If you believe in “moral victories” then by all means this could be considered one.

The Bobcats have a long history of pain and suffering against these Boston Celtics. Our hardships against this team have been all over the map, we’ve experienced the torment that is s a Ray Allen last second shot that hits you like a dagger to the aorta  and we’ve had to endure far too many of your standard fare 25 to 30 point beat downs  from these jokers in green. With that being said, when rumors hit early on Friday that discussions have been taking place that would ship Bobcats Co-Captain and the only All-Star in team history away to the Cavs for their trade exception, most of us figured that the because of the distraction we would get a poor effort tonight.

Newsbreak:  For the sake of accuracy, It wasn’t enough that we would be trading away Gerald Wallace for what amounts to an IOU, in order to make the deal suitable  to the Cavs we would need to do the honors of throwing in an additional lottery protected 1st round pick. If those are truly the parameters of the deal and it goes down the way that its being rumored then the reaction of the Bobcats fanbase will probably look a little like this:

To Cleveland?  For their trade exception?  And we throw in a first rounder?  Just to be nice?  Question mark?

Adrian Wojnarowski, who I like a lot, is reporting that the Cavs have discussed it, no deal is imminent.  This is another one of those “according to a league source” who asked for anonymity because they’re full of it.  Who are these people?  I understand wanting to be the first and to let fans know about movement before it happens.  I love having the fodder for the forums here as well as something to write about.  What I don’t like or really even understand, is how the entire sphere of media that cover this sport have become rumor mongers and “if this, then this” guessers and hacks like the rest of us.

Is it a good trade?  For reasons of savings and cap value and whatever else?  Yeah, why not?  Gerald Wallace is due anywhere from $19 to $22 million dollars over the next 2 years.  Some places report Gerald gets paid $10.5 every year, some say it ramps up over the years…who knows but the guy is the highest paid player the Bobcats have.  Is Michael Jordan that concerned about saving money that he’d give up the one All-Star on the team for a trade exception?  Not only that but toss in a first rounder?

The idea, as Steve Kyler at HoopsWorld points out, is to get the trade exception from Cleveland then turn it around for other pieces that would help towards another playoff run.  Seems logical, except for the fact that neither Cleveland nor Toronto have been able to do anything with the exceptions they received when their star players each took their talents to South Beach in sign-and-trades.  True, they may be waiting it out until the trade deadline to see what team is most desperate for them.  To me, it’s a foreign concept, trading guys for a slip of paper that says “redeemable for ‘x’ amount of contracts.”  However, the Bobcats shed the final year of Tyson Chandler’s massive deal for Dampier’s non-guaranteed contract, hoo-dooed into taking back Matt Carroll and Eddie Najera.  Unable to trade Damp’s nothing for something, the Bobcats simply cut him, he ended up in Miami and the Bobcats wound up under the luxury tax.

It wasn’t pretty in Indiana on Friday night if you’re a Bobcats fan. The Cats lost to the Indiana Pacers 100-92 behind a series of ridiculously open three point shots by the Pacers.  If you are in dire need of a recap, I will point you here. I’m not in much of a mood to write up anything about that sorry game.

Lets get down to the nuts and bolts of this situation. This team as it is constructed now has too many problems  to ever grow into anything special. In addition to being mired at the sub .500 level, if they continue playing like this for the remainder of the season then the fanbase is going to dwindle away. Now I don’t believe that I’m jumping to conclusions by saying that, I’m merely taking into account the general mood of the most diehard Bobcats fans ( the members of this fantastic site [/end shameless self promotion] ). Around here the general feeling is that this team lacks effort, lacks heart, doesn’t play defense, doesn’t guard the perimeter, has puzzling rotations and generally isn’t fun to watch this season. If we diehards feel that way, How do the borderline fans feel?

Look at all of these rumors surrounding me every day… But it’s not everyday that you hear one that is as juicy ( and ridiculously lopsided in favor of the Bobcats ) as this one.

ESPN

The Denver Nuggets are having serious discussions about a four-way trade that would land Carmelo Anthony with the New Jersey Nets, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

The proposed deal, sources said, also would involve the Utah Jazz and the Charlotte Bobcats. It would deliver Nets rookie forward Derrick Favors, Jazz veteran Andrei Kirilenko and multiple first-round picks to Denver in exchange for their franchise player, potentially bringing a resolution to Anthony’s uncertain future before the Nuggets hold their first practice of the new season.

Sources told ESPN.com that the deal, which has yet to be finalized, also would send former All-Star point guard Devin Harris to Charlotte, with Bobcats forward Boris Diaw moving to Utah.

The four teams, said one source close to the talks, are “seriously engaged” after extensive talks Thursday.

We are keeping our ears open for anything else that we hear on this potential deal and we promise that we will provide updates as soon as we hear anything.

The members of our forum are salivating at the possibility of this deal happening.

How do you feel about it?

Happy DUST Day everyone!!

How are you celebrating this big day? Heavy drinking? Strippers? Midgets? All of the above? Well, No matter how you roll with your celebrations, you be sure to give it everything that you’ve got, because this is certainly a big day for the Bobcats organization.

Wait a minute, You have no idea what the DUST is all about? Sigh.. Well, here is some required reading for you:

• Mike Cranston’s excellent breakdown of the DUST chip and how it came to be
• 13 pages of discussion on our forum on how to best utilize the DUST chip

go ahead and read, I’ll wait

It appears we are in another summer of ‘remodeling’ the team into something better than it was last year. While the long term affects of this could be positive, our history with MJ/Larry shows this same type of thing will probably happen again next summer.  My question is, is it worth it?

We just had the best season in franchise history with a group that hadn’t even been together an entire season. Wouldn’t it have been better to see what they could do with one full season together then re-evaluating? I understand we had to let Ray go, but why trade everyone else? A lot of questions like these have been popping in my head recently, but it is useless to try and answer them. MJ is doing what he is doing we just have to sit back and watch.

I like some of the moves we have done. Signing Livingston was an A+. He has a lot of potential to be a starter. Next year, i think he should be our #2 guy, and spend more time in the weight room than on the court. After that, i would be open to him as our starter. His talent is undeniable, and if he hadn’t messed is knee up (ironically, playing against us while still on the Clippers) he would be starting right now. Extending Tyrus was a stability move, which is the thing i like the most. We got our guy at power forward now.  Trading Diaw is the next logical step, and not too many people are opposed to that.

My biggest issue with what we are doing is what is to come. We took on 2 huge contracts of role players to get 1 voidable, and lost our starting center. Replacing Tyson will not be as easy as it seems. Even though he was lost half the year, he picked up our system towards the end of the season and helped us make the playoffs. Their are not that many 7 footers out their, and we just gave 1 up. Nazr’s back and Diop’s terrible offense keep them from being starters, so we need to find someone before training camp.

We still need a point guard to start for us; DJ is not ready yet and neither is Shaun.  Who that can be is a mystery.  I do not believe their is any validity in rumors that Chris Paul is coming here. Maybe their have been talks, but i doubt anything will come from them if no details have even been leaked to the mainstream media. I want him as much as everyone else does, but it is just a wet dream the size of an ocean to think we could get him. We will just have to wait and see who we get. Just be advised holding your breath for CP3 will most likely just lead you to suffocate.

The new roster is not done being built, hopefully. As it stands right now we have some huge holes. While i trust MJ and LB will find guys (they always do) I am wondering what we will have to give up to get them. We could very well end up having to lose one of our core guys. I am not expecting these guys to learn to play together in training camp, and i expect a painful start to the season followed by a slow rise to the playoffs. We might get a higher seed,  but that is just crazy speculation at this point. As long as we don’t win a championship, it will be lather/rinse/repeat for this whole process next offseason. I am not sure i like this. Do you?