In case you were wondering, the Charlotte Bobcats may not be the best at this whole "draft" thing. Less than a day after one prominent Bobcats blogger (yes, there are many) made it very clear that Deandre Jordan was unfocused and unproductive, we get this scoop from Rick Bonnell, basically saying that the Bobcats have already given a "promise" to Jordan to take him 9th.

Why don't we take a look at the last team who "promised" a kid they would take him, no matter what. That guy would be Sheldon Williams, from those lottery experts, the Atlanta Hawks. Williams is now sucking up time behind 4 frontcourt guys in Sacramento and still wondering how his minutes and reputation got passed along so quickly to this year' s runner up for ROY, Al Horford. Don't you think Brandon Roy might have made a bit of difference handling the ball for them? Or a healthy Randy Foye? In reality, who are we to say. All we know is that the only good thing Williams has done since he graduated Duke was marry Candace Parker.

Sure, the Bobcats want to get more athletic. They want to be able to run more. But with a head coach who is notorious for disregarding young player development and a front office that foolishly believes this team can win in the Eastern Conference immediately, all signs point to disaster for the Bobcats. If I can compliment this team on anything, it is that they have done a very good job of drafting or signing high character guys who are committed to team basketball. Jordan, during a "potential"-laden freshman year, let his lack of focus and work ethic keep him from averaging 20 minutes a game and becoming the dominant counterpart to Joseph Jones that the talented Aggies needed. Nope, by the time second semester rolled into College Station, Jordan was ready to get out of smallville as quickly as he could.

Perhaps I am being to harsh on Jordan. In fact, maybe the right fit for him will be the Bobcats. After all, the coach that recruited him to A&M left him and the big city boy just never felt at home in a college town. That could cause anyone to lose focus and become disgruntled. And, with a smart young player like Emeka Okafor to lead him and a veteran lineup with filled with quality guys like Gerald Wallace and a suddenly mature Jason Richardson, perhaps the Bobcats can work well with the youngster and help him to develop properly, both as a player and a person. However, seeing as how underwhelming and stagnant many of the recent Bobcat draft picks have become, history is not on their side.

So, while Kevin Love is more ready at this time or Darrell Arthur might get more minutes right away, the Bobcats have seemingly took the pressure off of their front office and made a ridiculous promise to a ridiculously talented youngster.  The last time the "other" Jordan did that, he ended up with Kwame Brown. Here's hoping Michael knows more about the kid than the fact that he is big and has a great last name. Of course, he has drafted kids for worse reasons than that before *cough* carolina connection. And perhaps, getting any big decisions off the plate of Bobcats ownership is the smart thing to do. They haven't managed to do very well thus far when they were under pressure. Plus, with quite a bit of cap room and some decent contracts, we could see another signing day trade, just like the one that got Richardson to Charlotte last year. But, when you have a boss that yells at his fans for not buying enough tickets, then asks the city for more money , you might be smart to spend more wisely.

It's up to you Larry Brown. If you are in this to really try and win, and not just for a pay check, then go ahead and start dusting off your "Footwork Fundamentals" book, cause it seems that you don't have a choice except to make it work, with a teenager.