Posts from the Bobcats Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Lost in the dismal implosion of the Bobcats last season, which was neither a bang, nor a whimper, but a kind of depressing grunt, was the myriad of injuries they were forced to endure. The biggest of which was Sean May.

Now, May wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire before his succumbing to microfracture surgery last October on a knee that's been bothering him since he was drafted, but he is a valuable asset to the new Bobcats regime. On top of that North Carolina connection that the Cats are so fond of, May provides them with a scoring presence inside, which will help to ease the dismay held by Bobcats' fans after their selection of D.J. Augustin.

So it's good news then, that May is reported to be cleared for basketball activities, will be hanging around the team in Las Vegas for Summer League, and will "definitely be at camp in October." May may not be the key to unlocking the puzzle of the Bobcats' stagnant growth, but he could be a significant improvement for the team under new head coach Larry Brown.

Prior to the recent announcement that Michael Jordan would be the 2008 Citizen of the Carolinas, his greatest accomplishment in life was his minor league batting title. Well, whew. Now we don't have to worry about MJ's self confidence, as the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce awarded him the title this past weekend.

The basketball legend is this year's Citizen of the Carolinas, joining the ranks of his former Tar Heels coach, the Federal Reserve chairman and other VIPs with Carolinas ties, the Chamber announced Friday.

The award is given annually to a person from North Carolina or South Carolina who has brought positive recognition to the states.

Jordan made the cut because of his success on and off the court and his charitable contributions, Chamber officials said in a press release.

And because the Bobcats have been so freaking good since he got there! Zing! (What? It was way more appropriate than making some "Free Lexus to College Students Program" joke.)

Now, it is interesting and great and all that Jordan won this award. My issue is that the award really only seems to focus on glad-handing a famous celebrity, since it, by very definition, requires previous public recognition to actually be achieved. Plus, all charitable donations aside, it totally fails to acknowledge the recent less than stellar news about Jordan regarding his personal life that have come forward. Oh. And the Bobcats.

The Bobcats, needless to say, had a curious draft. Everyone expected Brook Lopez' name to get called at nine; after all, what need does Charlotte have with D.J. Augustin if Raymond Felton is the future at point guard? (Answer: exactly.) But Charlotte reaffirmed today that Felton is going to keep starting and that Augustin was merely drafted as a backup.

"We don't think D.J. is going to come in right now and be the starting point guard," [GM Rod] Higgins said.

While Higgins dismissed talk of a Felton-to-Knicks trade, it's clear the Bobcats were in various trade discussions leading up to the draft.

Managing partner Michael Jordan confirmed Thursday that the team talked to the Toronto Raptors about a deal that could have swapped forward Gerald Wallace for point guard T.J. Ford.

Apparently, talks stalled because the Raptors wanted a draft pick included as well, which seems like a nice thing to let Wallace know (You alone, sir, are worth one T.J. Ford, but you and a draft pick? We think not.) heading into the offseason.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. The Association: Shameless, sure, but this Brook Lopez "wired" video might be the greatest highlight from Draft night.

2. Sporting News: A nice and tidy roundup of all the draft day dealings that went down.

3. NetsDaily: Detailing the youth movement (i.e., LeBron James preparations) in New Jersey.

4. Tom Sorensen, Charlotte Observer: Defending the Bobcats' D.J. Augustin Pick.

5. Tim Kawakami, Mercury News: And questioning the Warriors' Anthony Randolph selection.

6. NextRound.net: A must-see photo essay of David Stern's all-time awkward draft handshakes.

The buzz out of Charlotte is all about D.J. Augustin. And how could it not be? The Bobcats passed over Brook Lopez, a.k.a. the scoring big man they need to move Emeka Okafor to the four, in favor of Texas' point guard. And they did this when, in theory, they already have the point guard of the future, Raymond Felton.

But obviously, Larry Brown does not care for Felton. I am making that conclusion based on a) the drafting of Augustin, b) Brown getting on national television and saying (paraphrase) that a strong connection to your point guard is absolutely necessary for success and c) my amazing ability to connect dots.

Now, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer is saying that, with very few exceptions, anyone on the roster is fair game to be moved around.

The Bobcats were in serious discussions with the Toronto Raptors about a deal that could have swapped [Gerald] Wallace for T.J. Ford. It didn't happen, but that's the clearest indication yet how active the Bobcats are in seeing what their players might bring in trade.

I assure you Wallace isn't alone. Raymond Felton could be moved, and so could just about anyone else with perhaps the exception of Jason Richardson.

That shouldn't be surprising, and Richardson is only off limits because of his contract. What is shocking is how quickly Michael Jordan, Brown and Co have given up on Felton (all three Carolina grads) given they spent a high lottery pick on him just a few years ago.

Memphis is alive this morning. Zach from 3 Shades of Blue sends along this rumor by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, writing on the paper's "Memphis Edge" blog.

Before trading for the 20th pick, the Charlotte Bobcats asked Memphis to take anyone on their roster for the No. 5 pick. It's something that hasn't been completely ruled out. Now that Charlotte owns the ninth and 20th picks, don't be shocked if the Griz agreed to take players plus the ninth and 20th picks for the fifth and 28th selections.

It isn't apparent whether the Grizzlies would be sending their own player back in such a deal; they don't have to, as both squads are under the cap a decent amount -- Jason Richardson would be the only guy who'd make too much to be traded to Memphis for nothing but picks.

And that's irrelevant, apparently: the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell says J-Rich is the only untouchable Bobcat. In a separate story, Bonnell also bolsters the Memphis rumors, noting that "several NBA sources identified the Memphis Grizzlies ... as the team most willing to deal down."

Emeka Okafor couldn't be the Grizzlies' choice, as he's a restricted free agent. Gerald Wallace, though ... imagine him next to Rudy Gay. Frederic Weis just peed himself. Tillery also says Memphis has called Dallas about Josh Howard, who seems like a dark-horse trade candidate no one's talking about all of a sudden.

When Portland acquired the #27 pick, we knew something was about to get cracking. Kevin Pritchard isn't waiting until the last minute either, apparently lobbying New Jersey for its #10 pick so it can snatch away Texas point guard D.J. Augustin. Via The Oregonian, Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski places in the current talks Portland's #13 and #33 picks and Jarrett Jack, in exchange for New Jersey's #10 and Trenton Hassell. (Portland's recently acquired #27 pick, then, isn't in play. It does allow the Blazers to take a favored foreign player -- like Nicolas Batum? -- in that late spot, though.)

Wojnarowski focuses on what this means for Indiana, who had been thought to have settled on Augustin with #11. But with the T.J. Ford acquisition, how interested in Augustin -- another diminutive fellow, a possible defensive liability -- would the Pacers even be, especially considered the instant dearth of size the parting of Jermaine O'Neal leaves? But Sacramento at #12 -- one spot ahead of Portland currently -- would not have let Augustin remain on the board, especially given renewed concerns about the hardball tactics possible with free agent Beno Udrih.

Also of note: Wojnarowski cites a "Western Conference executive" who warns of Charlotte choosing Augustin at #9. Pardon me for reading too deeply into the bones, but ... might this source be Sacramento's Geoff Petrie, trying to fright Pritchard into backing up the #10 pick by suggesting it'd be a waste for Portland? If so or if not, the gamesmanship is most certainly on.

There will be no Tskitishvili repeats for the Nuggets this year.

Remember all that speculation earlier about what the Nuggets might want to do with their 20th overall pick in the draft? Well, forget it. Because they went ahead and sent that pick to the Charlotte Bobcats for "a future protected first round draft pick."

It appeared to me that the Nuggets could have used some size, and it seemed more than plausible that someone like Roy Hibbert or Marreese Speights would still have been on the board at 20, so why give away the pick? It's possible that the team didn't want to add to the roster with players like J.R. Smith and Eduardo Najera expected to be re-signed later this summer, or maybe they felt that whoever they'd get at 20 wouldn't really solve the team's immediate issues.

As for the Bobcats, they're now sitting pretty with the #9 and #20 picks in the draft. If Kevin Love and Brook Lopez are gone by the time Charlotte's first pick rolls around, they can feel confident in taking the best guard available, knowing that there should still be plenty of serviceable bigs left when they pick again at 20.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

If NBA greatness translated to the front office, ho-boy, would the Bobcats be unstoppable. Unfortunately, it doesn't. And as such, Michael Jordan's Tarheel-homerism-fueled draft rampage will only be stopped this year by everyone flocking back to Chapel Hill. Oh wait. Larry Brown's still coming.

Picks: #9, #38

Needs: A big man who can score and/or complement Emeka Okafor in the post (read: let him play power forward). Or perhaps an aggressive, defensive minded bigger guard-forward that can keep Adam Morrison off the floor when Gerald Wallace gets hurt.

Best Case Scenario: Brook Lopez drops to number nine, although considering how guard/non-big man heavy the top part of the draft is, this seems pretty unlikely. There's chatter that people aren't enamored with Brook's lack of upside though, and nothing scares an NBA front office away from someone like "lack of upside" (see: Battier, Shane). And speaking of homerism -- I'm going out on a limb and saying the Cats should trade down in the second round and pick up local UNCG product (respect the alma mater, please) and 3/4 tweener Kyle Hines, or just roll with a Joey Dorsey/D.J. White frontcourt addition.

The Charlotte Bobcats are apparently big, big fans of that little piece of "God's country" in Chapel Hill. The Bobcats already have minority owner and former Tarheel Michael Jordan to go with head coach and former Tarheel Larry Brown and forward and former Tarheel Sean May. That's a lot of former Taheel. Tarheel tarheel.

Well, on top of that, yesterday the Bobcats hired former Tarheel player and coach Dave Hanners, and former Tarheel player and assistant coach Phil Ford for assistant coaching positions on Larry Browns staff. At this point, we're pretty sure the concession guys used to rock the baby blues.

It's a savvy marketing strategy, in a market that has been lukewarm to the NBA, especially since returning in Bobcats form. Using ties to local heroes for the revered college is a surefire way to create connections with fans between the club and the UNC crowd, of which there is no shortage of in Charlotte. Still, traditionally, teams have veered away from going overboard in selecting "local" guys, as to not pigeonhole themselves. The Bobcats seem to be bearhugging the idea.

Bobcats fans might want to thank their lucky stars there isn't a small guard from UNC in the top of this year's draft, given their need for size and scoring at the 5 spot.