Toronto, with Bosh and Bargnani and Ford, has incredible upside. Only East team with more is the Celtics if they do well in the lottery...I know it's early to compare Bargnani with Dirk, but Dirk sure as hell wasn't Dirk his first 2 years, and Bargnani has better handles, better passing and shows more instinct for driving than Dirk did at that stage.

coltraning wrote:Toronto, with Bosh and Bargnani and Ford, has incredible upside. Only East team with more is the Celtics if they do well in the lottery...I know it's early to compare Bargnani with Dirk, but Dirk sure as hell wasn't Dirk his first 2 years, and Bargnani has better handles, better passing and shows more instinct for driving than Dirk did at that stage.

I dunno. Charlotte is a major dark horse.

If Morrison and Felton finally find their NBA niche, combined with a healthy year from Okafor and Wallace, the Bobcats are majorly dangerous. Raymond Felton was just as good a player in college as Deron Williams. I don't think the following is a stretch:

2007-'08 Charlotte Bobcats

C - Emeka Okafor - 16 PPG, 55% from the field, 12 RPG, 3 BPG (playing 72 games)
PF - Sean May - 10 PPG, 9 RPG, 1 BPG
SF - Gerald Wallace - 14 PPG, 6 RPG, 2 SPG, 1.5 BPG
SG - Adam Morrison - 21 PPG, 48% from the field, 4 RPG, 3 APG
PG - Raymond Felton - 19 PPG, 8 APG

If the Bobcats get this kind of production from their core (which, honestly, isn't too hard to believe) combined with regular production from players like Knight and Brezec, they could sneak into the playoffs as early as a 7th seed...

The Celtics have the most talent and potentially great players of all teams in the nba! They just haven't put it together. Al Jefferson and Gerald Green look like they are going to be superstars in a couple of years

32 wrote:

coltraning wrote:Toronto, with Bosh and Bargnani and Ford, has incredible upside. Only East team with more is the Celtics if they do well in the lottery...I know it's early to compare Bargnani with Dirk, but Dirk sure as hell wasn't Dirk his first 2 years, and Bargnani has better handles, better passing and shows more instinct for driving than Dirk did at that stage.

I dunno. Charlotte is a major dark horse.

If Morrison and Felton finally find their NBA niche, combined with a healthy year from Okafor and Wallace, the Bobcats are majorly dangerous. Raymond Felton was just as good a player in college as Deron Williams. I don't think the following is a stretch:

2007-'08 Charlotte Bobcats

C - Emeka Okafor - 16 PPG, 55% from the field, 12 RPG, 3 BPG (playing 72 games)
PF - Sean May - 10 PPG, 9 RPG, 1 BPG
SF - Gerald Wallace - 14 PPG, 6 RPG, 2 SPG, 1.5 BPG
SG - Adam Morrison - 21 PPG, 48% from the field, 4 RPG, 3 APG
PG - Raymond Felton - 19 PPG, 8 APG

If the Bobcats get this kind of production from their core (which, honestly, isn't too hard to believe) combined with regular production from players like Knight and Brezec, they could sneak into the playoffs as early as a 7th seed...

I see the first 3, not too sure about projected #s for Morrison/Felton - esp. Morrison going from 38% to 48%...have to admit, i had him picked as ROY, but he has not found his stroke all year.

coltraning wrote:

32 wrote:

coltraning wrote:Toronto, with Bosh and Bargnani and Ford, has incredible upside. Only East team with more is the Celtics if they do well in the lottery...I know it's early to compare Bargnani with Dirk, but Dirk sure as hell wasn't Dirk his first 2 years, and Bargnani has better handles, better passing and shows more instinct for driving than Dirk did at that stage.

I dunno. Charlotte is a major dark horse.

If Morrison and Felton finally find their NBA niche, combined with a healthy year from Okafor and Wallace, the Bobcats are majorly dangerous. Raymond Felton was just as good a player in college as Deron Williams. I don't think the following is a stretch:

2007-'08 Charlotte Bobcats

C - Emeka Okafor - 16 PPG, 55% from the field, 12 RPG, 3 BPG (playing 72 games)
PF - Sean May - 10 PPG, 9 RPG, 1 BPG
SF - Gerald Wallace - 14 PPG, 6 RPG, 2 SPG, 1.5 BPG
SG - Adam Morrison - 21 PPG, 48% from the field, 4 RPG, 3 APG
PG - Raymond Felton - 19 PPG, 8 APG

If the Bobcats get this kind of production from their core (which, honestly, isn't too hard to believe) combined with regular production from players like Knight and Brezec, they could sneak into the playoffs as early as a 7th seed...

I see the first 3, not too sure about projected #s for Morrison/Felton - esp. Morrison going from 38% to 48%...have to admit, i had him picked as ROY, but he has not found his stroke all year.

I'm with Colt here.

Okafor is great (although a bit injury prone), Wallace is very good (but will be a free agent this offseason, as he has an option to opt out of his contract), and I'm not sure of anybody else on that roster. On the other side, they'll have a ton of money to throw to a free agent suchs as Vince Carter, which could move them to a contender spot in the east. But they're far of a certainty. They also will change the Head Coach this offseason, so it will be interesting to see which route they go.

I like Toronto. They're starting to become a very, very good team, that has a chance to make some noise in the lowly east in the next few years. Ford has been playing better since he came back from his injury, and that has been a big boost for them.

About Boston... we'll see what happens. If they get a top 2 pick, they'll get a future star. If not, they'll be the same team all over again. A star player in PP, a great PF in Jefferson... and lots of decent complementary players. Still would lack a true PG. They'll be a top team if they can get Oden or Durant... but if not, they'll be a wildcard. They can be great... or be back near the top of the lottery next year.

The two teams that I think may improve a lot are:

Milwaukee: Will have a high draft pick. Just imagine Redd and Durant, with Mo Williams, Bogut and Villa in the lineup. That's a contender for the title in two years.

Atlanta: The Hawks will keep their pick if it's in the top 3 (and Oden would be the missing piece for that team). They'll also get Indy's pick (from the Jamaal Tinsley trade). Just imagine if they get Acie Law with that pick. Law, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Shelden Williams (or Marvin) and Oden looks like another contender to me.

We're just playing, as Broe would say, wack GM, as nothing can really be said til the lottery takes place, but those two teams, with some luck, can become really dangerous for next year.

coltraning wrote:

32 wrote:

coltraning wrote:Toronto, with Bosh and Bargnani and Ford, has incredible upside. Only East team with more is the Celtics if they do well in the lottery...I know it's early to compare Bargnani with Dirk, but Dirk sure as hell wasn't Dirk his first 2 years, and Bargnani has better handles, better passing and shows more instinct for driving than Dirk did at that stage.

I dunno. Charlotte is a major dark horse.

If Morrison and Felton finally find their NBA niche, combined with a healthy year from Okafor and Wallace, the Bobcats are majorly dangerous. Raymond Felton was just as good a player in college as Deron Williams. I don't think the following is a stretch:

2007-'08 Charlotte Bobcats

C - Emeka Okafor - 16 PPG, 55% from the field, 12 RPG, 3 BPG (playing 72 games)
PF - Sean May - 10 PPG, 9 RPG, 1 BPG
SF - Gerald Wallace - 14 PPG, 6 RPG, 2 SPG, 1.5 BPG
SG - Adam Morrison - 21 PPG, 48% from the field, 4 RPG, 3 APG
PG - Raymond Felton - 19 PPG, 8 APG

If the Bobcats get this kind of production from their core (which, honestly, isn't too hard to believe) combined with regular production from players like Knight and Brezec, they could sneak into the playoffs as early as a 7th seed...

I see the first 3, not too sure about projected #s for Morrison/Felton - esp. Morrison going from 38% to 48%...have to admit, i had him picked as ROY, but he has not found his stroke all year.

I'm with #32 here - Felton is looking like a great PG that will be top tier next season. Gerald Wallace has always been injuryprone but wasn't this season and if he continues like this, he could be an 18pt player or more. He is a great defender that with Okafor, probably are the best defensive duo in the nba right now. The Bobcats have some nice players, some (like Morrison) that could be stars or not and others which can fill roles real well. Bobcats are a team to watch but I don't think they'll get great unless they sign an allstar type at least or their current guys (2 at least) get much better and become stars (thinking Felton and Okafor)

I think Felton will just be an ok pg. Not a great one, not a liability. A Derek Fisher kind of player, someone that plays his role but cannot be relied on to carry the team by himself.

TMC wrote::dontknow: I think Felton will just be an ok pg. Not a great one, not a liability. A Derek Fisher kind of player, someone that plays his role but cannot be relied on to carry the team by himself.

Felton is already doing what Fisher has never done - Distribute the ball well The only knock on him right now is his shooting which is quite awful right now. He wil improve that and should become one of the best PGs in the East

migya wrote:Felton is already doing what Fisher has never done - Distribute the ball well The only knock on him right now is his shooting which is quite awful right now. He wil improve that and should become one of the best PGs in the East

Sure, what I mean is that he'd act like Fisher, filling a role, not carrying the team. He won't suck, but won't be enough to improve the team much. He'll need better teammates to improve himself.

TMC wrote:

migya wrote:Felton is already doing what Fisher has never done - Distribute the ball well The only knock on him right now is his shooting which is quite awful right now. He wil improve that and should become one of the best PGs in the East

Sure, what I mean is that he'd act like Fisher, filling a role, not carrying the team. He won't suck, but won't be enough to improve the team much. He'll need better teammates to improve himself.

Felton had very good skills and as far as good players on his team, Wallace, May, Morrison and Okafor are all good enough to make a very good future team

migya wrote:Felton had very good skills and as far as good players on his team, Wallace, May, Morrison and Okafor are all good enough to make a very good future team

Why's everybody ignoring that Wallace is going to be a free agent and may not be back?

TMC wrote:

migya wrote:Felton had very good skills and as far as good players on his team, Wallace, May, Morrison and Okafor are all good enough to make a very good future team

Why's everybody ignoring that Wallace is going to be a free agent and may not be back?

I was going by their current team but fair enough, even without him, the Bobcats have a fair bit of talent. They should offer up about 10-12 million a year for GWallace, he is that important to them right now

migya wrote:I was going by their current team but fair enough, even without him, the Bobcats have a fair bit of talent. They should offer up about 10-12 million a year for GWallace, he is that important to them right now

Camby is making $8 million per year and you want to give Wallace 10-12???

Anything above 8 per year for him is crazy. He's not that good. 12 is almost 1/5 of the team's cap.

TMC wrote:

migya wrote:I was going by their current team but fair enough, even without him, the Bobcats have a fair bit of talent. They should offer up about 10-12 million a year for GWallace, he is that important to them right now

Camby is making $8 million per year and you want to give Wallace 10-12???

Anything above 8 per year for him is crazy. He's not that good. 12 is almost 1/5 of the team's cap.

Camby is a major steal!!!!

Gerald Walace has been the main player for the Bobcats this season and has done great! If they can't get someone to replace him, they need to sign him long term and since their salary cap is going to be the same as the rest of the teams, 10-12 million is not bad at all

migya wrote:Gerald Walace has been the main player for the Bobcats this season and has done great! If they can't get someone to replace him, they need to sign him long term and since their salary cap is going to be the same as the rest of the teams, 10-12 million is not bad at all

It's overpaying. He's a nice player, but his numbers won't be the same with better teammates by his side. He's (a bit) overrated right now.