Okay, now comes the part in which I have to examine the last four guys on the Bobcats’ regular rotation. And because I’m essentially looking at the worst four players on my favorite team, which was also the worst team in NBA history, I’ve got to be careful that this recap doesn’t quickly turn into a suicide note. Here we go…
DJ Augustin (1,408 minutes played) – I have no idea why Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer declared Augustin to be one of the team’s four “sure keepers.” DJ Augustin is untouchable? Really? I feel like I’m stuck in a burning house with a pothead who is refusing to leave without first securing all of the boxes of Fruit Loops. In a contract year, Augustin had his worst TS% ever, his second-worst PER, and his worst turnover rate. On second thought, I agree with you, Rick, what’s not to love? Augustin also missed 27% of the team’s games, and these were for things like tendinitis and cracks in his feet—i.e., “old man” injuries that are probably only going to get worse. And then there’s the fact that he’s tiny and his backup is also tiny, which would be fine if the Bobcats were a team of jockeys in the National Horseracing Association, but given that this is basketball, it’s problematic. You know, looking back I’m kicking myself for not raising more of a stink when the team drafted Kemba Walker. It’s absolutely crazy to have two sub-6-footers PGs on the same basketball team—why didn’t we as fans ring more alarm bells over this? I feel like my late Christian Conservative grandmother would have if someone from her church had ever told her that the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A,” which she loved, was in fact not an earnest tribute to a volunteer organization that develops healthy young men. Anyway, Augustin is an unrestricted free agent with a $4.4M qualifying offer due to him. I don’t even know if any team will make him an offer that tops that, but if one does, the Bobcats should agonize about what to do for several fretful seconds before deciding not to match. Unless the NBA suddenly implements a new role in which you get bonus points for slam-dunking your own teammates through the hoop, there are larger point guards to be had out there.
