He wasn’t the best option in the league, but Kwame Brown gave the team a serviceable big man to play with. Had Bismack Biyombo been able to get out of his Spanish league contract, he would have likely logged some minutes there as well in order to ease the youngster to the NBA game.

Kwame has instead opted to become a reserve out on the left coast; yeah, the money is better than what he likely would have gotten in Charlotte, but he’s only a reserve there rather than a starter here (doesn’t make sense to me).

All summer long we kept hearing about how Bismack Biyombo was going to get out of his Spanish contract and make it to the U.S. in time for the season. Well, Sports Fans, it looks like that is not going to happen after all. To make a long story short, it will take $4 million to buy out his contract. The team has said it can swing a half mil to help, but the rest is up to him.

I don’t think he’s coming. At least we know we’ll get him next year (maybe the team should consider sending a trainer over to him to help get him in NBA shape…).

That leaves the Bobcats with DeSagana Diop as its only true center; let me rephrase that—an out of shape, 280+ pound DeSagana Diop still recovering from a torn Achilles tendon is the only true center.

Not going to happen, folks.

So we are back training, the coverage from Matt Rochinski on training camp has been pretty good so far. He has managed to get a lot of interviews with players and even one with MJ. However one thing that really frustrates me as a fan is I feel I have seen the same thing over and over. The same vague answers, I have heard them all before. “What did you work on this summer” answer = “errrr everything” or “how is everyone doing at training camp” = “everyone is playing really hard”. These generic answers annoy me, as it’s a chance to see what they have to say and they get away with basically saying nothing. Did you guys see the MJ video? Ask yourself what you learned from watching that, I learned nothing which frustrated me. I am sure he has a reason for giving these “politically correct” answers but sometimes fans just want to here the truth, I would have more respect saying it how it is.

Anyway rant over, it’s been a busy week in the Bobcats front office, I’m going to run through a few of the moves we have made (or haven’t) and give my opinion:

See you later Kwame, and thanks for Stopping by.

Kwame Brown signed in Golden State for one year at 7 million. First of all I want to congratulate Cho, as I think if MJ and Rod were still at the helm we would probably have chased Kwame and paid him. I see this as a success; we are being clever here by not overpaying (because 7 million is way too much). Instead we have signed Melvin Ely, an offensive minded big which should be a bonus as post scoring has always been a rarity in Charlotte. I am not saying this guy will be just as good as Kwame by any means, but he is a big body who hopefully Silas will rejuvenate in the same way he did with Kwame last year.

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If you’re wondering why the line is blank, it’s because we don’t really know who the team is going to be just yet. When training camp opened Friday the team didn’t have more than 10 players under contract. Now of course that number stands to grow in the coming days, but then the question remains who the team will actually sign.

It’s pretty much a given that His Airness is not going to sign any big name talent. I could on about this point at length, but I think my fellow Bobcats bloggers have done a good job in their most recent posts. No need for me to rehash their thoughts. That leaves the question of the day being this—who will the team actually sign?

One guy we know they got is Derrick Brown. If you’re asking who, you are not alone. Without the beauty that is the internet I would not have known myself. From what I can see, it is pretty clear that this guy is filler. If we didn’t like him the first time around enough to keep him in 2009, how will this season be any different?

Luckily, it will not be. Head coach Paul Silas says he doesn’t expect Brown to be more than a reserve player.

Negotiations are still on going with starting center Kwame Brown (yes—I said starting). It is still seems a bit strange to call this guy a starting center or to even say his name without cringing. The man may have started his career in the NBA in dreadful fashion, but he wasn’t bad last year down the stretch. He is not a long-term solution—unless he continues to get much, much better. Only time will tell.

After my previous, um, “article,” I guess you could call it, Vance asked me for my predictions for the Bobcats this season.  Prediction number one will be that my streak of referencing Mr. T ends at two.  Really, after BA Baracus and Clubber Lang, what does that leave you?  DC Cab? Come to think of it, there was also the moderately popular cartoon series Mr. T, in which the mohawked protagonist (obviously in animated form) somewhat improbably coached a crime-fighting gymnastics team…But I digress.  Let’s talk about another team with an improbable coach, the Bobcats.  Here are my predictions for this year’s ferocious felines:

Prediction: Kwame Brown will be our biggest free-agent signing all year

How funny/depressing is it seeing headlines on ESPN or CNNSI that say stuff like, “Chris Paul to Lakers!,”  “Pau Gasol to Rockets!,” “Dwight Howard to Nets!,” and then you go to the Charlotte Observer and it’s  “Bobcats Hopeful Kwame Brown Re-Signs.”  Way to crank up the blockbuster excitement, MJ.  Our team is so far out of the spotlight that if the NBA were a movie cast, we’d be the key grips.  Nobody talented is coming here unless it’s by some sort of wacky accident, Home Alone-style.  Even our other “big-time free agent,” Corey Maggette, is at best a C-lister.  Did you see that line Bonnell had about him on his profile a few days ago?  Bonnell wrote that Maggette “got lost in coach Scott Skiles’ Bucks rotation. By the end he was playing sporadically.”  If our biggest free agent got lost in the star-studded cast that is the Milwaukee Bucks, I think I’m going to hold off on breaking out the champagne and strip-o-grams.  On the other hand, at least we didn’t sign someone just for the sake of signing someone (yet).  Bonnell also wrote, “(Dante) Cunningham’s restricted free-agency might have become a moot point had the Bobcats been successful in their pursuit of free agent Mike Dunleavy.”  Wrong, Rick, the Bobcats WERE successful in their pursuit of signing Dunleavy…because it FAILED.  Anybody who’s stupid enough to sign Dunleavy and his shot knees to a multi-million dollar deal is the unsuccessful one.

While my colleague James has been writing about interesting free agents (read his post!) I am going to discuss the future of this team as the Bobcats management obviously has started a rebuilding (again) of the franchise. Now in my eyes there are only a few things that can be done at this point thinking ahead. Let me explain. The rebuilding started by trading our only All-star in franchise history to the blazers (Gerald Wallace), and next the only good scorer on our team (Stephen Jackson) to the Bucks to move up in the draft, where we drafted Bismack Biyombo (7^th), and Kemba Walker (9^th). Our roster now contains two top 10 draft picks, including young talented guards D.J. Augustin and Gerald Henderson, young talented forwards Tyrus Thomas, Dante Cunningham (if resigned which seems to be in the plans) and D.J. White, together with veteran forwards Corey Maggette and Boris Diaw and a Center named Kwame Brown (unless someone steals him). There are more players on the roster yes, but not worth mentioning.  So let’s look at our options.

The Road to the 1^st Round.

How:

First of all I just want to say it’s a privilege to be asked to Blog every week for Ziggy aka the Godfather of Bobcats planet. Over the last few years I have come to respect people’s ideas and thoughts on here more than anywhere else. I am not saying I don’t sometimes think what the h*ll are you talking about. I hope people enjoy my point of view, even if for some crazy reason you wouldn’t agree with me, seriously why wouldn’t you? I must be the only Bobcats writer to not have any affiliation with either the mighty UNC or what’s that other team the Duke Blue Firbys? I mean Devils! Anyway, please excuse my poor jokes making fun of my own stereotype. It’s a poor excuse to try and make you guys laugh, without British sarcasm I don’t have anything. Anyway, this article is going to be on some free agent targets we should have for this mini offseason. I just think everyone should understand how intense this free agency period will be. Imagine all those rumours you hear over summer, they have all been saved until now. So all I am saying is be careful what you believe.

Kwame Brown:

1) We are normally weak at centre, we always have been, and we still are. If someone told me I would be writing an article saying how the number 1 free agent we should look to realistically sign is Kwame Brown then I would have eaten my British top hat and used the Queen’s name in vain. However our only centre on the roster is Desgana Diop *Sigh* (who may be cut due to the new amnesty clause in the CBA), who has just come back from a ruptured Achilles. We can get away with playing TT, Diaw or perhaps Biyombo for some of the time, but they will get battered night in night out, especially in this intense season with 2.9 games a week instead of the usual 2.5. Kwame last year was one of the great surprises of the bobcats, Charles Oakley really seemed to get him playing to a higher level than he had for many years. However that has backfired to some extent, now he is being chased by the likes of Miami who are desperate for a cheap veteran big man who can contribute. The draw of winning must be huge in Miami, but I think all of us feel inside the Kwame might repay the faith MJ and the fans had in him by re-signing. He has already said he loves working with Paul Silas.

My Offer: 9 Million-3 years. (I think we will have to give him more years than we want for him to re-sign)