Charlotte Bobcats

Amin Elhassan breaks down the Charlotte Bobcats' draft profile, needs and potential 2013 picks.

I remember the 2011 draft very fondly, but one article stood out above all the others that has helped create the lenses in which I evaluate prospects at the top of the draft. It was this article by Chad Ford and I'd like to use that as a reference so we can quickly establish what "Tiers" are. I talk with NBA scouts and executives to get a sense of: A. Which teams like which players (mock draft). B. What the consensus is among all 30 NBA teams about who the best players in the draft are (Top 100). I use the word "consensus" lightly. Often, even GMs and scouts employed by the same team can't agree on rankings of players. Obviously, I can't do that kind of thing, as I have no NBA connections and therefore no way to get any sort of consensus. One thing I can do however, is make up these tiers all by myself! So, let's get started shall we? The First Tier: Franchise Pieces - I hesitate to put Noel here. I'm not going to get into any sort of length, as it's pretty irrelevant to Bobcat fans now, but I will relent and place him here for no reason other than convenience. I guess we can consider this tier graded on a curve, as this draft (appears) weak when compared to its predecessors. Anyway, he's here because he's the clear head-honcho of the draft. Despite some naysayers (like Jay Bilas) who like Ben McLemore, the overwhelming consensus is Noel will be the No1 pick in the draft. So, he fits the bill. The Second Tier: The Next Best - These are the guys who, for whatever reason, have some glaring weakness that keeps them from being percieved as a true "franchise piece" and are as thus relegated to this tier. My person ranking (in this tier): 2) Ben McLemore - There are enough people who hold the belief that McLemore has the highest upside of this bunch, so I don't see why he shouldn't be given 2nd billing to Noel. He has something all Tier 2 prospects have, an elite tool. That tool is shooting; shooting so good that I've seen comparisons as lofty as Ray Allen. He's got plenty to work on, but you have to love kids that have an elite tool. 3) Anthony Bennett - If you know anything about me on here, you know I'm a sucker for Bennett. He's got elite athleticism (the best of this PF crop), which ticks off that box. He's got SF speed with the power of a PF, making him the ideal offensive prospect, only matched by McLemore in this crew. However, his fatal flaw is his size, in which he is undersized (PG Micheal Carter Williams is close to him in height) and that, matched with subpar defensive effort during his freshman season at UNLV), that generates a lot of questions about his defense. 4) Victor Oladipo - A defensive tour-du-force. While not having the height to actually play SF, he has the outstanding defensive ability to matchup with anyone from 1 through 3 (and his strength isn't bad either; he could probably handle some 4s). His intangibles are so outstanding that it led to incredibly outlandish comparisons to our very own Micheal Jordan, but you don't get people talking about you without doing something right. That elite defensive tool lands him on this second tier, because his offense is nothing to write home about. He's almost the exact offensive player as Bobcat Gerald Henderson's senior year at Duke, which is to say he's an above-average slasher but below average everything else. 5) Cody Zeller - I'm strongly considering him as a Tier 3 prospect, but statements from resident commenter PoAshton made me reconsider my stance that Cody Zeller is not an elite athlete (you can get a good here in the comment section). Among C prospects, his eye-popping combine numbers show that he has elite athleticism for a C. Here's the rub though, his ranking on this Tier in contingent on him predominately playing Center at the next level. I see him more as a PF personally, but I don't like pidgeonholing players before seeing how they play. The Third Tier: Significant Upside - These guys have a good

Charlotte was given a small dose of disappointing news tonight when we found out that the team will select 4th next month in the NBA draft. There’s good and bad news here. The bad news first — well, it’s rather self-explanatory. Once again, the Bobcats had an opportunity to land it’s first #1 overall selection ever. The good news is that this summers draft is presumably filled with role players on the next level. There will obviously be some very good players in the NBA from this draft, but it’s very unclear who that’ll be and cannot be said that Charlotte won’t find that diamond in the rough at #4. This will be the teams 4th pick in the top-4 in their 9 year existence. A few names that quickly pop into my mind are Victor Oladipo, Alex Len and Anthony Bennett. Out of these three players, only one worked out in the draft combine in Chicago last weekend – Oladipo, and he dazzled. I wrote a month ago about why I think Charlotte should draft Olapdipo. Victor is one of the most elite athletes in this draft, impacts the game in as many ways as anyone on the board and has as good of a character as you will find. On top of that, Oladipo has arguably one of the biggest upsides of any player in this draft due to the way he impacts the game on both ends — an excellent/energetic defender that scores with his above average jump shot + elite finisher at the rim. The obvious upsides of Len and Noel, due to their size, is well documented.

Though the lowest the Bobcats could pick in the first round of the upcoming draft could have been fifth overall, they outperformed that percentage by receiving the fourth overall pick. Though many expect Nerlens Noel to go first, the talent level is fairly consistent after that, much like last year with a number of prospects in the mix for the top spots. The Bobcats tried to reclaim some magic today by also announcing the team would be renamed the Hornets beginning in the 2014-15 season. Unfortunately for them, a connection to past draft luck (see: Mourning, Alonzo; Johnson, Larry) could not return results for the Bobcats. Alas, luck again was not on their side like last year, and they'll be slated to draft behind three teams unless they trade up or down. Anything can happen during the draft and trades go down fairly often, so you can't exactly count on the team holding pat at this time.

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment Chairman Michael Jordan announced today that the organization has submitted its application to change the team’s name to the Charlotte Hornets starting with the 2014-15 season.

There hasn't been a lot of chatter from NBA players about the name change, but a couple tweeted about the news today. In honor of the name change #13thpick #nbadraft #96 #freshface instagram.com/p/Zl7QeYRNrz/ — Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) May 21, 2013 Hornets, yessir. How it should be. #Grandmama — Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) May 21, 2013 And Bobcats legend Sean May offered his support! Glad to heat the #Bobcatsare changing the name back to the Hornets — Sean May (@BigMay42) May 21, 2013 Hear* — Sean May (@BigMay42) May 21, 2013 Whoops! However, former Hornets star forward Larry Johnson seemed quite offended that he wasn't included in the ceremony or any events with the organization. It should be noted that Johnson does a fair amount of stuff with the Knicks so who knows if he can actually do both simultaneously. “@patrickconnor7: @thereallj2 Is Grand ma ma coming to any Hornets games?”I would luv to, the club as shown me NO LOVE!! — Larry Johnson (@TheRealLJ2) May 21, 2013 Charlotte, how about honoring me and Mugs. Just a thought. Show your love!!! — Larry Johnson (@TheRealLJ2) May 21, 2013 I understand Charlotte, u don't need us you have M. Jordan — Larry Johnson (@TheRealLJ2) May 21, 2013 I do think it's pretty funny that he didn't include Alonzo Mourning with him and Muggsy Bogues (who has been a part of Bobcats events for years now).

A year removed from losing out on the Anthony Davis sweepstakes, the Bobcats have a 19.9% chance of getting this year's first overall pick. There doesn't seem to be a consensus on which prospect should be taken with the first overall pick, but being able to choose before anyone else is a welcome advantage. Nerlens Noel was expected to be taken with the first overall pick, but teams are wary of his health after he tore his ACL in February. This allowed prospects like Ben McLemore, Anthony Bennett, and Otto Porter to garner some much-needed attention and keep the Draft interesting. The Bobcats cannot fall lower than the fifth overall pick and are most likely to receive the fourth overall pick with odds of 31.9%. Still, the chances of them missing a top-three pick are slim are about 45%. That may seem scary, but I wouldn't worry too much. The show starts at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN. Let's talk conspiracy theories, y'all!

As expected, Michael Jordan took to the podium in Time Warner Cable Arena's practice gym to announce the team has indeed submitted papers to claim the Hornets name, with the estimated process being completed to be ready by the 2014-15 season. Jordan cited the overwhelming support of a name change from the fanbase in regards to Charlotte reclaiming the 'Hornets' name in making the decision, which gained a lot of steam in the past couple years from the Bring Back The Buzz grassroots movement. In the next months, the name must be approved by the NBA Board of Governors, which is probably a just a formality. Then the organization will likely undergo an extensive rebrand from everything including jerseys to highway signs. Pete Guelli, the executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer, said that the rebrand will cost an estimated $4 million. As for the teal and purple colors (which I fondly adore), Jordan said it's too early to tell and that they haven't thought about colors or logos at this point. Though it should be noted that teal and purple were all over the backdrop and the new site, Back The Buzz, which advertises season tickets and flashy jacket. The rebranding could offer a healthy revitalization of energy and nostalgia to drive a new feel to the team as they continue to try to build a consistent winning team for years to come. As Jordan mentioned, the main focus is still on good basketball, so with that in mind, let's turn our focus toward the draft lottery at 8:30 on ESPN.

Michael Jordan’s Clutch Move Brings the Hornets Home. Four years ago, Michael Jordan was inducted in to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Of the occasion, Jordan relayed that it was “simply a continuation of something that I started a long time ago.” During his induction speech Jordan called out a lot of the folks that he didn’t feel were helpful to his ambitions. He even claimed that there was a chance you “might look up and see me playing the game at 50.” Now at the age of 50, Jordan is the man in position to make a huge play off the court for the city of Charlotte. His body might be too old to lace up his shoes, put a team on his back, and carry them to a win. But he’s still the ‘alpha’, the only one that could take the shot that the Queen City’s basketball fans wanted him to shoot. Say what you will about his post-playing days, Michael Jordan deserves some credit for his effort to bring Charlotte’s NBA team back. The Long Road Back George Shinn In 2002, George Shinn took his franchise down to Louisiana. He sold the NBA on the idea that the Big Easy wanted a pro basketball team, and that was really the only place where he could make ends meet. Not too long afterward, he was attempting to tell the same story to the NBA about Oklahoma City. Fortunately, the league finally took the Hornets off of Shinn’s plate. It was a suspicious move, but the NBA wanted to keep a team down in New Orleans and stop Shinn from screwing things up any further. Shortly afterward, the league office found a buyer for the club in Tom Benson, majority owner of the New Orleans Saints. As the new owner of  a less-than-impressive franchise, Benson vowed to make Louisiana proud of their NBA team. His first order of business was to begin the process of rebranding the club with regional ties, and steer toward a name (Pelicans) that meant something to the surrounding area. This was not only a way to evoke a sense of local pride, but it should do a great deal to separate the climate of ownership under Benson from that of George Shinn and the generic feel of his Charlotte/New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. Shinn did his best to make the Hornets name meaningless – trading players in their prime, disregarding the fan base, and keeping that wandering eye toward the next town’s cash. Somehow, the NBA now finds itself in a uniquely fortuitous situation. Despite all of the mistakes, the Hornets brand does still have meaning and value in one place. And, that town certainly needs something fresh to enliven the fan base and stir up their excitement for pro basketball. So, old is new and the bugs are back. Charlotte Hornets you’ve been missed. The total cost of reclaiming the Hornets moniker and washing away the Bobcats experience will be hard to estimate. Nevertheless, Jordan was the man to take the shot for Charlotte’s big win. The money involved might not be worth the gamble, but it’s all fine if the owner is the gambling type. For anyone out there that doubts the success of the Hornets rebranding, don’t think that Jordan won’t hold this over you when they sell out their first game in 2014. -Mike

First up, we have the Bobcats' news conference scheduled at 6 p.m. EST, per Rick Bonnell. They are expected to announce the team's decision to change the franchise's name to the Hornets. Shortly after that, the NBA will have the draft lottery on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. Godspeed, ping-pong balls. The following are the Bobcats' odds for each draft pick: First - 19.9 percent Second - 18.8 percent Third - 17.1 percent Fourth - 31.9 percent Fifth - 12.3 percent