Charlotte Bobcats: Cody Zeller Starting A Youth Movement

"“With the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, the Charlotte Bobcats select: Cody Zeller, center out of Indiana University.”"

What were your initial thoughts on the Bobcats’ selection? First thought in my mind: Adam Morrison. Did Michael Jordan select another Morrison and waste another Charlotte lottery pick? With Nerlens Noel and Ben McLemore still on the board I was thinking general manager Rich Cho would have picked one on of the consensus top-five picks or, at the very least, if Zeller was their guy, they would have traded down. I guess the ‘Cats were that sold on the former Indiana Hoosier. I didn’t like the pick initially, but the more I looked into it, the more I liked the move. Here is why.

First off, depth or lack thereof. At 7’0’’, Zeller will probably play power forward his rookie year. At a lanky 240 pounds, he is just not big enough to play center in the league at the moment. Take a look at the Bobcats bigs: Jeff Adrien, Bismack Biyombo, Brendan Haywood, Al Jefferson, Josh McRoberts, Patrick O’Bryant.  With all due respect to Adrien, Haywood, McRoberts and O’Bryant, they probably aren’t in the Bobcats’ long-term plan. Al Jefferson is a great offseason pick up, but he is dead weight on the defensive end. Bismack Biyombo is a good defender, racking up almost two blocks per game over the last two years, but he is dead weight on the offensive end. Zeller will be able to come in and contribute on both ends of the floor. He averaged 16.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game during his sophomore campaign.  With a weak frontcourt, expect good minutes for this Rookie of the Year candidate.

The Bobcats started their rebuilding by drafting perimeter youngsters Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Logically, adding interior talent is the next step. What does Zeller bring to the table? Zeller dominates the intangibles. Super high basketball IQ, great motor, top notch work ethic and teammate. Zeller was an excellent free throw shooter in college and he has good low post scoring skills that will translate to the NBA level. The only thing that worries me about the 21-year-old is his ability to play with bigger and stronger athletes. This is a valid concern as many college stars struggle with this transition to the NBA. Let’s see how that plays off the first month of the season.

Let’s take a step and look at the Bobcats organization from a different prospective. Charlotte has been the worst team in the NBA over the last two–maybe three–years. How do they plan on fixing that? Easy, draft winners. Take a look at the ‘Cats last three lottery picks: Kemba Walker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Cody Zeller. What do they have in common? Walker and Gilchrist played major parts on NCAA championship teams. Zeller led the Hoosiers to a No. 1 seed and brought life back into IU basketball. These youngsters are used to winning. Losing is not in their blood and they can help turn the Bobcats into a playoff team down the road.

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