Whoops! Had my 6-8, shoot-first West Coast white guys confused.
Adam Morrison is the Bobcats pick, Jason Kapono the guy Charlotte exiled to Miami. Same diff?
Look, I love Morrison’s passion for the game, not to mention the fact he is a Metallica and Rage Against the Machine fan. Maybe Adam can do something about the music at the Arena; put “Seek and Destroy” or “Bullet in the Head” in the mix. On second thought, given crime in Charlotte, maybe not. Anyway, bad pick.
You had two functional, athletic two-guards on the board in Brandon Roy and Randy Foye, guys who could torment you for years and would’ve made great running mates for Raymond Felton. Instead you took a small forward, which forces you to take your incumbent stud small forward, Gerald Wallace, and play him at two-guard. Anyone who has seen Gerald’s jumpshot — Bernie? Bernie? You still in the building? — knows that is not a great idea. In fact, if you are going to play Wallace out-of-position, he makes a much more dangerous under-sized four-man.
So you have Morrison at the three, where he must — all together now — Get His Own Shot. Everyone says Morrison can do this, but until he hits one of those driving, Bingo Smith-flashback numbers with Josh Howard in his grill, color me we’ll see. Better still, until Morrison can take it into the lane and not give up a layup immediately on the other end keep the jury out. Way out. Morrison needs the help.
But the hype is gonna be unrelenting on this pick as the Bobcats absolutely must start to build fan interest back up to something like NBA numbers. That is where Michael Jordan comes in. The best part of draft night for the Bobcats franchise is when MJ popped out of his hoops HQ at the Westin to talk to ESPN. Having the Jordan brand on what the Bobcats are doing really is worth millions.
But only if Morrison can guard the ball.