With the conclusion of the summer league, I’ve gone back to read what I wrote with what I hoped would happen in the Summer League and the improvement of the “rookies.” And I am happy to say, that they have both improved, in my eyes Hendo being the biggest improver.

First up, Gerald Henderson aka Hendo aka Fro

What I wrote previously:

Improvement: Needs a big off-season, as he’ll be fighting for minutes. Training camp and pre-season games will show whether he deserves minutes or not. He needs to work on his shooting, although his release is solid. Also needs to work on his ball-handling, and keep adding to his game if he’s to compete with the others for minutes.

GH’s Summer league Stats:

Averaged 14.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists , 1.25 steals, 2.5 turnovers and 0 blocks per game

Benched for much of last season, he showed some flashes of potential here and there. Most notably was his game against the Nets, with several highlight reels and a ferocious facial on Devin Harris. And during SL, he didn’t disappoint. Gerald Henderson is finally showing why he was a lottery pick. After a poor showing last season, being unable to break into the roster he finally got some minutes late, and showed his strong but one dimensional slashing game. Combining his brilliant athleticism, Henderson was able to score on multiple occasions with dunks, tough layups and a brilliant tip in to win a game.

Most notably with Henderson was his shooting. Although it deserted him in the last two games (and thus lowered his FG %), in his games his shooting looked far more consistent and he looked far more confident than last year taking shots. He’s made leaps and bounds on his shot, and he’s really added a consistency into his game. His FT percentages were also very good, which showed his commitment to improving his shot. His ball-handling was far better also. It was clear that he has also added to this part of his game, willing to go either right or left instead of mostly sticking to his right. Having a stronger ball-handling game will really help him get to the rim in the upcoming season.

His rebounding average is also getting better. Although not strikingly off the page (due to a 0 rebound game in game 3), he’s spoken about watching Crash and Cpt. Jack and really working on getting inside the paint and helping out the bigs with rebounding. And to me, for him to watch Cpt. Jack and Crash go to work will really help him improve his game. His passing game was also on show, being able to make some smart dishes to his fellow teammates. He showed great basketball IQ and showed good vision and decision making. Turnovers are also an issue here, with giving up the ball 2.5 times per game. Needs improvement in this area.

Grade for SL: A-

Improvement: A

Needs to Work on: Shooting. Although a far more accomplished shooter, still needs some improvement. He still has around a month until pre-season starts, so he should be able to add some more consistency to his game shooting.

Derrick Brown aka UPS aka ‘steal of 2009’

What I wrote previously:

Improvement: He needs to decide whether he wants to be a 3 or a 4. From what I’ve gathered, he wants to be a 3. With that, he needs to work on his ball handling and perimeter shot. His release is rather…slow and awkward and he needs to work on that. His ball handling is also rather one dimensional, and needs to work on that in the off-season.

Derrick Brown’s SL stats:

Averaged 15.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.8 steals, 3.0 turnovers and 0.6 blocks per game

Showed plenty in the minutes he got last season, however somehow entered into the dreaded doghouse of LB, and was benched heavily. Now with a full season behind him, he’s looking to add to his rookie season and establish himself as a player off the bench to bring energy and hustle. He really committed to rebounding in the summer league and averaged a team high 7 rebounds. Due to college, he played as a 4, but naturally Brown should be more of a 3. With TT most likely taking the starting reigns and Boris taking the rest, Brown will need to fight for minutes behind Crash.

The biggest thing about Brown’s game was his overall showing. He showed commitment to crashing the boards hard, as well as trying to dunk as much as possible. He showed good touch from the 3 point line, showing his slowly expanding game. His ball-handling still needs work, however he’s also made improvement in these areas. Still stuck in between a 3 and a 4, he needs to put more work onto his ball-handling to have more success in the NBA and make the transition effectively. He has also put on a lot of muscle, looking much stronger on the court. Looked quite lean and very fit, looking very strong and will be looking to stay in that shape heading into the season.

Turnovers are a big issue for Brown though. He will need to improve on that aspect of his game.

Grade: A

Improvement: B+

Needs to work on: Ball-handling. Still stuck in the transition period and he most likely won’t make it as a 4 in this league, even with his added strength. Also his shooting technique is still slightly off the pace. Would be easier for him to get off shots if he could improve his speed of his shot. Also needs to work a bit more on his fundamentals.

Other notable players:

Jeremy Pargo: Don’t sign him. Although he made some nice assists, he looked for his shot far too often and made horrible decisions in his shot making ability. There was a reason he only played 3 games in the SL for the Bobcats. Definate no-go for me.

Sherron Collins: He reminds me of a shorter, bigger stronger Felton. Strong, big yet surprisingly nimble and agile. Not to mention he possesses a nasty 3 pointer. He’s now been signed by the Bobcats, and to me was the only one who really deserved a spot on the Bobcats roster of those not signed.

Toocool here, with a blog finally. Since it’s now the off-season, I decided to look at our line-up, and analyse how well they did in the normal season, and what they can improve on. I am taking into account that ALL players are resigned/stay on for the next season. Stephen Jackson, Theo and TT’s stats are Charlotte season averages, not the entire season.

The starting 5:
Raymond Felton aka Tonberry:
Stats: 12.1 PPG, 5.6 APG, 3.6 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 2.1 TPG, 33 MPG, 0.459 FG%, 0.385 3FG%
Season: Raymond Felton started slowly, and gradually built up. Although his stats are down, we’ve seen in essence a breakout season from Raymond. We saw him come in with shoddy play-making ability and questionable shots and turn into an even more solid point guard. Comparisons were drawn to Chauncey Billups with Raymond’s calm and efficient play making ability, and the ability to come up in the clutch. His stats overall were down, however he looked far more comfortable out there this season. Again, solid defensively. He also averaged career high 3FG% and FG%. Playoffs he was dominated by Jameer.
Improvement: I would love to see Felton continue to develop his perimeter game. He’s made leaps and bounds on his 3-point shooting, and would like to see him continue to develop that. As well as that, his play-making could use some improvement. Improvement on turning over the ball will also help.

Stephen Jackson aka Captain Jack:
Stats: 21.1 PPG, 3.6 APG, 5.1 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 3.2 TPG, 39.3 MPG, 0.423 FG%, 0.334 3FG%
Season: Our no. 1 offensive threat and clutch player, and for good reason. Jackson had made a name as a Clutch player, and whenever we needed a basket, we would put the ball in his hand. His quote ‘make love to pressure’ became a fan favourite for us here at BCP, and we wear a shirt proclaiming that with pride. Jackson was in essence a God-send; he drew much more attention and was a strong perimeter and inside threat. His length at 6”8, combined with his experience and skill helped to overcome many of the shorter shooting guards he was against. Combined with his great defense, he was a great asset to the team. Came up short in the playoffs however, not having the impact we had hoped for.
Improvement: Jackson needs to work on his ISO situations, chucking the ball and TOs. He TOs the ball at an alarming rate, 3.2 TPG and he can be shown at times to completely stall an offensive with his jab steps. Also, when he is in a shooting slump, Jackson will continue to fire up shots like no tomorrow. If he can work on these areas, raise his stats a bit while lowering his TOs, he may get his first all-star selection next year.

Gerald Wallace aka Crash:
Stats: 18.2 PPG, 2.1 APG, 10 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 1.1 BPG, 2.3 TPG, 41.0 MPG, 0.484 FG%, 0.371 3FG%
Season: Quick fact, Crash is the only Wallace without a ring. This season was Crash’s breakout season. Although all-star selection should really have been a long time coming, Crash had propelled himself to Dennis Rodman heights with his rebounding, tenacity and hustle. His hard work and effort has paid off, becoming our Season’s first all-star. He made leaps and bounds on his jumper, being able to hit from 3 with decent consistency. He also ramped up his offensive production, and even on off-nights, played tough defence.
Improvement: What can I say. If Crash can continue to work on his 3FG%, his mid range jumper and passing, he would become an even greater player. Now Crash commands a lot of respect on the court for his offensive slashing skills. If he can become an even better perimeter player, he can cause FITS for other teams. This was also a good season where he only missed 6 games. His perimeter defence could use a tiny bit of work.

Boris Diaw aka Doris Meow:
Stats: 11.3 PPG, 4 APG, 5.2 RPG, 0.7 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 2.2 TPG, 35.4 MPG, 0.483 FG%, 0.320 3FG%
Season: Diaw seeming at times looked good, while at others looked horrible. Lower stats than last year. Terribly inconsistent, he had up and down days, mostly having mediocre stats. Again, he showed flashes of what he could do, but at times seemed overweight, lazy and disinterested. However, he did show off his brilliant passing ability. He also was very passive on offensive, passing easy shots to other players. Solid defender, while at other times giving away stupid three point plays on fast breaks.
Improvement: Consistency is the main problem plaguing Diaw. Consistency, aggression and focus. He doesn’t seem to be able to bring all of these factors into every game. If he’s able to get more consistency and aggression into his game, his stats will definitely rise.

Tyson Chandler aka Mr. Glass
Stats: 6.5 PPG, 0.3 APG, 6.3 RPG, 0.3 SPG, 1.1 BPG, 1.8 TPG, 22.8 MPG, 0.574 FG%, 0.00 3FG%
Season: Horrible season for Chandler. After coming from off-season surgery, simply couldn’t get started on the court. Struggled for most of the early season, before coming off with injuries that caused him to miss even more games. However, when he came back, finally healthy he looked very strong defensively and made some key rebounds when it mattered. Still a force defensively, but struggled at the offensive end.
Improvement: Offense, and durability. Chandler can’t seem to stay on the floor. When he was finally making headway in the season, he went down with injuries. With an un-interrupted pre-season, if Chandler can work on his offensive game and make himself a threat in the low post and develop a short-mid range jumper, he would draw much more attention to himself on the offensive end.
Now the guys who sit on the bench, and…uhhh sit on the bench. Oh, they also play…some of them.

D.J Augustin aka Saint:
Stats: 6.3 PPG, 2.4 APG, 1.2 RPG, 0.6 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 1.6 TPG, 18.4 MPG, 0.386 FG%, 0.393 3FG%
Season: Utterly horrible season for DJ. Struggled with his shot throughout the most part of the season, only finally coming out of his slump near the end of the season, where he showed glimpses of why he was a lottery pick. Made leaps and bounds on his defensive game, having bulked up and looks stronger. Not so much a liability on the defensive end.
Improvement: Needs to work on his play-making ability and to be more aggressive with his shot, as he has a sweet jumper. Should also look to put on at least another 10 pounds to be able to be stronger in the post, and needs to really put in hard work over the summer. Hopefully next year he can start the season strong, as we could see what he could do in the pre-season.

Theo Ratliff aka Zombie:
Stats: 5.1 PPG, 0.6 APG, 4.2 RPG, 0.3 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 0.9 TPG, 22.3 MPG, 0.466 FG%, 0.000 3FG%
Season: Big man, big heart, big game. Struggled in the playoffs, probably due to the lack of playing on the Spurs bench and seemed tired. Filled in admirably for Chandler and Nazzy when they were both down with injuries. Formed the three-headed dragon back court with Chandler and TT.
Improvement: Theo will unfortunately only really get worse at this point. He’s growing older and his body is getting slower. He can work on his mid range jumper though to make him more of an offensive threat.

Tyrus Thomas aka TT
Stats: 10.1 PPG, 0.9 APG, 6.1 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 1.6 TPG, 21.7 MPG, 0.442 FG%, 0.000 3FG%
Season: Came in mid-way through the season, at the end of the trade deadline. Played solidly throughout the season and came up big in game 4 of the playoffs. Had great defensive and rebounding ability, and was aggressive to getting to the rack. His defence, rebounding and energy really helped us in the limited minutes he was on the court.
Improvement: TT needs to develop a go-to-move in the post. He’s shown he has a hook shot or two, and a few other post up moves, but he needs a stronger repertoire of them. Has a lovely mid range jumper, and if he can continue to improve its consistency, he could be a big threat on the offensive end. Like DJ, I would suggest him putting on another 10 pounds.
Larry Hughes aka The-one-who-will-not-pass-on-a-fastbreak
Stats: 8.1 PPG, 2.0 APG, 2.3 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 1.4 TPG, 21.1 MPG, 0.327 FG%, 0.357 3FG%
Season: When he came in, he looked horrible. Didn’t know why LB played him for such significant minutes when he couldn’t even play. Couldn’t shoot for crap, and was a black hole on offense. Thankfully, he improved and his defence was solid. For a veteran guard, he made a lot of terrible mistakes and would not pass on a fast break. Showed a solid behind the backboard shot.
Improvement: Needs to work on his decision making and team playing mentality. Needs to learn to pass on a 3 v 2, 3 v 1, a 4 v 2, a 4 v 1, a 5 v 1 etc. Fast break. Needs to also learn to score when he goes to the rim on a fast break.

Stephen Graham aka Hulk jr.
Stats: 4.2 PPG, 0.3 APG, 1.9 RPG, 0.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 0.5 TPG, 11.5 MPG, 0.496 FG%, 0.320 3FG%
Season: Came in spotty minutes, and at the start of the season tried to do far too much by himself. After he was kicked from the starting line up, playing as a back-up 2 or 3 was much more suited to him. Came in and gave good defence and some offensive in limited minutes. Was solid overall.
Improvement: 3 point shot needs some work. Isn’t consistent enough. Also needs to work on his perimeter defence.

Alexis Ajinca aka Lexi the Benchwarming Frenchman
D League Stats: (they took him away, so if I recall it was around 14/7)
Season: Useless in the normal season and was subsequently shoved to the D-league. Showed his potential in the D-league and in the pre-season, and seems to know what he’s doing much more now. An injury ended his season, but he showed commitment by bulking up to over 250 pounds.
Improvement: Everything. AA has been in the system now for 2 years, but still very raw. He is still 21, and still has a lot to learn. He shouldn’t be bullied around in the post as much now. Needs to develop his mid-range jumper and post moves now to even get a chance to compete for the 4/5 position and playing time. Needs to do a lot of hard work over the off-season.

Desagana Diop aka the other Benchwarming guy.
Stats: 1.2 PPG, 0.2 APG, 2.4 RPG, 0.2 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 0.4 TPG, 9.7 MPG, 0.517 FG%, 0.000 3FG%
Season: Played in 27 games…didn’t do much at all. Had one decent game…and that was it.
Improvement: I’ll cut it short and say he needs to work on everything.

Nazr Mohammed aka Prophet
Stats: 7.9 PPG, 0.5 APG, 5.2 RPG, 0.3 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 0.9 TPG, 17.0 MPG, 0.553 FG%, 0.000 3FG%
Season: Nazr had a brilliant season. He worked hard on the off-season, determined to put in hard work to get playing time. LB rewarded him, and we saw him shine through with some great games, and a dunk when we needed to win a game. Unfortunately, a season de-railed his season and he never looked his old self. However, he had a fine season.
Improvement: Do what he did last off-season, and everyone will be happy.

Derrick Brown aka UPS
Stats: 3.3 PPG, 0.3 APG, 1.4 RPG, 0.4 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 0.3 TPG, 9.4 MPG, 0.463 FG%, 0.286 3FG%
Season: Looked very very solid in the minutes he got. Broke into the rotation in the season, but then got kicked out by no fault of his own. He showed great shot selection and some nice put-back dunks. Brought lots of energy to the court, and showed that he is worth far more than a 2nd round draft pick. Look for big things from this mate.
Improvement: He needs to decide whether he wants to be a 3 or a 4. From what I’ve gathered, he wants to be a 3. With that, he needs to work on his ball handling and perimeter shot. His release is rather…slow and awkward and he needs to work on that. His ball handling is also rather one dimensional, and needs to work on that in the off-season.

Gerald Henderson aka Hendo
Stats: 2.6 PPG, 0.3 APG, 1.3 RPG, 0.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 0.6 TPG, 8.3 MPG, 0.356FG%, 0.211 3FG%
Season: Didn’t get much of an opportunity, and as such did a lot of bench warming. Late in the season, he showed what he could do, and his great defensive game shone through. Wasn’t a big threat on the offensive end, but had a big game where he showed his slashing game. Fell in love too much with the mid range shot, especially as it wasn’t consistent enough.
Improvement: Needs a big off-season, as he’ll be fighting for minutes. Training camp and pre-season games will show whether he deserves minutes or not. He needs to work on his shooting, although his release is solid. Also needs to work on his ball-handling, and keep adding to his game if he’s to compete with the others for minutes.

Now that the Charlotte Bobcats are officially in the offseason, it’s time to grade them. Over the next month, I’ll be giving every player and select non-players their grades for the season. But I’ll start with a general report card for the entire team. Enjoy!

Front Office:
When you can turn an aging, injured shooting guard on an expiring contract (Raja Bell) and a sorely overpaid, worthless, shooter playing power forward (Vladimir Radmonovic) into a Top 10 shooting guard (Stephen Jackson) and another tradeable asset (Acie Law IV), you automatically had an above average season. But Michael Jordan, Rod Higgins, and Larry Brown didn’t stop there. In the offseason, they signed Flip Murray to be a serviceable 6th man for just under $2 million. In essence, a bargain. But he wasn’t the only bargain. Stephen Graham, who filled as a starter 8 times, was signed for the league minimum. Not too shabby. The Bobcats also picked up Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown in the draft. While neither received much playing time, both showed flashes of their talent in limited minutes. When they received over 20 minutes in a game, Henderson averaged 11 points, Brown 9.7 points. But not even a solid draft, free agency, and a great trade to start the year would make the front office lazy. At the trade deadline, they picked up Theo Ratliff for what amounts to nothing and Tyrus Thomas came in for Murray, Law, and a protected 1st. Ratliff started 26 of his 28 games in a Bobcats uniform, and his 1.5 blocks per game in Charlotte helped propel the team to it’s first playoff birth. While the result of the Thomas trade has yet to be discovered, he showed stretches of brilliance on the road to the postseason. Not to mention, Bob Johnson sold the team to Michael Jordan. All in all, a great year in the front office

Final Grade: A

Coaching:
Obviously, if Larry Brown is coaching your team, you’ve got a chance to make some noise. Brown made good on that reputation this past season, turning Gerald Wallace into an All-Star and rebounding machine, keeping Stephen Jackson moderately in check, and improving just about everyone one the roster. And when Brown was ejected (twice in the regular season and once in the preseason), Lead Assistant Dave Hanners capably stepped up. The reason I bring up Hanners is because, unlike Coach Brown, Coach Hanners is aware that there are players sitting next to him who are able to play more than thirty seconds per game. That’s one of Larry’s weaknesses, and it showed. Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson were among the league leaders in minutes, while rookies Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown played a COMBINED 890 minutes. That’s 60% of DeJaun Blair’s playing time. And need I remind you Blair went in the second round (just a few picks before Brown, but well after Henderson, a lottery pick) and was Tim Duncan’s backup? They received just 40% of Jonas Jerebko’s playing time, and he was both suspended for a game and taken after Blair. But, despite his rotation shortcomings, Larry did coach his way to a team record 44 wins. So, everything combined, a solid season for the journeyman coach.

Final Grade: B+

Players:
While this is a very broad grade, and there are underperformers and overperformers, in the end it’s the total sum of how your team plays that matters. While Gerald Wallace played better than just about anyone expected, he was countered by a lazy season from Boris Diaw. Talk all you want about how much Nazr Mohammed improved, but he was countered by the oft-injured Tyson Chandler, who had a horrible start to the season, and Theo Ratliff’s horrific showing in the playoffs. Raymond Felton may have skyrocketed his shooting percentages, but DJ Augustin’s plummeted. While Stephen Jackson stepped in and led the team in scoring, it took heaven and earth moving for 2008 first round pick Alexis Ajinca to even make the active roster. Larry Hughes joined the team to replace Murray, but somehow had a lower shooting percentage (and lower True Shooting for the stat geeks) than Murray, who had the green light from Coach Brown. While Tyrus Thomas had a huge impact on the team’s defense, he actually had a negative win shares on offense. So, if you look deeply, the team was a little bit above average, and it showed in their .536 winning percentage.

Final Grade: C+

Playoffs:
Well, when you’re the only team to get swept, there’s not much good. But the Charlotte community showed up en masse for both of the team’s home games, and enjoyed booing JJ Redick. But outside of that and Tyrus Thomas’ impressive showing, there wasn’t much to like. The Bobcats only really contended in Game 3, and poor decision making doomed them then. A poor showing, and the better team won quickly.

Final Grade: D

Charlotte Bobcats 2009-2010 Season Final Grade: B+

The team accomplished its goal of making the playoffs, but now they have to show it wasn’t a fluke.

As a fan it hurts, but having your team lose in the playoffs should hurt.

The Bobcats gave it everything that they had, but in this game as well as the rest of the series against the Orlando Magic, they were simply outmatched. The Bobcats managed to find a way to contain Dwight Howard in all 4 games which is an amazing feat, but they simply had no answer for Jameer Nelson and the horde of three point shooters that the Magic pounded them with game after game.

There were many lessons learned and questions raised during this series and I’m sure that we’ll be discussing all of these in great detail on the blog and in the forums. A few to touch on briefly are.

• The Larry Brown situation. will he be back, or is he off to Philly’s front office?
• If LB leaves, then who will his replacement be?
• Raymond Felton. Will he be re-signed this summer or will they let him go? Is he the PG that is capable of leading this team to the next level.
• Speaking of point guards, CP3 was seen at the Bobats game on Saturday (He and Jordan are tight). The Hornets are in the process of selling their team, so they may go into “shedding salary” mode, they have an inexpensive young PG in Darren Collison, so maybe… just maybe they decide its time to deal CP3. Wishful thinking?
• Tyrus Thomas. In my opinion he absolutely must be signed, sealed and delivered this summer. His 21 points and 9 boards along with his stellar defense is just a taste of what he could give us next season if he comes back and is given starting PF minutes.
• And speaking of starting Power Forwards. What do we do with Boris Diaw? He has been absent many times during the regular season and was a no-show in the playoffs.
• The rookies. Can Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown develop over the summer to the point where LB trusts them with relevant minutes?
• DJ Augustin. If Ray doesn’t come back, Is he capable of running the show?
• Alexis Ajinca. With Lexi, I have no idea what to expect.

As you can see there are many decisions to be made that are ahead of the Bobcats this summer.

Even with all of these questions ahead of us and the far too abrupt end to the playoffs, I would like to say that we as Bobcats fans are extremely proud of the progress that the team has made this season under Larry Brown.  This team has come a long way from the days of Jeff McInnis, Primoz Brezec and empty arenas and we as Bobcats fans are thankful for that.

In the spirit of our Make Love to Pressure T-Shirts we have come up with another design that we think you are going to really like.

Are you feeling it?

Earlier we were speaking of the Make Love to Pressure Shirts. Below is Captain Jack’s reaction to the design:

BCP member Weezy21

i got him to sign my shirt before the pistons game…he started laughing when i showed him an i was like “you like that?”…an he was like “yo this is dope”…man u talk about a HUGE smile, he was grinning from ear to ear haha…he loved it…so thanks to whoever made that shirt

In baseball, there’s a man named Jack McKeon. He’s known in baseball circles as “Trader Jack.” He’s a retired manager who is the oldest manager to win a World Series (2003 with the Florida Marlins). He managed 5 different teams for 15 seasons over a period of 32 years; 9 years he spent as the GM of the San Diego Padres. But what does all this have to do with the Bobcats, besides McKeon’s link to the Carolinas (he graduated from Elon and still lives there)? Well, Trader Jack is very similar to Michael Jordan.

Now, anyone who knows baseball knows that Trader Jack’s personality is more like Bobcats coach Larry Brown. Both are journeymen, tend to wear on players, and demand trades like they do a change of clothes. But McKeon has more in common with MJ. You see, both had bad starts by most measures – Jordan’s in Washington and McKeon’s in Kansas City with the Royals. But when you look deeper, you see they weren’t as bad as originally thought. McKeon managed the Royals and A’s in his first two jobs, but was unable to have much success. However, after the Royals fired him, the team he’d put into place made the playoffs 4 of the next 5 seasons. The A’s he managed were mostly intact when they made the ALCS a few years later. Jordan as GM in Washington moved a multitude of bad contracts that were hampering the Wizards flexibility and gave them lots of cap space by the time he was relieved of his job. This allowed the Wizards to form a core in Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison that made the playoffs multiple times. But they also bear similarities in how their next jobs went. McKeon took over as GM of the Padres and promptly built a winner: the team made the World Series in his 4th season on the job. He drafted Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and stars John Kruk and Andy Benes, and also signed stars Benito Santiago and Roberto Alomar as amatuers. He brought in veteran star Steve Garvey and Hall of Famer Rich “Goose” Gossage. Jordan has been on the job for nearly four years now, and has drafted young talent in Ryan Hollins, Jared Dudley (both since traded), DJ Augustin, Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown. He’s signed diamond in the rough Stevie Graham, and traded for star Stephen Jackson and veterans Theo Ratliff, Boris Diaw, and Nazr Mohammed to go with growing talent Tyrus Thomas. Now, I’m not predicting a trip to the NBA Finals, but Jordan, like McKeon, has reached a desired spot in a short amount of time.

Ok, you say, that’s all well and good, but isn’t MJ the guy who drafted Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison? Sure, he did. No Hall of Famers there. But if you look at the rest of his resume, you’ll find that he’s actually done very well, albeit under the radar. While he did draft Brown #1 overall, one could easily see that 2001 was a poor draft, as only two lottery picks have ever made an All Star team, Pau Gasol (#3) and Joe Johnson (#10). While Jordan could’ve picked Gasol, up to that point no European player had ever had much success in the league, as Dirk Nowtizki was still a young gun. Everyone else in the top 5 (Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, and Jason Richardson) are regarded as overpaid and have never experienced much success in the league, Richardson coming the closest. So we give MJ a pass on that one. What about the next year? Well, MJ had the 11th and 17th picks in the draft. Of the players Mike had to choose from, only 9 are still in the NBA and 5 of those were picked in the second round. MJ happened to select one of the few still around, Jared Jeffries, with the 11th pick. While few would consider Jeffries lottery talent, he’s made a name for himself as a solid defender and likely will continue to play in the League for years to come. MJ also picked Juan Dixon, who had multiple successful seasons before heading to Europe this year. When Jordan arrived in Charlotte, he drafted Morrison, who is a bust (though partly due to injury) and Ryan Hollins. While Hollins is no world-beater, he is the lowest pick from that draft remaining. Jordan also signed Argentinian Walter Herrman, who played well in his short stay in Charlotte before being traded. In 2007, MJ traded his first pick to Golden State for Jason Richardson, who led the team in scoring with 21.8 points, a team record. Richardson later netted Diaw and Raja Bell, but we’ll get there in a minute, back to ’07. With the 22nd pick, Jordan selected Jared Dudley, who was also part of the Diaw/Richardson trade. Dudley is a superb bench player and will likely contend for Sixth man of the Year later in his career. Of those still on the board when Charlotte picked, likely only Aaron Brooks (who wouldn’t have fit on a team with Raymond Felton) has had more success to date. Now to 2008, where we see Jordan hire Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown (who drafted DJ Augustin) and trade for Diaw and Bell. While it was lampooned at the time, the trade for Diaw and Bell made the ‘Cats playoff contenders for the first time, and while they came up short, both had a part in this season’s playoff appearance. Diaw has fit in as the point forward, and Bell was traded for Stephen Jackson this season. Tyson Chandler was added for Emeka Okafor, and while that was also considered lopsided, it’s Chandler’s play that’s made the ‘Cats a solid defensive team in the paint. Tyrus Thomas was also added for merely a proctected first rounder and expiring contracts, and Theo Ratliff and Larry Hughes both came practically free of charge. While Jackson is likely the most responsible for the on-court improvement this year, one can see that the architect of the team isn’t as lazy and irresponsible as the mainstream media portrays him. Sure he’s had help from longtime friend Rod Higgins, but Jordan, just like McKeon, is a skilled manager of personnel, and knows how to make the trade or draft pick that helps the team in both the short run and the long run.

Looking forward, if McKeon’s career arc can be used as a guide, then Jordan will soon be reaching his goal of making the Finals. Hopefully, Trader Mike will also bring home that championship, just like Trader Jack.