Unless the Bobcats want to carry two top ten picks that play the exact same position (the most important position in the NBA as far as continuity is concerned) then Felton should be and will be traded before the season opener.

As strange as it is, I am not even torn over MJ’s first pick in the ‘08 draft. As a player, I love D.J. Augustine and in the long run I think that Jordan may have made a very good pick…which is long overdue. Up until Derrick Rose became the consensus #1 pick in the draft, I thought that D.J. was the best pure PG in college basketball. He is an incredible slasher with a great outside stroke and a fearlessness that is mandatory for a 5′11 PG in the league. He is the consummate leader that will do whatever it takes to win, a quality that I don’t think Felton possessed after he left UNC. In the long run he will be an upgrade but for the time being we will all have to wait on Augustine to develop.

MJ has delivered one of his best drafts in recent memory, which ironically makes me want to stop rooting for the Bobcats. Why? You ask. Because of two words…Alexis Ajinca. This is the one guy that I didn’t want MJ or Larry to touch beyond a slap on the rear while giving him an ata-boy and sending him on the first flight back to France. Let’s get two things straight…he is a European big man (aka soft) and he is a project. I am not going to act like I have seen the guy play a lot overseas but his numbers speak for themselves, 5.6 points 5 boards. This pick wouldn’t anger me so much if there wasn’t an American project by the name of Deandre Jordan sitting in the green room until the second round. I mean c’mon MJ why do you always insist on making a “fashionable pick?” Show me the last European big man that was hard enough for his team not to have to carry him through the playoffs. I mean isn’t that what we are looking for here? As a first rounder, this guy should either be a contributor soon or a future anchor for years to come. Deandre will be a good NBA player, Alexis Ajinca will end up scarfing down some wine and cheese and calling it a career in 4 years.

Well, hopefully Jordan hit on the guards that he chose. Augustine is a great talent and in my opinion Kyle Weaver is the better half of a once extremely methodical Washington State backcourt. If he was on a good team like the Pistons, Celtics, or the Lakers, I might actually put it out there that he could be this year’s draft steal. He could’ve been a lesser version of what Stuckey was for the Pistons last year. But alas, he plays for the Charlotte Boobcats that are still an up and coming team without a true superstar leader. Hopefully Larry Brown can be that superstar and Weaver can be that steal that we all need..

When it is all said and done I can see Augustine being one of the premier PGs in the NBA. So isn’t that enough to get off of Jordan’s back? If Augustine turns into a great pro or perhaps even an all star shouldn’t that mean that Jordan got over the proverbial wall? I guess…for the future. But for now, until one of Jordan’s draft night prophecies comes to fruition, maybe Raymond Felton is not the only one in this organization that needs to exorcise his draft night demons.

If Michael Jordan doesn’t want to become the Matt Millen of the NBA then he better deliver this Thursday at the NBAs annual draft. Amid rumors of a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves that would send Charlotte the #3 overall selection for the #9 and some combination of players, Jordan could put to rest the notion that he is the NBA’s worst behind the scenes decision maker. Seven years after he drafted arguably the biggest bust in NBA basketball history, Kwame Brown, Jordan could have his choice of a few franchise changing players and he better not miss…again. Players such as OJ Mayo, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Deandre Jordan, and Russell Westbrook could all be instant contributors. Let’s not get lost in the Kwame Brown pick and think that he was Jordan’s only blunder. All you have to do is go to the very next year and look at Jared Jeffries instead of Tayshaun Prince. Granted, alot of teams missed on Prince, but Jeffries had underachiever written all over him. He was tall, slim, and not a great shooter. He wasn’t good at setting his teammates up or finishing and he wasn’t big enough at 6′10” 220 to do anything in the post. Kwame Brown and Jared Jeffries among other stupid decisions by Jordan were enough for the Wizards to let him go.

Now Jordan is part owner of the Bobcats and makes a good deal of their basketball decisions. He was out of the league for a few years after leaving the Wizards but was hell bent on making a splash when he got back to the front office. Out of all the talented SGs/SFs in the 2006 draft, Jordan went with the hype and drafted Adam Morrison…the kid who cried after his team blew a tournament game to UCLA. Would Jordan have cried as a player? I think not. Not publicly anyway and not in the tantrum fashion that Morrison did. So why take Morrison over the more talented Rudy Gay and Brandon Roy? It just didn’t add up to me and probably to alot of others that questioned his decision. It didn’t make sense to have an up tempo PG like Raymond Felton running the offense with the high flying Gerald Wallace and then stick a pull up jump shooter that can’t run in the mix? Why not add a kid like Rudy Gay who has proven that he can shoot and run now in the league? Not to mention that it was common knowledge to anyone who watched Gonzaga play that Morrison was a defensive liability. Anyways, in 2007 Jordan finally made a step in the right direction by picking up a veteran leader. No, Jason Richardson was not the biggest name veteran leader out there and yes his contract was a ridiculous burden to pick up considering the quality of player he is. However, the cats were desperate for age.

Now in 2008 Jordan has another chance to capitalize on position and cap. He has hired Larry Brown to take over. The move surprised me because of Brown’s history with young players (we all remember the Carmelo Anthony debacle at the Olympics) but he’s going to work out, I can feel it. So now the week of the draft is here and Jordan is apparently trying to wheel and deal his way into the 3rd pick. The move would be genius (by his standards) if he could pull it off. Get rid of Adam Morrison and replace him with OJ Mayo. That’s the rumor anyways. And its a rumor that I would love to believe because it would not only set Jordan up for redemption for years of nonsensical draft decisions. It could save the Bobcats from plummeting into Detroit Lionsesque despair and keep Michael Jordan out of the Matt Millen brotherhood of terrible GMs…for now at least.

Heres to this years draft…Almost too much talent even for Jordan to miss.