A few days ago the NBA Draft transformed from a boring event full of unspectacular players into one of the most unexpected, unpredictable sports events of the year. There was no clear-cut number 1 pick and the predicted number one pick fell to number 6. Although most of the picks were unexpected and completely out-of-order of everyone’s mock drafts, at the end of the day they seemed like decent picks…well not everyone.
The one team known to do bizarre things did just that: the Charlotte Bobcats. With the two biggest names of the pack still on board, Ben McLemore and Nerlens Noel, the Bobcats decided to take Cody Zeller with the 4th pick. My first reaction was a loud solid WTF. Even though he’s definitely not a bad player, it just was very unexpected. For a team that is routinely at the bottom of the barrel it makes sense to take a player with a big name and a big game to change the franchise around. Not a lot of people were happy with the pick and I heard the fans at the Bobcats draft party booed the pick. The worst part was that this was their only pick of the draft so this was the only new addition.
I’ve already wrapped my head around the fact that I’m not going to see Noel or McLemore in Charlotte next year. Being that I live in North Carolina and I’m a NBA junkie I go see the Bobcats play maybe 5 times a year, the Bobcats often send me a lot of emails. I guess they wanted to explain themselves with their pick in a recent email I read:
Dear Everick,
As I’m sure you’re aware by now, we selected Indiana forward Cody Zeller with the fourth overall pick in last night’s NBA Draft. I cannot begin to tell you how excited Rich Cho and I, and our entire organization, are to have Cody join our team. We look forward to adding him to our young core as we continue to build our team.
In two seasons at Indiana, Cody played in 72 games, averaging 16.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.2 steals in 29.0 minutes. This past season, he led the Hoosiers in scoring, rebounding and blocks, earning First Team All-Big Ten and Second Team AP All-America honors, along with a spot on the John R. Wooden All-America Team. In addition, he also earned First Team Academic All-American and Academic All-Big Ten honors. As a freshman in 2011-12, Cody was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Second Team All-Big Ten and Honorable Mention AP All-American.
We believe Cody will be a great addition to our young core, and I’d like to share with you some of the reasons that we are so high on him:
Versatility: Cody is a big man that can play both inside and on the perimeter. His abilities will fit in well with our personnel and compliment the skills of our other big men.
Shooting Ability: Cody finished at Indiana as the school’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (59.1%), and we believe his outside game will only get better at the pro level. He has the ability to become a stretch four in the NBA.
Athleticism: Cody is one of the best athletes in this year’s draft, particularly for his size (7-0). At the predraft combine, he recorded the highest-ever standing vertical jump (35.5) for a player taller than 6-9. His athleticism fits in extremely well with the up-tempo pace that head coach Steve Clifford plans on playing.
Intangibles: Cody’s work ethic is off the charts, which fits in perfectly with the culture we are creating with our young core. He is a smart player with a high basketball IQ, and he makes the players around him better.
We’re thrilled to have Cody join our team, and we know that you – our fans – will enjoy watching him play at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Video on Cody Zeller
Stats on Cody Zeller
Interview with Tom Crean
Interview with Cody ZellerNow that the draft has concluded, we will turn our attention to free agency, where we could have up to $21 million under the salary cap with which to continue to add quality players to our roster. As we do constantly, we will continue to explore every opportunity to make our team better and we will aggressively pursue the players and assets that we feel will accomplish that goal.
As always, thank you for your continued support of the Charlotte Bobcats.
Sincerely,
Rod Higgins
President of Basketball Operations
Charlotte Bobcats
Instead of admitting their mistake, they’re taking full responsibility for their pick. Now if he’s a bust they should remember all the things stated in this email, if he’s legit than well hey great. Pretty much, the president of the team had to let us know that he knows what he’s doing. I guess we should have faith, I’m on board. #ZellerNation
