one of those 1st round picks though. Although drafting for need over talent is always a bad idea.

[Carl Spackler]

drafting for need over talent is always a bad idea.

It's not when your lineup would have Kemba (PG), Sessions (PG), Henderson (SG), McLemore (SG), other draft pick (SG), Taylor (SG). That's essentially, in terms of age, Sessions and a college team.

[Vagrant]

League average and better guards are much easier to find than league average bigs. If you think you have a league average big in your sights, you don't pass him up for a chance at a league average guard. It makes no sense. You swing for the fences on big men and hope something works out.

[thatlookseasy]

If you're drafting top 5 you should always go with the best player. No exceptions, if the best player is at a position you dont need, you can trade down or out of the draft.

And if you draft a league average guard or a league average big with a top 5 pick than you arent doing it right

[Carl Spackler]

if you draft a league average guard or a league average big with a top 15 pick than you arent doing it right

Problem is, by this logic (I pushed it to 15 instead of 5) we've swung and missed on every pick except Kemba and for a couple years, Okafor.

Bobcats' top-15 draft picks:

Emeka Okafor

Raymond Felton

Sean May

Adam Morrison

Brandan Wright (traded)

D.J. Augustin

Gerald Henderson

Bismack Biyombo (SAC picked him for us)

Kemba Walker

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

That is terrible.

[thatlookseasy]

Problem is, by this logic (I pushed it to 15 instead of 5) we've swung and missed on every pick except Kemba and for a couple years, Okafor.

Bobcats' top-15 draft picks:

Emeka Okafor

Raymond Felton

Sean May

Adam Morrison

Brandan Wright (traded)

D.J. Augustin

Gerald Henderson

Bismack Biyombo (SAC picked him for us)

Kemba Walker

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

That is terrible.

The difference between a top 5 pick and and pick in the 10-15 range though is immense in the NBA. Hell, there is even a big difference between the 2nd pick and the 5th pick. Even well run teams are lucky to get a rotation player with the 15th pick, but good teams do not miss on top 5 picks.

Bobcats problem is they have had few top 5 picks (leading to fewer opportunities to land a game changing player), and have missed the opportunities when they had them. Luck (both in the lottery and in the year) plays a much bigger role than people want to admit too- honestly, the only truly bad picks on that list are Morrison, Augustin, and maybe Felton. The others were more or less inconsequential in the big picture because of where the bobcats were drafting

[Lakejamescat]

My draft wish would be Anthony Bennett or McLemore or Oladipo.... Contrary to popular commentary on the talent this year I feel like there are some real finds in the draft. We need to look at players with HIGH Energy and Strong Competitiveness. That is the reason I am liking Anthony Bennett more and more...He looks like a BEAST