Years later...are the bobcats still kicking themselves in the head?

bobcats had the 2nd pick of the draft that year. Magic had 1st. why would they kick themselves? They were expansion team. It's not like they could have lost more games.

 

I'm pretty sure Dwight was the first pick by the Magic. Had Charlotte had the first pick, would they have taken Howard? Maybe, maybe no.

 

Okafur is good choice.

Sometimes you get Dwight Howard, sometimes you get Kwame Brown.

And Orlando go Dwight Howard.

 

...okaFOR is WAY better than kwame brown. please don't compare the two. if the guy wore rocket red you would love him.
he's also a houston product, please show a little more respect sir.

[edit: I just re-read your post, and I may have misunderstood your point there. please accept my apology if I did.]

 

Adam Morrison

 

The Magic took Dwight Howard with the #1 pick. They had Okafur rated a bit higher and would have taken him, but he had some injury problems coming out college. After the Grant Hill disaster, the Magic wanted a safe #1 pick and took Howard. Bobcats took Okafur with the #2 pick.

 

if they're kicking themselves for anything -- this is it.

 

um, other than his injuries I don't see how he is disappointing. he has averaged a double double every single year, he's a very solid defensive player. he may not average 20 points a game, but just about every team could use the guy. he also played 82 games last year and is on pace to come very close if not do it again (I'm not sure if he's missed any this year). not to mention, he is only 26 -- I think you're grasping here.

 

You could say that about a lot of teams with the #2 pick over the years. Yeah, Dwight's a beast, but Okafor probably has a better all-around game at this point. Dwight's ceiling is way higher though.

 

I like how this thread is created just as the Bobcats are playing their best basketball in franchise history.

 

The Rockets should be kicking themselves for passing up on Jordan.

We coulda had the greatest player of all time.

Jordan would have healed all of Sampson's injuries.

 

That's r****ded. Are the Bulls kicking themselves that the Magic and Bobcats never both passed on Howard? No? Why kick yourself for something you had no control over? I can understand the Blazers being pissed about Sam Bowie (or maybe Oden down the road), but why get upset when you didn't have a chance to get the guy?

Like who? The next 10 picks were Ben Gordon, Shaun Livingston, Devin Harris, Josh Childress, Luol Deng, Rafael Araujo, Andre Iguodala, Luke Jackson, Andres Biedrins, and Robert Swift.

I could see wanting Harris or Iggy, but Okafor and Howard were the consensus 1-2 at the time. It would have been a big risk to take anybody but Emeka at the time of the draft - he was a sure-shot and has backed it up with a few very solid years apart from his injuries. Meanwhile, Harris was a #5 pick and Iggy was picked AFTER Araujo...certainly not guarantees.

Other notable picks that year were Al Jefferson at 15, Jameer Nelson at 20, and Kevin Martin at 26. But obviously none were going to be considered for the 2nd pick.

Looking back, maybe you never overestimated Okafor as much as you underestimated Howard. Everybody saw Okafor as the sure-shot defensive player with double-double potential. Howard was the riskier pick, but with way more upside. Orlando took a risk and was rewarded, Charlotte took the only other player that would ever be considered with a top 2 choice that year.

And yeah...Adam Morrison.

 

one word.... FAIL!

 

one word... Jay Williams.

 

Anyone could have told them that. Seriously, this will seem racist (towards white people lol), but when what is the ratio of successful white guys to successful african-american players in the nba?

It's like 1:40000000000000. They aren't an extinct breed of players, but you can count them almost on one hand.

Here's the very short list:

Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Kirk Hinrich, Mehmet Okur (shudder), Mike Miller, David Lee, Chris Kaman, Brad Miller and possibly you could argue Kirilenko even though he's tapered off the last few years due to injuries and having a severe case of vaginitis.

Now, I kind of argued against my above point with the above players but my main point is that generally I wouldn't gamble the farm on white players forming the missing centerpiece of ones team. Then the reality is just, they are many more African-American players than any other nationality/race period in the NBA.

here's a fairly amusing source

http://www.rotoevil.com/nba/all-white-team

 

Hmm. I'll be damned, I didn't know there were many successful white guys in the NBA.

This is amazing. I'll add Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy to the list.

 

lol, I gotta be honest. I thought adam morrison was going to be able to play. him and jj were lighting it up in college. oh well.

 

That's terrible logic.

There are obviously a lot more back players coming into the league each year, so there will be more that succeed.

A better analysis would compare the percentage of how many white NBA 1st round picks succeed in the NBA compared to the percentage of black 1st round picks that succeed.