RealGM

14. Charlotte Bobcats

Key additions: Tyrus Thomas (re-signed), Kwame Brown (FA), Shaun Livingston (FA), Erick Dampier (trade), Michael Jordan (owner)

Key subtractions: Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler, Robert Johnson

In our Future Power Rankings , John Hollinger and I ranked the Bobcats dead last. Put the emphasis on "dead." We felt that the Bobcats had almost twice as dismal a future as the 29th-ranked Timberwolves. Why? Summers like these.

Bob Johnson sold the team to Michael Jordan. That's fine. But Jordan doesn't have the cash to maintain a high-payroll team, which put the Bobcats in cap-slashing mode all summer. The team let their starting point guard (Felton) bolt to the Knicks and traded away Chandler for Dampier's non-guaranteed contract. The Bobcats saved a lot of money, but are they getting any better? They replaced Felton and Chandler with Shaun Livingston and Kwame Brown.

The Bobcats hope Larry Brown can get young players like Thomas and D.J. Augustin to live up to their potential while motivating veterans like Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw to continue to perform. I'm pretty skeptical.

Grade: D

They replaced Felton and Chandler with Shaun Livingston and Kwame Brown

SWEDD523 wrote:lol

DJ+Livingston > Felton
Tyson didn't play so: anything > him


Tyrus gets a year to learn under LB
Jack gets an entire year on our roster with added benefit of being familiar with the rest of the guys
Development of Hendo, Brown, and DJ
Another year of LB rounding out Crash's skill set (added the corner three last year, look for his range to continue improving)


I'd say we're fine. But whatev'

BigSlam wrote:If you look at it that way - if Livingston can live up to his play over
the final month or two of last season he'll be as good as Felton was.
If Kwame can provide the P&R defense, boxing out, rebounding and
energy off the bench that TC provided and manage to play 51 games or
more then:

TC @ $12.6 mil + Felts @ $7.5 mil = $21 mill while Kwame @ $850k + Livingston @ $3.5 mil = $4.3 mil

So if we can get the same or similar production at $4.3 mil as we would have at $21 mil, how can anyone claim this as anything other that a very impressive off season - especially when you also add the fact that MJ >>>>>>>>>>>> Top Bob as our owner?

Paydro70 wrote:If both things pan out (Kwame = Tyson and Livingston = Felton), we'd be the same as last year

BigSlam wrote:

Paydro70 wrote:If both things pan out (Kwame = Tyson and Livingston = Felton), we'd be the same as last year

Except we'd be getting the same production at a fraction of the cost.

Paydro70 wrote:

BigSlam wrote:

Paydro70 wrote:If both things pan out (Kwame = Tyson and Livingston = Felton), we'd be the same as last year

Except we'd be getting the same production at a fraction of the cost.

But that cost doesn't matter except to MJ's bottom line. It doesn't improve our future or our present.

BigSlam wrote:

Paydro70 wrote:But that cost doesn't matter except to MJ's bottom line. It doesn't improve our future or our present.

Of course it does. It provides us the financial flexibility to sign our own players and other FA's.

Paydro70 wrote:

BigSlam wrote:

Paydro70 wrote:But that cost doesn't matter except to MJ's bottom line. It doesn't improve our future or our present.

Of course it does. It provides us the financial flexibility to sign our own players and other FA's.

What "own players" do you mean? Tyrus? We knew from the jump that one of he or Felton would have to go if we were to stay under the luxury tax, and lo and behold, one of them went. Our only FAs are vet mins and Felton's replacement, who we can only hope is going to be as good as him.

dmutombo321 wrote:^ Well stated Payrdo. And everything you just outlined is what Bonnell seems to gloss over in his blog.

He talks at length about how cutting Dampeir was a necessary cost savings move, which it was. But as soon as astute readers look at the numbers openingly questioning why they traded TC/Ajinca for DUST/Carroll/Naraja in the first place, Bonnell ignores the question.

"Rick,

I think most people understand why it was necessary at this point to waive Dampier to avoid the Luxury Tax since they couldn’t find a workable deal.

What everyone is perplexed about is the bigger picture; namely why Charlotte needlessly dealt for Dampier/Najara/Carroll in the first place.

The Luxury Tax threshold they are justifiably trying to avoid is $70.3 million.

Prior to trading Chandler and Ajinca for Damp/Najara/Carroll, the roster was as follows:

Chandler: $12.75 mil
Wallace: 9.86
Diaw: 9
Jackson: 8.45
Nazr: 6.883
Tyrus: 6.612
Diop: 6.479
DJ: 2.54
Henderson: 2.104
D. Brown: .9
Ajinca: 1.467

Total Payroll = ~$67.045 mil

Had they not picked up Ajinca’s option last season (they basically traded him for nothing anyway), total payroll would have dropped to $65.578. Or they could have just cleared his salary this summer by trading him to any team under the cap for a future second rounder.

They then could have still added Livingston ($3.5 mil), Collins (< $900k) and forgone McGuire who is only going to ride the bench.

They’d still be under the $70.3 million luxury tax threshold, would still have Chandler at Center (instead of Kwame Brown), would still have Chandler’s $12.75 expiring coming off the books at the end of the year and, most importantly, they would not be adding Carroll and Najara’s garbage deals to the long term payroll."

There were several other readers posing the same questions.

The only halfway plausible explanation I can imagine is the one Fats recently touched on (i.e. while they could have kept Chandler and avoided the lux tax while still adding Livingston, they gambled by taking on more long term salary from Dallas (Hammer, Najara) in return for saving $6 million or so this year AND getting to explore hair brained trade schemes with DUST.)

Predictably, nothing materialized with DUST (becuase had he really had the type of value Higgens touted, Dallas would have packaged him themselves).

Now they're in a worse long term cap siutation than they were before trading Tyson.

Replacing Felts with Livingston is a seperate matter from the TC/Damp trade altogehter as far as I'm concerned. And really, I'm fine with it.

dmutombo321 wrote:What everyone is perplexed about is the bigger picture; namely why Charlotte needlessly dealt for Dampier/Najara/Carroll in the first place.