This was supposed to be it. This was supposed to be that moment of brilliance. Finally, at long last, the Bobcats would have some hope for the future. This was a team that was genuinely gaining momentum each year of its existence, suffered a few setbacks, and was poised to finally start anew with a once-in-a-decade talent. This was not only going to be our return to NBA relevance, but also garner a renewed passion in Charlotte's other sports team. Basketball fever would be back in the Queen City. This was our reset button to the 1990s.

The Charlotte Bobcats endured a season unlike almost any other. Setting a new low for winning percentage, the frustrated fans of a frustrating team needed some hope for the future. There was a lot of talk before the draft about which team needed now Hornet-elect Anthony Davis; even a discussion of who deserved him the most. When it comes down to talent, or lack thereof, Charlotte is truly without equal. We needed him the most- that was clear. But the question of whether we deserved him was slightly more complex.

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It is surprising to me that the one question that continually divides NBA fans, pundits, GMs, and administrators is that of determining the draft order. The NBA is unique from any other league in that its draft structure and talent pool create a condition under which teams are often incentivized to fail. A team barely missing the playoffs is awarded draft compensation commensurate with their placement on an overall leaderboard- usually somewhere in the middle of the order- whereas a team that performed much worse is given a more premium placement. Ordinarily, there are only a few players in a given draft pool who can have the effect of truly changing a franchise's fortunes, and such players are almost exclusively found at the top of the class. Therefore, it can be said that it is more economically and strategically beneficial for a team to finish with the worst record in a given year than it is to finish one game out of the playoffs.

The NBA instituted the draft lottery in an attempt to counteract this incentive, and yet it has seemingly produced greater inequity between teams. Of the 26 draft lotteries held since 1985, the team with the worst record has won only 4 times. Since the current weighted lottery system was instituted, the last-place team secured the 1st pick twice in 18 attempts, or 11.11% of the time- far below the expected outcome of 25%. The more paranoid among us will attribute that to David Stern's whims while others will just characterize it as small sample size, but the fact remains that if you are a terrible team, you have a better chance of surviving a plane crash than you do of getting the first overall pick. (No, really.)

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(Ed. - from the FanPosts)

I used to like basketball.

I had a Jordan jersey. I had the obligatory driveway-hoop. I went to games, stuffed my face, lost my voice, and slept in the car on the way home. I tried to play. Basically, I was a kid in the 90s, and my heroes were the Goliaths of the hardwood. I never truly thought I'd ever be one of them, but I knew I'd always love watching them.

And then I didn't like basketball. All of the sudden, I hated it.

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If you're like me, you weren't sure what to make of the John Lackey signing in the offseason. Also if you're like me, you're not sure what to make of the coming years with him. Let's figure this out together.

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Josh Beckett. Jon Lester. John Lackey. Daisuke Matsuzaka. Clay Buchholz. Each of these players, on any other team except the Yankees would be at or near the top of the rotation. Lester, Lackey and Dice-K are signed through at least 2012. Depending on this season, Beckett could see an extension coming his way. Buchholz could get dealt, resigned or even let go.

At worst, there are three great starters (even Daisuke) locked up until 2012. With Casey Kelly progressing well through the system, decent outings from young guys like Junichi Tazawa and Michael Bowden, do we really need the 22 year old Cuban-defector flamethrower?

The short answer is no. The long answer is, well, maybe.

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