Saturday, February 7, 2009

Morrison exits with a whimper

The Charlotte Bobcats first put Adam Morrison in the deep discount rack and as of today shipped him to the L.A. Lakers in return for Vladimir Radmanovic.

If you can pronounce "Radmanovic," you're a lot more of an NBA junkie than I am, but whether you can or not you have to agree that if the Bobcats can get much of anything out of Radmanovic, it'll be more than they've been getting out of Morrison.

Morrison has been a mess for most of his career with Charlotte -- his high point was getting drafted No.3 overall, and it's been mostly downhill from there. He has looked nothing like the player he was at Gonzaga -- more timid, even worse defensively and, lately, far less hair.

Morrison turned out to be a major draft mistake. The Bobcats have at least cut their losses by getting rid of him, but Radmanovic (see his career stats and bio here) is hardly the sort of player you want the No.3 overall pick to turn into. At best, he's a reserve who gives the Bobcats some frontcourt help. If you're starting this guy, you're probably in trouble (although they may have to until Gerald Wallace returns).

But I give this trade a grudging thumbs-up because Radmanovic just can't be much worse than Morrison. This was a case of Michael Jordan and the Bobcats 'fessing up to a mistake and not throwing any more good money after bad. Maybe Morrison will be better on the West Coast, although I don't really see it happening. Certainly, he'll get more open shots because of all the attention paid to Kobe Bryant, but I don't know if Phil Jackson will play him much because Morrison is such a defensive liability.

4 comments:

the canibus hog said...

Scott,
Mitch talked today about giving Adam plenty of room to grow and that the pressure on him to come in and perform right away will be next to none. Something that you cannot (usually) give a kid that your franchise just picked #3.

I feel that he is going to thrive again once he gets back West. He will get a lot of shots and have a lot of fun.

He won't be thrown into the fire and scolded by the coach in the media.
Not yet at least.

BTW,Scott,
What is your take on Shannon Brown. Is Jordan Farmar going to have any real competition for that back up pg spot?
Thanks!

hog

Slam said...

Hog, why are you thanking this clown? He knows nothing of the team and would rather hide behind the "we should have, I would have, if we had of" BS that makes him feel like his opinion means something more than nothing.

Scott Says = Scott has NO idea.

Dooger's spin said...

The majority of the time the Lakers get the overwhelming edge on trades. I am somewhat disappointed that the 'Cats didn't get a bit more creative, such as offering Wallace (yes, I know he's injured and loved by fans) and Morrison for Lamar Odom. I don't believe coach LB is ever happy with a roster he inherits. A multidue a teams are clamoring for Wallace's services. The Lakers would have salivated at the chance to get the oft-injured, unhappy 'Cat Wallace. The Lakers have been looking to get rid of Odom, possibly for a big man, but the trade would have worked in all facets, including salary. Yes, Odom's contract expires but he is a solid veteran who is extremely versatile and has the ability to dominaste others at the 3.

What Scott should have wrote is that the Bobcats were short sighted on this trade. Yes, get rid of Morrison, but don't do it at the expense of getting a fresh face. This does NOT help the Bobcats. Yes, I have watched Radmonovich, and there must be something that Coach Brown likes, although Coach has been know to jettison players just so he no longer has to even see them at practice. Brown likes players who have a defined role, are versatile at multiple positions, along with particular emphasis on team defense. We'll see what Coach Brown thinks of the latter, because after watching Radmonovich in LA LA land, I rarely saw any dedication on the defensive end.

Hey Slam, I'm not going to disagree with you about Mr. Flower...he does act like he knows a lot about sports, when his journalistic qualities may have shown visible cracks years ago in other fields, such as politics, local business news, or even the weather. He shows blatant favoritism for his sports teams (yes Scott, it's obvious who you like and don't like...apparently you think the perks of your job). Thank goodness for the ability to respond to posts and blogs, although I would use a thesaurus to choose more mature words, in order to get your point across. You lose your audience when you call someone names, not to mention show you IQ.

Unknown said...

Why do sportswriters always have to manufacture drama about these moves?

Morrison is obviously talented and obviously not working in the current system. He's had to play his three NBA years under three different coaches, and is coming back from injury. The guy will probably turn into a solid NBA contributor (though probably never a starter, true) somewhere else, but it was also patently obvious he needed to get the hell out of Charlotte.

It's the same thing with Peppers. Why get in such a huff? He fulfilled his contract, and now wants to play elsewhere. Next story.