will anthony davis end the bobcats curse

 Beware of putting too much stock into the draft order before the lottery is drawn.  I can’t remember how many posts were about how John Wall was going to turn around the Nets.  A Jerry Sloan/Anthony Davis combo would be ideal to build a future for them, but again…a lot of times the worst team gets screwed over.

 Bad management isn’t so much of a curse. The guys that go there, then leave (Wallace, Okafor, Felton) don’t get any better once gone. Charlotte isnt going to trade Davis, he’s too valuable for a team in their position. Provided they get him at all.

 I know I will get negged for this. He isnt a lock to be anything more than a lamarcus aldridge. They still will need a great wing to compete. He is not a lebron James, durant caliber of player. He is more like garnett. He will take a few years, but I dont think he will ever be a superstar, maybe a star, but a superstar. All the top players in the league can either pass really good or score really good. He is okay at both, but he wont be the guy closing out games. He is more of a support player. At Kentucky all he did was play defense and hustle, with the ocasional jumper. He doesnt have many post moves in his arsenal. He also doesnt seem like he is a leader of a franchise. There are to many unknowns about him to consider him a sure-fire great player. The media and everyone are making him out to be a superstar, but he is really raw as a player.

wings do get more attention from the media while every sport the dirty work gets ignored but Aldridge is a good player. Larry Brown compares him to Bill Russell

 Lamarcus Aldridge can also make a case for being the best player in his draft class.  Rudy Gay can make a good case too, but what’s wrong with drafting a 7 footer who ends up being one of the best 2 players in his draft?

+1 mosdef.

LaMarcus Aldridge is an outstanding player and it is flattering to compare any draft prospect who has yet to play an NBA game to him.  And if he is "more like Garnett," than Durant, that is a good thing.  If he takes a couple of years to become an elite player, and then becomes a HOF caliber player, he is worth the 1st pick.  

I agree with mosdef.  Big men are underrated often because their biggest strengths are often things like rebounding or anchoring the defense, which are ignored by casual fans.  

 How do the worst teams get screwed over? Lol you even said to beware of putting too much stock into the draft order.. They aren’t getting screwed over they have a 75% chance of NOT getting the pick.. It’s more likely that they won’t get it

…considering this is a guy who averages 8 rebounds and about a block a game.  lamarcus aldridge is a helluva lot closer to dirk nowitzki than bill russell and i’d like a link to that larry brown quote, please.  l.a. is a terrific offensive talent; he’s sorta this era’s paul pierce but at the power forward position.  lamarcus can hold his own with any 4 in the league and is perennially underrated despite putting up very good numbers every year.  but like pierce he gets little to no respect as one of the truly elite players at his position.  maybe, because like pierce, he isn’t particularly flashy and is more a fundamentally sound type who uses his high basketball i.q. and silky smooth jumper to affect the game.  aldridge is a better athlete than the truth but he’s still not really a highlight reel dunk kind of guy; tho’ he gets those too when he wants.  still while blake griffin gets the pub, aldridge just gets the snub.

     as for anthony davis, i don’t think he’s remotely like aldridge (who was pretty much a finesse player from day one.  aldridge has gotten grittier but he’s not making an all-defensive team any time soon.)  davis is camby/tyson chandler with a jumper.  he’ll block shots (a lot of shots) and probably be a terror on the weakside.  he’s gonna erase a lot of defensive mistakes in the l.  he’s a decent rebounder but surprisingly not a dominant one.  he can snag an easy 10 boards a game in the j.v. league on height and length alone but he averaged 1.5 rebounds less than thomas robinson in about as many minutes.  he’s also skinny.  he’s got the frame to put on weight but it’s doubtful he’ll ever be dwight howard.  i’d also like to point out that despite the elevated reputation of tyson chandler as well as the formerly elevated reputation of marcus camby as defensive centers both guys took a few stops to get acclimated to both an nba level of defense and the level of strength playing said defense requires.  in other words, skinny guys take time to become defensive stoppers and dominant defenders.  it happened with those two, joakim noah and andris biedrins (in that brief period, when biedrins looked like he was gonna become a double-double machine.)  also, these same skinny game changers (chandler and camby are fairly notorious for this) are alarmingly injury prone.  i would agree with phila on this one.  davis has far too many holes in his game to be a franchise guy.  he has that potential, but he’s gonna have to work his skinny butt off to achieve it.  and add about 17 wrinkles to his game.  but what he brings to the table is enough to justify picking him no. 1 overall and building a team around him.  i don’t think there’s any doubt he can singlehandedly make the bobcats respectable, at least defensively.  can he singlehandedly turn around the bobcats i.e. reverse the curse?  magic 8-ball is telling me not too likely.  but he can certainly be a piece on a championship contender.  and he can turn the historically awful bobcats into merely okay and competitive which is a lot to ask one guy, anyway.

 So does the worst team in the league not have the greatest chance of winning the lottery than any other team?

When the Bulls won 33 games and won the lottery to get Derrick Rose, you wouldn’t consider the 15 win Miami Heat getting screwed over despite having the most ping pong balls?

If one team has a 25% chance of winning and EVERY other team has less of a chance and the 25% chance team doesn’t win….I consider that being screwed. 

 I didnt mean his game is like lamarcus aldridges, but his potential and the level he would reach could end up like him or rudy gay(Joewolf’s comparison), talent wise and the level he will play at. The media are making it seem like he is a superstar and that he is a lock to go to 10 all star games. I just dont see that kind of potential in him. He is great at defense, but a little skinny. It will take him a few years to blossom, sort of like how aldridge developed.

My hole point that the media is overhyping him so much, and acting like he is going to dominate the NBA. But he is very raw and he doesnt have that big of an offensive repertoire and to be a superstar you need to be able to score 22 to 27 points a night and I dont see that in him.

 I said don’t put too much stock in the draft order because the team with the worst record doesn’t win by default.  

Larry Brown called Anthony Davis the next Bill Russell

 I say whoever wins the lottery automatically makes the playoffs…he is that much of a difference maker.

Larry Brown and Bob Knight both said whoever lands Davis will win 50 games next year

 larry brown is exaggerating.. i dont think davis alone can make bobcats a 50 win team next year

Phila is right, defense is important, but if no one on your team can score it doesn’t matter how many stops you get. I also don’t see Davis as this franchise changing wunderkind, he definitely strikes me as a supportive player who needs a talented wing who can carry the burden on the other side of the ball.

The worst teams aren’t the worst because of draft position.  Plenty of teams draft highly every year and suck every year.  It’s player identification and development.  Check the Pacers and 76ers, or hell, every Spur not named Duncan…. or the Lakers.  Smart management begets success whether in the draft of elsewhere.  The Bobcats don’t need Davis nearly as much as they need to be managed well.