ray

I was personally hoping the Clips would trade the 2nd pick for some veterans. Hopefully they will use the #4 and #33 picks wisely.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

The Charlotte Bobcats swapped first-round draft choices with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, giving the NBA's newest franchise a chance to select Dwight Howard or Emeka Okafor with the No. 2 overall pick.

Charlotte sent the No. 4 overall pick, along with a second-round selection (No. 33 overall), to Los Angeles for the No. 2 choice. The Bobcats also agreed to select Clippers center Predrag Drobnjak in Tuesday's expansion draft.

The Bobcats have made no secret of their desire to obtain Okafor or Howard as one of the main building blocks for the league's 30th franchise.

``We would be pleased starting our basketball team with either one of those young men,'' Bobcats coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said. ``They represent what we would like to become in terms of character, competitiveness and talent.''

The Clippers are expected to choose Peoria prep star Shaun Livingston with the fourth overall pick, believing the Chicago Bulls will pass on him at No. 3 because they would not want to use their lottery pick on a point guard for a third consecutive year.

Howard, a power forward, and Livingston, a point guard, are two of the top high school players available in Thursday night's draft.

``We will get the player we want with the fourth pick, and it improves our salary cap flexibility with regard to potential free agents,'' Los Angeles general manager Elgin Baylor said. ``We didn't say who we'd pick. We won't disclose that until draft day.''

The Orlando Magic hold the first selection in the draft, and team officials claim they are undecided on whether to select Okafor or Howard.

Orlando also is listening to trade offers for Tracy McGrady, and a reported deal with Houston involving Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and others could be contingent on whether the Bobcats select any of Orlando's unprotected players.

``We have been in conversations with the Magic, and we're good listeners and good facilitators,'' Bickerstaff said. ``We have to make a decision not to do anything that's vindictive, but to do something we can derive some benefit from. The conversations we've had have been cordial conversations.''

Charlotte will select 14 players from existing NBA rosters in the expansion draft, although the Bobcats expect to choose only a few players who will end up on their opening-night roster.

Bickerstaff also said he expects to make three or four trades before this week is over.

``There's not a lot, but we do have some things on the bubble and we'll work diligently to try to bring a couple more to fruition,'' he said.

Drobnjak, a three-year NBA veteran, averaged 6.3 points and 3.2 rebounds last season for the Clippers, who acquired him in a sign-and-trade deal with Seattle during training camp. He has one guaranteed year remaining on his contract for $2.55 million.

``He'll get an opportunity,'' Bickerstaff said. ``He's a big body, he can shoot the basketball. We'll be pulling for him to succeed.''

whitak24

interesting.

i think Charlotte would be stupid to pick Howard as the cornerstone of their franchise. while he may be good (and i think he probably is), he's certainly no lebron. but even in the case of lebron, the idea that you're going to build a new franchise around a guy straight from high school just isn't that good of an idea. first of all, there's plenty of high school players who have flopped (hello kwame brown). secondly, most high school players, no matter how good they become, enter the league and immediately dominate. but particularly when you're building a roster from the league's castaways and journeymen and then throw in a high school student.....recipe for arrested development (for the HS kid), at the very least. an expansion team needs immediate help, not a project player.

for the clips, i think it's a pretty good move. first of all, especially in a draft like this year's where there are no sure-fire players, it's way less pressure to draft 4 than 2. if you screw up 4....eh.....not so big of a deal.

but i would counsel them against taking an HS PG. especially in a PG, it's going to take them awhile to hit their potential. with the trouble that the Clips have holding on to free agents, the kid is going to peak right about in his fourth year, exactly when his contact is about to expire.

ray

Livingston may be a good pickup. With that 4th pick, they can take Livingston and then pass on Telfair (who is one of their top prospects according to my friends with the Clippers).

ialsohaveadream

Telfair is garbage. I'm telling you, he's all hype. That said, I think the only sure-fire pick in this year's draft is Okafor. So unless you've got the #1 pick, you're screwed.

bachviet

The Clippers need a point guard so they are going to use their picks to get the best PG available.

Hopefully they pick someone who could help this team.

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brainsmile

Don't know what the Clips are thinking... what are they gonna do with a 2nd round pick?

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ialsohaveadream

2nd rounders don't get guaranteed contracts if I remember correctly. So it really doesn't matter.

Besides, they can always draft a foreigner and let him stay overseas.

brainsmile

well still moving down 2 slots to get someone they like less than the #2 pick seems funny

whitak24

well, if the only outcome of this trade is to help them avoid taking telfair, then i'd have to say it's a great trade for them. i agree with Dream....i think telfair is vastly overrated.

it still seems like taking a HS pg with their pick is bad because they don't really have anyone to let him develop under, and it seems like they're increasing their chances of losing him at the end of his rookie contract without getting substantial services from him.

slaus

Telfair gets overrated because he's a point guard in New York and he's the cousin of Marbury.

cheapchinese

when you say this.. somehow it reminds me of the spurs pg... took him awhile to get to where he's at.

Showtime

The experts are predicting this to be a bad crop overall, but I think there's gotta be a couple of impact players. Orlando should grab the known, but to sell tickets the high school kid is the ticket. Especially since Tmac is leaving.

-jel

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kei2

Clips need a PG? What happened to Andre Miller?

cheapchinese

i thought he traded out long ago

kei2

Oh he did? I guess I haven't been following very closely. I was wondering about that, because he's definitely good enough to run the point (or at least to make the 1-guard not the spot with the greatest need).

ialsohaveadream

Miller is in Denver. He bombed in his one season as Clips PG.

attgig

Howard isn't that big of a miss imo. He's a PF.... think Garnett. I'm not saying he's the next Garnett....but Howard is.

and as for the whole NBA castoffs with a HS kid...I'm not all that worried. He got character. Yes, there are things he's never seen before coming out of a small private HS...but if the dude has character, there's nothin to worry about.

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slaus

A lot of people compare Howard to Kwame Brown. If you believe, Browns development was stalled due to MJ then its okay. If you believe Brown will never be good then its a problem. Howard really doesnt compare well to Garnett because I think Garnett is more athletic and was meant to be more of an all around player.

brainsmile

looks like the bobcats are trying to deal with orlando to NOT pick Okafor so that Charlotte can

ialsohaveadream

No chance. Like I've said, I think Okafor is the only sure thing in this draft. He's definitely the type of player you can build around. I doubt he'll be a Hall of Famer, but he could be a Ben Wallace type. Plus, he's got a solid head on his shoulders. Howard might have all the talent in the world, but it's always tough to judge that when you're evaluating a high school kid.

slaus

This draft is such a downer compared to last years draft in which you knew there was atleast a couple of impact players. Theres a lot of project guys in this draft and nice players.

kei2

Charlotte can't just coerce Orlando into not picking their guy first... it'd have to trade up for the #1 pick. I guess even taking Okafor wouldn't satisfy McGrady though... he wants NBA vets around him.

ray

T-Mac needed a point guard more than anything else.

ialsohaveadream

I'd say he's more in need of a big man to take some of the defensive heat off of himself. If they had a legit low-post threat (and I don't think Juwan is that guy), it would make a big difference.

slaus

Orlando really needs an interior post player to compliment T-Mac. Okafor can do all the dirty work and score you 15 points a night which is all you can ask for.

whitak24

i think all this discussion about what orlando needs highlights the deficiencies in their roster, and provides even more explaination for why t-mac is saying "i'm out of here"

ray

Of course it is. It's reason for any player of his talent to want out of a team that has no supporting cast. That's why I would rather have a point guard who can move the ball around more than a big man to take off the defensive pressures.

Showtime

Howard should go 1st now. They discovered some back problems in Ok.... That's good cuz the bobcats want him either way.

-jel