Since their number one overall pick of Emeka Okafor, who's honestly an underrated NBA player in my eyes, drafting hasn't been much of a success. Let's take a look at the abilities of Jordan and his front office's drafting abilities.
2004 first round, first overall: Emeka Okafor
2005 first round, 5th overall: Raymond Felton
2006 first round, 3rd overall: Adam Morrison
2007 first round, 8th overall: Brandon Wright
2008 first round, 9th overall: DJ Augustin
2009 first round, 12th overall: Gerald Henderson
2010: No first round draft picks
2011 First round, 8th overall: Kemba Walker
2012 first round, 2nd overall: Michael Kidd Gilchrist
You'd think that four top five picks in eight years would result in more than one winning season. Top five picks should be atleast key role players on a team, if not a star or above average NBA player. But Okafor has jumped around from team to team, Felton has had two solid NBA seasons, Adam Morrison was one of the worst picks of all time, and Brandon Wright hasn't been anything special either. The last two picks, being Kidd-Gilchrist and Walker, have actually been solid picks even if it hasn't resulted to any success on the court yet, with Walker posting 18ppg this season while Kidd-Gilchrist has had a decent rookie campaign as well.
But this upcoming draft is going to be one of the worst ever, topping the draft of 2011 when Jan Vesely went 6th overall, so the lowly Bobcats won't have a turn-the-franchise-around type player to look forward to. But in my mind, the Bobcats should absolutely shoot to draft Nerlens Noel with the top pick, even if they need to trade up for the top pick. With Noel coming off a torn ACL, many are skeptical that the big man will be able to recover completely. But Noel isn't your typical around the basket player, averaging 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds a game last season at Kentucky, while also showing that he can run the floor and has great stamina.
The Bobcats improved from 7 wins last season to 20 this year, showing that their recent draft picks have payed off, and they may have possibly found a decent coach. But they're not going to make the playoffs next year, no matter who they pick in this upcoming draft. So the no-brainer move would be to draft Noel, stash him for a year and rehab him so that he comes back better than ever. While doing this, they'll most likely do poorly next season and receive a lottery pick, allowing them to build off the nucleus of Noel, Kidd-Gilchrist, and Walker. If the 'Cats are serious about winning, then they need to be patient and acquire young players they can actually build around, unlike Adam Morrison.
