NBA Draft 2012: Should the Charlotte Bobcats Trade the No. 2 Pick?

The rebuilding era in Charlotte has begun—again.

It's becoming clearer every year that the Charlotte Bobcats are one of the bigger jokes in NBA history, hence why they posted the lowest winning percentage in NBA history this past season.

Having only been in the realm of NBA existence for eight years, the Bobcats have gone through six head coaches, and Michael Jordan is going all in with his latest hiring of Mike Dunlap.

Many expected the ping-pong gods to deliver Charlotte the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery, but instead they sit with the No. 2 overall pick and still possess the chance to bring in a top-tier player to pair with Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson.

But according to the Bobcats' week-old head coach, Charlotte shouldn't even bother drafting at No. 2. Instead they should trade down and receive more draft picks in the process.

Dunlap said that the thought of Charlotte lobbying for the second pick in Thursday's NBA draft "makes a lot of sense" and said the option of trading down is "on the board."

This year's draft class is loaded with depth, as all teams have a chance to bring someone in who can play significant minutes and can make a big impact. With that sentiment, it wouldn't be the end of the world if Charlotte traded down to the bottom 10.

If you rely on mock drafts a great deal, SI.com's Sam Amick has Florida sharpshooter Bradley Beal going to the Bobcats at No. 2 in his latest mock draft, released June 20.

From Amick's mock draft:

"

We'll know more after Friday, when Kansas power forward Thomas Robinson -- who  held this spot in Mock 2.0 -- will work out against Connecticut center and fellow top 10 prospect Andre Drummond, according to sources. (Those two competed  against each other for Cleveland on Wednesday.) But as I wrote recently, there's hardly a consensus on the draft's second-best player. That being said, I'm told that Beal is being more seriously considered here than before and could be the pick if Bobcats owner Michael  Jordan isn't sufficiently impressed by Robinson's workout. The presence of incumbent shooting guard and leading scorer Gerald Henderson isn't expected to  be a deterrent to taking Beal, either. Kentucky small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and North Carolina small forward Harrison Barnes are also believed to be on the short list. There are some who think that Jordan is looking long and hard at his fellow Tar Heel Barnes, who is expected to work out for the Bobcats this week as well.

"

If you read that and were confused as well, no worries.

Based off that, it's clear that MJ has options—and he is not afraid to use them.

But should the Bobcats risk trading down and missing out on a player that could be another good young prospect to build around in Charlotte?

Out of the options that Amick listed, Beal seems like the best immediate fit for Charlotte because of his outstanding shooting ability. Beal, who is listed at 6'5", is an immediate upgrade at shooting guard, and you can move Henderson to small forward.

If the Bobcats do happen to trade too far down from the top picks, Washington is another team that has shown interest in Beal, with a chance to pair him alongside John Wall.

By bringing Beal to Charlotte, that immediately takes a large amount of the offensive pressure off of Walker, who can focus on not only being a great scorer, but an even better distributor of the basketball. His presence alone won't be enough for Charlotte to get back to relevancy, but it's a start.

The Bobcats will have plenty more years to spend in the lottery. Might as well take advantage of every one of those opportunities.