Curtis Wilson-USA TODAY Sports
When Damian Lillard won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award honor this week, and perhaps some Charlotte Bobcat fans were still wondering why Michael Kidd-Gilchrist never performed up to those type of standards that would have put him under such consideration.
Did the Bobcats make a huge mistake in taking Kidd-Gilchrist in the 2012 draft instead of Lillard?
That’s purely hindsight. If the Bobcats had a crystal ball and could tell that Lillard would have stats twice as impressive as Kidd-Gilchrist, they might have drafted differently.
That obviously happens in every draft where those drafted higher than others sometimes don’t live up to certain standards.
But Lillard had LeMarcus Aldridge on his team as someone the opposing defense has to watch all the time. The Bobcats did not have a player of Aldridge’s caliber, and the Portland Trail Blazers overall had a better supporting cast to give Lillard.
But Lillard still seemed more able to take charge all season while Kidd-Gilchrist was tentative and didn’t seem to be comfortable all the time.
Eventually, the Bobcats will expect Kidd-Gilchrist to be in a take-charge position and be a game-breaker for Charlotte. The potential might be there, but Charlotte is wondering what it will take to unleash Kidd-Gilchrist’s talent.
A new coach might be able to do it, but that’s no guarantee either. More talent to take pressure off one particular player might do the trick.
Kidd-Gilchrist needs to have an extremely productive offseason and vow to be a main force in making the Bobcats a playoff contending team.
