Hornets (Bobcats) Interested In DeMarcus Cousins

[HeatCheck]

The only problem is to get Cousins we have to give up draft picks, more than one. I'm not sure that's worth the risk.

[TheMaulClaw]

The only problem is to get Cousins we have to give up draft picks, more than one. I'm not sure that's worth the risk.

I don't think we'd have to give up two picks.  Sacramento would get a chance to get a high pick to replace Cousins, saving themselves a large upcoming contract situation, and could get a solid winger in Gordon, whose contract is getting reading to come off the books.  Obviously we would need to know we have a chance at legitimately signing Cousins after this year before we pulled the trigger, but if we can, then do it.   We need a bulldog down low.

[teeray]

It is hard for me yo get excited about trading 2 draft picks for Cousins. I am a fan of his but I just hate to give up draft picks.

[TheMaulClaw]

It is hard for me yo get excited about trading 2 draft picks for Cousins. I am a fan of his but I just hate to give up draft picks.

 

I don't really get the excitement over draft picks.  It's not the NFL.  The NBA is generally a crap shoot after the first three picks.  We've never really drafted well anyway.  What this team truly needs are some players that have proven they can play in the NBA and a front office that knows what they're doing.  Cousins has NBA experience and he's only 22.  If we keep spending all this time trying to develop young players, just to be cheap, by the time they start winning the team will already be in a different city. Besides just because you draft a guy doesn't mean he won't bolt as soon as his rookie contract is up anyway.....all that development time wasted.  Cousins is a good example of that.  

 

If it takes two draft picks to get a legitimate big man, then it takes two.  That's why we stock piled picks in the first place, to get someone in here that can play.  Everyone seems to have this tendency of placing too much value on draft picks.  We have too much of a young team.   If we want to win we need young vets, that have developed the toughness and consistency that it takes to win at the NBA level.  When is the last young team to win an NBA championship?  Look at San Antonio, Boston,  Miami,  and Dallas.   They all have won championships with veteran talent recently.  I'm not saying we only sign people over 30.  I'm just saying that there's nothing wrong with signing 24 to 28 year old players that can be productive for 5 to 6 years.   Hardly any team keeps their draft picks that long anyway, with only a few superstars being the exception.  I want our team to compete and have a chance to win in the playoffs.  They don't hand out trophies for the cheapest payroll, and the youngest players.   Besides all we ever seem to do is draft tweeners anyway.   Consider me off the Rich Cho-Higgins bandwagon, I hate the direction they're taking this team and they look like clowns when they handle press conferences together.  Bismack was a joke of a pick,  I'd trade him straight up for Cousins yesterday.  In fact I would trade Hendo and Bismack and this years first just for a decent big man that can intimidate the post, grab boards, and hit the mid rangers with consistency.  All those guys are on our team that I just mentioned......all coveted first round picks, that just haven't worked.  Let's not even get started on Cho's coaching revolving door.  He's black marked the organization.  No credible coach will want to come here, and the one's who do won't be hired....we'll keep hiring guys with no HC experience, because apparently our player philosophy, and our coaches philosophy are the same.  Let's hope we get lucky with some inexperienced guy.  If you were trying to turn a business around wouldn't you want to build a knowledgeable and experience team of people that know what they're doing, or would you continually hire people with no experience and throw them to the dogs and hope they make it?

 

I just think it's time to pepper this roster with veteran talent.  It's time to invest the money we've saved and the picks we've stockpiled into players that aren't experiments.  Truth is, we probably should have never blown up our playoff team.  I think MJ assumed to early that that team would never be more then a 7th or 8th seed.  Hardly any team wins in the playoffs when its their first time there.

[PantherBrew]

Rick Bonnell just tweeted that kings new ownership has no intention to trade cousins. 

 

Take that FWIW. 

[OchoNueve]

Cousins definitely fits the mold of the down  low presence we need, but I am not sure it is worth the risk for his reputation thus far.  I know you can't predict the success these guys will have, but I see Anthony Bennett having the potential to be an LJ/Anthony Mason/David West type player with a long sustained NBA career with 1 or 2 all-stars at his peak.

 

He is a little undersized for position but makes up for it with his strength and physicality.  And being a 4th pick in the draft, we would get him for a hell of a lot cheaper than Cousins.  Coming out of UNLV as a freshman, he also has a lot more room to develop and grow.

[carpanfan96]

I don't really get the excitement over draft picks.  It's not the NFL.  The NBA is generally a crap shoot after the first three picks.  We've never really drafted well anyway.  What this team truly needs are some players that have proven they can play in the NBA and a front office that knows what they're doing.  Cousins has NBA experience and he's only 22.  If we keep spending all this time trying to develop young players, just to be cheap, by the time they start winning the team will already be in a different city. Besides just because you draft a guy doesn't mean he won't bolt as soon as his rookie contract is up anyway.....all that development time wasted.  Cousins is a good example of that.  

 

If it takes two draft picks to get a legitimate big man, then it takes two.  That's why we stock piled picks in the first place, to get someone in here that can play.  Everyone seems to have this tendency of placing too much value on draft picks.  We have too much of a young team.   If we want to win we need young vets, that have developed the toughness and consistency that it takes to win at the NBA level.  When is the last young team to win an NBA championship?  Look at San Antonio, Boston,  Miami,  and Dallas.   They all have won championships with veteran talent recently.  I'm not saying we only sign people over 30.  I'm just saying that there's nothing wrong with signing 24 to 28 year old players that can be productive for 5 to 6 years.   Hardly any team keeps their draft picks that long anyway, with only a few superstars being the exception.  I want our team to compete and have a chance to win in the playoffs.  They don't hand out trophies for the cheapest payroll, and the youngest players.   Besides all we ever seem to do is draft tweeners anyway.   Consider me off the Rich Cho-Higgins bandwagon, I hate the direction they're taking this team and they look like clowns when they handle press conferences together.  Bismack was a joke of a pick,  I'd trade him straight up for Cousins yesterday.  In fact I would trade Hendo and Bismack and this years first just for a decent big man that can intimidate the post, grab boards, and hit the mid rangers with consistency.  All those guys are on our team that I just mentioned......all coveted first round picks, that just haven't worked.  Let's not even get started on Cho's coaching revolving door.  He's black marked the organization.  No credible coach will want to come here, and the one's who do won't be hired....we'll keep hiring guys with no HC experience, because apparently our player philosophy, and our coaches philosophy are the same.  Let's hope we get lucky with some inexperienced guy.  If you were trying to turn a business around wouldn't you want to build a knowledgeable and experience team of people that know what they're doing, or would you continually hire people with no experience and throw them to the dogs and hope they make it?

 

I just think it's time to pepper this roster with veteran talent.  It's time to invest the money we've saved and the picks we've stockpiled into players that aren't experiments.  Truth is, we probably should have never blown up our playoff team.  I think MJ assumed to early that that team would never be more then a 7th or 8th seed.  Hardly any team wins in the playoffs when its their first time there.

 

 

NBA draft picks are extremely valuable even though they are a crap shoot because it's the only way a small market team gets a superstar. As for the Coaching thing, Clifford isn't a no name and was one of the hottest coaches on the market. You don't go after old guys who haven't been coaching for a while or retreads unless they are special and even then it usually doesn't work out because they don't have their guys. 

 

 

That's what's wrong with Charlotte, it's a bad sports town. It always wants the splashy name and if it isn't splashy it's a shitty move. Most of the really good coaches in the NBA were long time assistants that finally got shots at being a HC. 

 

 

The only way for a small market team to get competitive is through the draft, you can't attract FA's with out overpaying or having a young superstar. You have to get lucky through the draft to get that young superstar, it's what makes the NBA lottery so shitty.

 

 

As for Richard Cho, he's building the team similar to he did in OKC. The Hornets/Bobcats just haven't been lucky in the draft lottery and still need a superstar to fill the team out. Also the Playoff team was a borderline 7/8 seed at best and wasn't capable of winning a playoff series and had the team cap strapped, it was most definitely the right move to blow it up. Thinking any differently shows little knowledge about how the NBA works and what it takes to build a championship contender. 

 

 

Miami drafted Wade(superstar)

SA drafted Duncan and Parker(superstars)

OKC draft Durant and Westbrook (superstars)

Pacer's whole team is drafted basically lol

Clippers drafted Griffin (superstar)

So forth and so forth

[teeray]

I don't really get the excitement over draft picks.  It's not the NFL.  The NBA is generally a crap shoot after the first three picks.  We've never really drafted well anyway.  What this team truly needs are some players that have proven they can play in the NBA and a front office that knows what they're doing.  Cousins has NBA experience and he's only 22.  If we keep spending all this time trying to develop young players, just to be cheap, by the time they start winning the team will already be in a different city. Besides just because you draft a guy doesn't mean he won't bolt as soon as his rookie contract is up anyway.....all that development time wasted.  Cousins is a good example of that.  

 

If it takes two draft picks to get a legitimate big man, then it takes two.  That's why we stock piled picks in the first place, to get someone in here that can play.  Everyone seems to have this tendency of placing too much value on draft picks.  We have too much of a young team.   If we want to win we need young vets, that have developed the toughness and consistency that it takes to win at the NBA level.  When is the last young team to win an NBA championship?  Look at San Antonio, Boston,  Miami,  and Dallas.   They all have won championships with veteran talent recently.  I'm not saying we only sign people over 30.  I'm just saying that there's nothing wrong with signing 24 to 28 year old players that can be productive for 5 to 6 years.   Hardly any team keeps their draft picks that long anyway, with only a few superstars being the exception.  I want our team to compete and have a chance to win in the playoffs.  They don't hand out trophies for the cheapest payroll, and the youngest players.   Besides all we ever seem to do is draft tweeners anyway.   Consider me off the Rich Cho-Higgins bandwagon, I hate the direction they're taking this team and they look like clowns when they handle press conferences together.  Bismack was a joke of a pick,  I'd trade him straight up for Cousins yesterday.  In fact I would trade Hendo and Bismack and this years first just for a decent big man that can intimidate the post, grab boards, and hit the mid rangers with consistency.  All those guys are on our team that I just mentioned......all coveted first round picks, that just haven't worked.  Let's not even get started on Cho's coaching revolving door.  He's black marked the organization.  No credible coach will want to come here, and the one's who do won't be hired....we'll keep hiring guys with no HC experience, because apparently our player philosophy, and our coaches philosophy are the same.  Let's hope we get lucky with some inexperienced guy.  If you were trying to turn a business around wouldn't you want to build a knowledgeable and experience team of people that know what they're doing, or would you continually hire people with no experience and throw them to the dogs and hope they make it?

 

I just think it's time to pepper this roster with veteran talent.  It's time to invest the money we've saved and the picks we've stockpiled into players that aren't experiments.  Truth is, we probably should have never blown up our playoff team.  I think MJ assumed to early that that team would never be more then a 7th or 8th seed.  Hardly any team wins in the playoffs when its their first time there.

 

You bring up some good points and I understand what you are saying.

 

I guess my thinking is I would probably agree 100% with you if I felt we were really just 1 player away.  Like if we were already a playoff team but not getting over that hump than maybe we spend some draft picks on 1 player.

 

But for the Bobcats situation I feel like we are better served using our #4 pick this year and then if we get the three 1st round picks next year we can add depth of talent to the roster.

 

We have possibly 4 draft picks over two years and @20 million dollars to spend.  And what you are suggesting with Cousins would be basically to spend all that capital on one player who while extremely talented is bit of a head case.

 

We use two draft picks to get him and most of our cap space to sign an extension to Cousins we have sapped all that equity into one player.

 

I would rather see us use those draft picks on young talented players and use the $20 million to sign veterans in FA to fill in the edges around our young core of players.  Either sign that max contract guy (like a Howard) if we can, or if we can't fill in with 2 or 3 really good veterans who demand more of a 7-12 million dollar a year contract to compliment that core foundation.

 

 

 

 

[chubs2496]

Well u say we haven't drafted good in the past. Your absolutely right. But that wasnt cho. Cho is setting this team up for major success for years and years if he just hits on his superstar.

[Panthericulous]

we don't need another Tyrus Thomas

Lulz... This is a joke right?

[TheMaulClaw]

You bring up some good points and I understand what you are saying.

 

I guess my thinking is I would probably agree 100% with you if I felt we were really just 1 player away.  Like if we were already a playoff team but not getting over that hump than maybe we spend some draft picks on 1 player.

 

But for the Bobcats situation I feel like we are better served using our #4 pick this year and then if we get the three 1st round picks next year we can add depth of talent to the roster.

 

We have possibly 4 draft picks over two years and @20 million dollars to spend.  And what you are suggesting with Cousins would be basically to spend all that capital on one player who while extremely talented is bit of a head case.

 

We use two draft picks to get him and most of our cap space to sign an extension to Cousins we have sapped all that equity into one player.

 

I would rather see us use those draft picks on young talented players and use the $20 million to sign veterans in FA to fill in the edges around our young core of players.  Either sign that max contract guy (like a Howard) if we can, or if we can't fill in with 2 or 3 really good veterans who demand more of a 7-12 million dollar a year contract to compliment that core foundation.

 

 

I'm not suggesting necessarily working out a sign and trade for Cousins.  If he came in here for a year, and proved he was worthy of that max contract that's a road we could cross when we get there.   I'm also not suggesting that we leave ourselves depraved of draft picks.  I don't want to trade them all the way.  This draft is weak. I'll pass on Len for a chance to nab Cousins, and even if we traded one of next years picks we would still have first round draft picks.   I would feel a lot more comfortable offering a Max level contract to someone we've had a chance to evaluate in our system for a season, then someone we're not a 100 percent sure how he'll play in our system.  

 

Lets give Clifford the tools it takes to be successful, not set our coach up for failure by telling him to "focus on development" and then can him next year when that's what he does.   To clarify, I'm not advocating liquidating all of our young assets, but to find the proper balance of vets and young guys so we can grow and be successful simultaneously. 

 

[TheMaulClaw]

NBA draft picks are extremely valuable even though they are a crap shoot because it's the only way a small market team gets a superstar. As for the Coaching thing, Clifford isn't a no name and was one of the hottest coaches on the market. You don't go after old guys who haven't been coaching for a while or retreads unless they are special and even then it usually doesn't work out because they don't have their guys. 

 

 

That's what's wrong with Charlotte, it's a bad sports town. It always wants the splashy name and if it isn't splashy it's a shitty move. Most of the really good coaches in the NBA were long time assistants that finally got shots at being a HC. 

 

 

The only way for a small market team to get competitive is through the draft, you can't attract FA's with out overpaying or having a young superstar. You have to get lucky through the draft to get that young superstar, it's what makes the NBA lottery so shitty.

 

 

As for Richard Cho, he's building the team similar to he did in OKC. The Hornets/Bobcats just haven't been lucky in the draft lottery and still need a superstar to fill the team out. Also the Playoff team was a borderline 7/8 seed at best and wasn't capable of winning a playoff series and had the team cap strapped, it was most definitely the right move to blow it up. Thinking any differently shows little knowledge about how the NBA works and what it takes to build a championship contender. 

 

 

Miami drafted Wade(superstar)

SA drafted Duncan and Parker(superstars)

OKC draft Durant and Westbrook (superstars)

Pacer's whole team is drafted basically lol

Clippers drafted Griffin (superstar)

So forth and so forth

Clippers have been horrible for 30 years.....how many lottery picks have they failed to hit over the years? Alot.   Boston sucked until they went out and put the big three together, yes Rondo was a good pick, but there's a balance.  The Pacers, despite their good year are generally an enigmatic franchise that make the playoffs one year and don't the next.  Wade had veteran help in 2006, and definitely now that the Lebron era has started there.   The Knicks are much better since they got serious about free agency and got proven veterans.  Brooklyn is another team that is much better since getting serious about bringing in some proven players.

 

Duncan was drafted when he was Cousins age.  I think you've failed to take into account how much younger players entering the draft are today as compared to when Duncan was drafted.  Which is why it's a better idea to poach young veterans off of other teams.  You can get a 22 year old player that's been developed for three years, and basically another team does your dirty work for you. 

[TheMaulClaw]

Well u say we haven't drafted good in the past. Your absolutely right. But that wasnt cho. Cho is setting this team up for major success for years and years if he just hits on his superstar.

And a coach, and some veteran talent, and a superstar.

[carpanfan96]

Clippers have been horrible for 30 years.....how many lottery picks have they failed to hit over the years? Alot.   Boston sucked until they went out and put the big three together, yes Rondo was a good pick, but there's a balance.  The Pacers, despite their good year are generally an enigmatic franchise that make the playoffs one year and don't the next.  Wade had veteran help in 2006, and definitely now that the Lebron era has started there.   The Knicks are much better since they got serious about free agency and got proven veterans.  Brooklyn is another team that is much better since getting serious about bringing in some proven players.

 

Duncan was drafted when he was Cousins age.  I think you've failed to take into account how much younger players entering the draft are today as compared to when Duncan was drafted.  Which is why it's a better idea to poach young veterans off of other teams.  You can get a 22 year old player that's been developed for three years, and basically another team does your dirty work for you. 

 

 

 

All those teams had superstars that they drafted themselves before the FA's came into play. Rondo and Pierce, Duncan and Parker, Wade, Lopez...ext...

 

NY is a large market, Miami is well Miami, LA is a large market, Boston is a large market.  Charlotte isn't going to work like NY/ NJ, LA, Boston or Miami. It's going to have to work like OKC or Indiana were they've pretty much drafted their whole teams minus a last key player or two. 

 

 

 

Edit: To add to this, you need to be patient as a NBA fan today. It takes time to build a team, adding FA to the Bobcats/Hornets roster right now would seriously ruin everything they're trying to build. This teams success is directly tied to getting lucky in next years draft. They have to hit a home run in the 2014 draft with at least two of the three draft picks. Then you've got a young nucleus that you can add FA and bench pieces to.