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Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown says it's always good when a draft pick fills a need, but that need shouldn't trump talent in making a pick.
Why not have it all?
I'm guessing the best use of the Bobcats' lottery pick – 12th overall – would be acquiring one of two shooting guards – Duke's Gerald Henderson or Louisville's Terrence Williams. You wouldn't be reaching, as far as talent, and I can't think of a more apparent need than a backup for Raja Bell at shooting guard.
Granted, I'm making some assumptions five days out from Thursday night's draft: It's no given either Henderson or Williams will be left after the first 11 picks are made. And we don't know who else might slip that far. (Who would have guessed, the Sunday before last year's draft, that both Brook Lopez and D.J. Augustin would be available to the Bobcats with the ninth pick?)
But I think it's a reasonable guess that Henderson and/or Williams will be available to the Bobcats. They're not the same player, but they do have similarities that the Bobcats – particularly as coached by Brown – would value.
They're both smart, savvy guys. They're both superior athletes. And they both have demonstrated the ability to play strong defense.
Any coach wants good athletes, but basketball IQ and a defensive focus are particularly important to Brown. Dumb guys don't absorb everything Brown throws at them quickly enough to keep up. And defense is key, because Brown expects wing players to cover so much ground while guarding.
It's imperative that Charlotte find Bell's backup, and Cartier Martin looked overmatched at that spot. Three injuries in the second half of last season suggest Bell will miss more games next season. He'll be 33, having played 10 NBA seasons.
Bell isn't injury-prone, but you can't do what he does – guard the opposing team's best scorer most games – without giving up your body some. So a solid backup is a must.
That's not to say either prospect is flawless: The position is “shooting guard,” and neither Henderson nor Williams is a particularly good shooter.
Henderson shot 33 percent from the college 3-point line and it was obvious at his workout in Charlotte that he isn't reliable shooting beyond 20 feet. Williams shot 32 percent from the college 3-point line, 40 percent from the field and 59 percent from the foul line.
But poor shooting isn't an unpardonable sin in Brown's view. He often says hard workers can correct bad form in the NBA, and he points to Bell, who morphed from a terrible 3-point shooter (27percent in his first full NBA season) to among the best (his 42.1percent last season tied him for 15th in the NBA).
So who better for Henderson or Williams to learn from than Bell?
