2008-09 NBA Team Preview – Charlotte Bobcats

2008 Record: 32-50
Division Finish: 4th – Southeast
2008 Playoffs: Missed the playoffs.

Head Coach: Larry Brown
Season: Going into first season with Charlotte
Record At Charlotte: First Season
Career Record: 1010-800

Offseason Acquisitions:
Andre Brown, F-C, 3.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg. – Signed from Memphis
Shannon Brown, G, 7.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg – Signded from Chicago

Offseason Losses:
Jeremaine O’Neal, F-C, 13.6 ppg., 6.7 rpg – Traded to Toronto Raptors
Earl Boykins, G, 5.1 ppg., 2.7 apg. – Signed with Italian League
Derek Anderson, G, 5.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg. – Free agent
Othello Harringon, F-C, 2.1 ppg., 1.9 rpg. – Free agent

Offseason Transactions:
Re-signed center Emeka Okafor.
Exercised the contract option on forward Adam Morrison through 2009-10.
Re-signed center Ryan Hollins
Exercised the contract option on forward  Jared Dudley through 2009-10.
Exercised the contract option on forward Jermareo Davidson through 2008-09.

Rookies:
DJ Augustin, G, 5-11, 19.2 ppg., 5.8 apg., Texas
Alexis Ajinca, C, 7-1, France

The Skinny:
Like any new franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats have experienced growing pains during their infancy. With a stable of lottery picks the team has accumulated during the last five drafts the team is showing promise, but they are still a ways away from being a playoff contender, even in the weak Eastern Conference.

As to be expected, the first two years in Charlotte were sub-par, but the last two seasons there have been signs of improvement. Two years ago the team posted a 33-49 record and in 2007-08 they were only a game short of that.

Some credit has to be given to the Bobcats for how they’ve gone about putting their team together. While they have been trying to bring along their rookies and young players, Charlotte’s front office has brought in some solid free agents to help bring the team along.

Their biggest acquisition that the team made came last season when they brought in shooting guard Jason Richardson from Golden State. Last season he was the team’s leading scorer at 21.8 points per game. It was nearly six points better than his previous season and the second-highest scoring average of his career. He also averaged 5.4 rebounds per game.

During the expansion draft they grabbed Gerald Wallace from the Sacramento Kings.
Wallace was spinning his wheels during his first three seasons in Sacramento, but as soon as he came to Charlotte his career started to flourish. He has averaged at least 15 ppg. during his last three seasons, including a career-high 19.4 ppg. He also averaged 6.0 rpg. and 3.5 assists per game.

The third three agent the team brought in was center Nazr Mohammed. Mohammed is a 10-year journeyman who most recently spent time in Detroit. Charlotte is the sixth team that Mohammed has played for and it seems to fit him. He scored 9.3 ppg. last season, which was his highest average since 2004-05 and his third-best. His 6.9 rpg. is nearly triple his board production from his last season in Motown.

To compliment the three free agent starters, the Bobcats have a pair of their own in the starting five.  Forward Emeka Okafor was the team’s first draft choice four years ago. The NBA Rookie of the Year he has been pretty solid during his first three and a half seasons. An ankle injury his second season only allowed him to play about 30 percent of the seasons.

Since then he has rebounded nicely. Last season he averaged a double-double for the fourth season in a row with 13.8 ppg. – ranking him second on the team – and 10.7 rpg. The 2007-08 campaign was also the first time he played and started in all 82 games. If he can stay healthy he can be one of the top players in the league, but toiling in Charlotte could keep him from being a super star.

The year after the Bobcats drafted Okafor, their second draft pick was point guard Ray Felton from near by North Carolina. Felton was a good pick on two accounts. One, being a Tar Heal he helps bring in an already established fan base. Two, he gives them a young point guard that they can bring along to run the team.  Last season he averaged 14.4 ppg. and a career-high 7.4 apg.

During the last two drafts the team has been bringing in people to play behind the free agents they have so that soon they can get rid of the free agents and have their own people in place. Two years ago they brought in shooting guard Adam Morrison and during the second draft they also grabbed power forward Sean May.

Two years ago May and Morrison were a pair of solid reserves. May scored 11.9 ppg. and grabbed 6.7 rpg. while Morrison was averaging 11.8 ppg. Unfortunately, both players missed all of last season with knee injuries. May had micro fracture surgery on his right knee and Morrison had a torn ACL. With an already thin roster, having May and Morrison available would have bolstered their chances of making the playoffs.

Prediction:
While there is a decent nucleus in place in Charlotte, it is only decent and even for the Eastern Conference that is saying a lot. The team is still a few years away from being a solid playoff contender and they need to make some upgrades.

Charlotte also made another serious move when they brought in Larry Brown to be their head coach. Browns is at his ninth NBA job with the Bobcats and he has been successful everywhere he has been. One interesting thing is that Brown has done better when he has had more veteran players. At his age I am not sure why he took the job. This does not seem like his place. One would think that he would want to step into a team like the Bulls or Pheonix, not a young Charlotte team.

The biggest hole the team seems to have is in the center position. While Mohammed has been playing much better in Charlotte, he is not what the team needs to make a jump to the next level. He can hold the fort down, but only for so long.

In addition, they have not done much to bolster that spot. The center position is the one spot that they have not tried to bolster through the draft or free agency. They brought in 7-foot Ryan Hollins from UCLA and he has been less than stellar. They also drafted rookie Alexis Ajinca from France, but I am not a big fan of foreign centers. The game is so much different. Foreign guards in the NBA have proven to be able to play, but the jury is still out on the big men. Until they get a legitimate center are only going to go so far.

What Charlotte does have is some trade bait. This year they drafted point guard D.J. Augustin, who averaged 19.2 ppg. and 5.8 apg. at Texas. Typically you do not waste a first round draft pick on a player that you want as a back-up, especially when you have a need at another position. That is more of a second round pick up. Either Felton or Augustin could be used to bring in a big man in a trade or to move up in next year’s draft.

It will be interesting to see how Morrison and May come back this year. Knee injuries, particularly in the NBA, can be tough to come back from. With all the jumping and directional changes, it can be rough on a knee.

I can see Charlotte making some slight improvements, maybe getting close to .500, but that is about as high as they are going to go. If they were a better team in positions 1-to-4 then they could get away with Mohammed as a starter, but they are not that good yet. Maybe in a few years, but not this year. They will miss the playoffs, but get better.

The Charlotte Bobcats are the NBA’s newest team, founded in 2004. The team was established after the city’s previous NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, departed the city for New Orleans, La., and the Western Conference.

The Bobcats play their home games at Time Warner Cable Arena. Their head coach is Larry Brown, and their general manager is Rod Higgins. Michael Jordan is part of the ownership group.

Birth of a team

When the Bobcats were established in place of the departed Hornets, several ownership groups bid for the team. The franchise was awarded to a group led by Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET). Michael Jordan, former All-American guard at the University of North Carolina, became a majority owner and head of basketball operations in 2006.

Early Years

Since the Bobcats have only played four seasons, one could argue that they are still in their early years. Their first season was 2004-05. After drafting Connecticut forward-center Emeka Okafor, the Bobcats went 18-64. Okafor was one of the few bright spots, averaging 15 points and nearly 11 rebounds per game and earning the Rookie of the Year Award.

In the offseason, the Bobcats drafted guard Raymond Felton and forward Sean May, who were both North Carolina Tar Heel standouts. The team improved to 26-56, and Felton made the All-Rookie Second Team.

The Bobcats picked Gonzaga scoring machine Adam Morrison with the third pick in the 2006 draft. Morrison averaged nearly 12 points a game and made the All-Rookie Second Team as the Bobcats went 33-49.

In 2007, head coach Bernie Bickerstaff was fired and Sam Vincent was tapped to take his place. The team drafted another Tar Heel, Brandan Wright, but traded him to the Golden State Warriors for Jason Richardson.

2007-08 Season

Disaster struck the Bobcats during preseason when Morrison tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, ending his 2007-08 season. Head coach Vincent began his first season without one of his top scorers, which may have led to his early and abrupt downfall. Expansion teams are generally expected to make a climb from the division basement in the third or fourth year of their existence, and when this doesn’t happen, everyone, from the fan base to the front office, begins to lose patience.

The Bobcats struggled yet again in 2007-08, winning only 32 games and placing 11th in the East. Vincent was fired in April, and legendary coach Larry Brown (himself a former UNC Tar Heel) was hired. He is the third head coach in the four-year history of the franchise.

2008-09 Outlook

Larry Brown is famous for immediately improving his teams (with the ignominious exception of the New York Knicks, a team not even a consummate teacher like Brown could improve). Brown has a solid young nucleus to work with. Morrison is expected to make a full recovery from last season’s knee injury. Felton is a steadily improving point guard. Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson add scoring punch. Texas standout D.J. Augustin was picked 9th in the 2008 draft. These ingredients, in the hands of Brown the master chef, could make for an interesting 2008-09 campaign. A forty-win season would be considered a success — and would comprise a franchise record.