Al Jefferson Signs for 3 years, $40.5 million

[thatlookseasy]

I dont get people who dont consider tanking a legitimate strategy for building an NBA team.  Not only do NBA franchises tank for higher picks all the time, but it works too (Thunder are the obvious example).  It certainly wont work all the time, and its not gonna work if your front office doesnt know what the fug they are doing (looking at you Minnesota). 

 

A lot of teams dont tank (Houston is a good example), and prefer to build a team that actually tries to win.  Some teams say they wont tank, then do it anyways (Danny Ainge).  There are a lot of ways to build a team, and tanking is a part of the building process for certain teams. 

 

If you think tanking is a bad way to build a team, feel free to make arguments against it, I've seen plenty of good ones.  But if you think its irrelevant in the NBA you just dont know what the fug you're talking about

 

 

[carolina-chuck]

Hilarious how many ignorant basketball fans that we have here.

Wanting to continue to suck....in the hopes of placing high in the lottery....to select a player that you HOPE is a stud..........this is the worst strategy ever

We have had high lottery picks for years and it has netted us a bad team. Now you would rather continue that moronic strategy rather than add talented vet pieces to your team.

Amazing

Well, if that's the case then you point the finger to MJ.

Just looking at the previous few years, we could've had this team now:

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Ben McLemore

SF: Harrison Barnes

PF: Joakim Noah

C : Brook Lopez

[MadHatter]

Well, if that's the case then you point the finger to MJ.

Just looking at the previous few years, we could've had this team now:

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Ben McLemore

SF: Harrison Barnes

PF: Joakim Noah

C : Brook Lopez

 

I agree 100%.

 

We have historically sucked at drafting.....so having a strategy to suck and depend on drafting seems illogical.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Where is this notion that Al Jefferson is an all-star coming from? Al Jefferson has never been elected to an all-star game.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

The Thunder utilized Cho's background in both law and mathematics when negotiating trades, free agent signings, and interpreting the NBA's complex collective bargaining agreement. This guy had a direct hand in choosing draft picks and building that team though.

At the end of the day, it wasn't his call though...

It's clear that OKC had/has a very capable GM in place.

Remember, Cho got fired by Portland.

[Zaximus]

Cho got fired after one year, which probably means they ownership was just going in a new direction.  You can't give a GM one year.  

 

Tanking CAN work, sure, no one is saying it won't.  But the chances of it not working, are pretty high.  I just need to macro the reasons to not tank so I don't have to type this every 3-4 days I guess lol.   But nothing is guaranteed, especially with 8 teams or more tanking this year.  The worst team in the league hasn't had the first pick in at least 10 years or so right?   Not to mention we continuously get screwed in the lottery.   Then you have the fact that these players that are playing high school ball may not be who we think they are, once they get to college and play with more competition.  Tons of examples of this.   So people can't say "just one more year" because if you take the tanking mindset it could be years and years.    This team doesn't have the fanbase to withstand more tanking.  Jordan probably realized it's time to ride the momentum of the name change and put a fun/competitive team on the court.   

[micnificent28]

I love the jefferson signing,but at the same time i think tanking this season is still the way to go. Yes it has never worked out for us but We all know how the NBA goes,No superstar and your stuck in 5-11 range of playoffs forever. I'm all for tanking for wiggins or parker or even smart. If were lucky enuff to land any of those three it would be well worth it.

[carpanfan96]

Hilarious how many ignorant basketball fans that we have here.

 

Wanting to continue to suck....in the hopes of placing high in the lottery....to select a player that you HOPE is a stud..........this is the worst strategy ever

 

We have had high lottery picks for years and it has netted us a bad team.  Now you would rather continue that moronic strategy rather than add talented vet pieces to your team.

 

Amazing

There's a reason that most basketball experts are calling it a bad-horrible move. It's because of the year that Charlotte did it in. Could have done plenty of things with the money like help golden state out by taking a couple of expiring deals and getting a first round pick and Barnes for doing that. The NBA is all about HOPE and Potential, making the playoffs in the NBA doesn't really mean anything, you've got to be able to win a series or two.

 

 

The Bobcats have now put them selves in position to be against the cap wall or in luxury tax the next 2-3 years and they will be a marginal team unless they pick up a superstar.  < Having a superstar is the only thing that saves NBA teams and Charlotte still doesn't have one. Jefferson is a borderline all star but his offense doesn't outweigh his bad defense and he's not worth what he's being paid. 

[carolina-chuck]

"Charlotte Buzzcats: Change of Culture"

 

Well, we finally got a day to soak in the excitement of the Al Jefferson signing yesterday.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/02/warriors-talk-with-howard-iguodala-sign-of-changing-culture/
I posted this article by Kurt Helinup on another thread a couple days ago, but I’d like to share it with the ones who might have missed it. It talked about the culture change with the Golden State Warriors. I saw a high similarity with our own organization and the future of this team when I read this article. It’s all about a culture change at this point and on!!!

 

No one really saw this deal coming, but only the fans of the Charlotte Bobcats and soon to be the Charlotte Hornets again in 2014. And, even before then I had my doubts. Before the signing of BIG Al Jefferson, it was pretty much a laughable rumor around the league. The addition of a player of this caliber speaks volume to the fans of Charlotte. If you are a Buzzcats’ fan and you didn’t drink a few beers or smoke some illegal plants, J/K. But if you didn’t get “PUMPED” after hearing this major news after it was broke out yesterday afternoon then you need to recheck yourself again. I mean I literally cried the night before when reports came out that he was going to wait and see from the Mavs before making a decision.

 

Anyway, this is an incredible addition to this young and upcoming team. This is the “BIGGEST” move that ever happened in this 9 years franchise history. I was there watching from my parents’ T.V. when former owner Bob Johnson named the Bobcats, the “Bobcats”. I was there when we took the highly thought of Emeka Okafor out of UCONN with the no.2 overall pick. I was there when we took Adam Morrison with the no.3 pick, and on and on. Well, nothing felt like yesterday. We have finally landed a potential All-Star caliber player to this team without trading for it. Even during the Larry Brown’s era, we were never able to bring in a quality player through Free Agency. Gerald Wallace came on an expansion team, Jason Richardson, Captain Jax, and Tyson Chandler all came through trades. This Al Jefferson move is huge! It means that we have the right kind of guys leading the path for us. GM Rich Cho, HC Steve Clifford, Asst. Patrick Ewing, and co. are obviously stamping their marks here. We have the right guys that can convince players like Jefferson to come here. This is definitely the start to a new culture. We are going to be able to convince more players of this caliber in the future to come here with the attitude we are

 

 

[RelaxImaPro]

Wow, I guess I'm just going to have to disagree with some of you about this.  Jefferson is a 1-2 year band aid that's at best probably going to earn us a first-round exit in the playoffs this year.  Anyone really think he's going to stay in Charlotte after that 2nd year or turn the franchise around even if he does decide to stay?  This upcoming draft is pretty much considered one of the most stacked in history... why the FUG not take a chance on hopefully landing a superstar player?  We've been bad this long, might as well stick it out one more year.  We could have 3 fuging draft picks in the top 13, let's make the most of it and go for broke.

 

Besides, it's not the lottery picks that's led us astray, it's dumbass drafting.  At least we would have some damn good consensus prospects to choose from this year.  And for what it's worth, I still think Harrison Barnes is going to be great in this league... he was the 4th scoring option on that Warriors team and completely killed it in the playoffs as a rookie.

 

Sorry, but I really doubt Jefferson is getting us past the Pacers, the Bulls or the Heat this season or the next.

[Catalyst]

He's a good player, but certainly not enough for anyone to start throwing around the "p" word. We'll still be picking top-5 again, IMO. Which, in the long run, is probably for the best.

 

That said, the fact that they gave him this kind of money (and an option after year 2) tells me they expect to at least compete for the playoffs in our first year back as the Hornets. Which would be great, but given the history of this franchise I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

I'm a bigger fan of the Zeller pick than most here, but he's going to need a bit to develop IMO. It's entirely possible that, should Jefferson opt out after year 2 we might only then be getting a glimpse of what we have with Zeller.

[PantherBrew]

Is anyone else thinking of big Al as an asset at this point?

If the team struggles, he could provide us some draft picks and a young player around the midway point of the season.

I don't think this is the plan, obviously. But maybe the mavs or a contender propose us a deal next season.

13.5 is not too much money to move.

[teeray]

Is anyone else thinking of big Al as an asset at this point?

If the team struggles, he could provide us some draft picks and a young player around the midway point of the season.

I don't think this is the plan, obviously. But maybe the mavs or a contender propose us a deal next season.

13.5 is not too much money to move.

Yes. Or you can move him next off season and package him with the slew of the future picks we have acquired and move back into the top 5 if we fall out of it. Although if we go that course I think MKG would be a more likely candidate.

This signing is great for the Bobcats on several different levels.

[carolina-chuck]

Yes. Or you can move him next off season and package him with the slew of the future picks we have acquired and move back into the top 5 if we fall out of it. Although if we go that course I think MKG would be a more likely candidate.

This signing is great for the Bobcats on several different levels.

I agree. I still believe we're going to be a high lottery team next season. I don't think we'd try to move Al, but moving a guy like MKG or even Kemba with a possibly Detroit pick for a Top5 pick is very possible.