Many causal NBA fans haven’t watched Charlotte play a single game this year.  But they may have heard anecdotally about how the team was blown out by 39 against Miami or by 30 against the Hawks.  And thus they have probably come to the easy, lazy conclusion that this team has played some bad games.  But you know something?  What these ignorant so-called “fans” don’t realize is that our Charlotte Bobcats have played other games, too, games like last night against the Nets…and those games are actually even worse.  How awful was Sunday night’s game?  I would make a prisoner watch it in order to beat a confession out of him. I haven’t watched something that depraved, sick, and twisted since that episode of Whitney.  In fact, when talking about the Bobcats, I’m thinking of replacing the word “watching” with the phrase, “subjecting yourself to,” as in, “Hey, are you subjecting yourself to the Bobcats tonight?”

Sunday night was actually bad to the point of profundity. Through suffering comes enlightenment, and I’m convinced that all of us—in choosing to wat—I mean, subject ourselves to—this team, are not simply expressing our die-hard fandom but responding to a higher calling.  Here’s how: People think of this as a golden age for basketball, with an amazing cast of stars and super-teams.  But the Bobcats are so cover-your-eyes horrifying that maybe the real reason we’re here is to document that it wasn’t all wonderful for the NBA circa-2012.  Bobcats Planet may actually be the NBA’s very own “How the Other Half Lives.” We’re the 99-percenters.   The black people on Mad Men.  After all, Raging Bull and Ordinary People weren’t the only movies released in 1981; so was Make Them Die Slowly.  Thirty years from now they’ll uncover this website, and it will serve as a testimony to those faceless, forgotten, hopeless masses who didn’t live in New York, Chicago, Miami, and LA.

During a solid 2009-10 season for the Bobcats, we had our first All-Star in Gerald Wallace, we had our first winning record, and we had our first playoffs birth.  With all of that momentum, great things were expected for the future.  Then things fell apart.

Before the 2010-11 season even began, Raymond Felton left in free agency and Tyson Chandler was traded for dust and bad contracts.  Then Larry Brown finally weaseled his way out of town after a poor start.  Gerald Henderson, Tyrus Thomas, and Gana Diop were hobbled with injuries, and fan favorite Gerald Wallace was traded to Portland.  The season ended with a 34-48 record and no discernible direction as a franchise.

And just like that, we began our rebuild.

While I was watching the playoffs this weekend, I found it fascinating how many former Charlotte Bobcats that there were playing a significant role in this year’s playoffs. Since our squad isn’t going to play another relevant game until November-ish, I thought that it would be fun to follow along with some of our former Bobcats brethren in their journey through the playoffs.

First up G-G-G-G-Gerald Wallace ( that brought back memories didn’t it ). In the last few weeks of the regular season Gerald Wallace had been absolutely killing it, even managing a 40 point outburst against the OKC Thunder. Unfortunately for Crash, those good times didn’t carry over into Saturday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. In that game Crash played 38 minutes but only produced 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals. On the bad side of the ledger he had 3 turnovers and had his shot blocked 4 times.

The culprit of a few of those blocks was another former Cat, Tyson Chandler. I’m sure that most of you remember that there are two things that Tyson does well and that’s rebounding and playing defense…. When he isn’t in a walking boot. Saturday versus the Blazers he had a typical Chandleresque stat line. 4 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

Pondering the Bobcats loss

Lets ponder last night’s game for a few moments.

The Charlotte Bobcats lost last night to the Dallas Mavericks 101-86 and in that loss there were a few things that were well worth some deeper thought.

We allowed the 53 year old Jason Kidd  to abuse our defense all night and dish out 18 assists? To quote The Miz “really… Really”? I understand that Jason Kidd is Jason Kidd but dammit this is not 1992. We should not allow a guy as elderly as Kidd to run wild on us the way that he did. In drastic contrast to Kidd’s numbers, Our point guards had a combined 8 points and 8 assists and shot 2-12 from the field…. I wonder how Devin Harris is doing today?

The Charlotte Bobcats announced today that they have traded centers Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinca for former Bobcat guard Matt Carroll, forward Eduardo Najera and center Erick Dampier, along with cash considerations.

Carroll started 81 games for the Bobcats over his 289 game career in the Queen City, and still holds the team record for Free Throw Percentage at .849%. He played parts of the last two seasons in Dallas after being traded in January 2009 along with Ryan Hollins for DeSagana Diop. Carroll has just below 12 million dollars left on his contract over the next three years, though that amount is front loaded.

Najera is a 6’8 forward who will make the Bobcats his fifth team in 11 seasons. A second round pick in 2000, he started his career in Dallas, and made stops in Golden State, Denver, and New Jersey before being sent back to Dallas this past season. He has 5.6 million owed to him over the next two seasons, and like Carroll his contract is decreasing.

Dampier is a 6’11 center who has played for Indiana, Golden State and Dallas in his 14 seasons. He likely will not play for the Bobcats as his 13 million dollar contract is not guaranteed, meaning he can be waived at any time prior to the season with no penalty to the ‘Cats.

General Manager Rod Higgins said after the trade was announced that “Our main goal this offseason was finding a way to reshape this roster and continue the momentum we have established. While it’s always difficult to give up key pieces of your team, we believe this deal will give financial flexibility and the ability to improve our team at the same time.”

Chandler was acquired last summer for Emeka Okafor, and missed much of last winter with foot and ankle problems. He averaged 6.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in 50 games with the Bobcats. Ajinca, the 20th overall pick of the 2008 draft, played just 37 games with the team, spending much of his time in the D-League.

What this means for Bobcats fans is that there is likely another move on the way. Dampier’s contract situation allows the team to pursue a player like Monta Ellis, Jose Calderon, or Andris Beidrins, among others reportedly available. While this move will place the Bobcats over the luxury tax for the moment, it’s highly unlikely the team will remain around that figure. If you don’t know how to bet on the NBA then I suggest you sign up for a top NBA handicapper. Were the team to be unable to find a suitor for Dampier, he could be waived to allow the team a chance at free agents such as Flip Murray, Shaquille O’Neal, or Will Bynum.

As far as Carroll and Najera are concerned, this shores up the second unit for the ‘Cats. Carroll is an excellent long-range shooter and provides a third man at the Shooting Guard position behind Stephen Jackson and Gerald Henderson. Najera likely will back up the newly re-signed Tyrus Thomas, and shows that Boris Diaw is almost assuredly on his way out of town.

Also, it’s worth noting that the rumored trade of Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw to Toronto for Reggie Evans and Jose Calderon is now dead, as Najera is very similar to Evans and a Diaw/Calderon swap makes little sense value wise for the ‘Cats.

For a guy that missed 37 games last season and has been injury plagued his entire career a 12.6 million dollar salary would sound pretty good for next season, but it sounds like Tyson Chandler may have other ideas. A report from ESPN has a source claiming that Chandler is seriously considering opting out of his contract and becoming a free agent this summer. If the 7’1 center did decide to opt out then he would be forfeiting his 12.6 million dollar salary and be looking for a brand new contract.
Now there are a couple of different ways to look at this situation and it presents a lot of options for not only Chandler but the Charlotte Bobcats. From Chandler’s point of view, it sounds like he believes that with so many teams having money to spend, and him being one of only a couple free agent centers out there, that he could possibly get a three year deal worth around 25 to 30 million dollars. Now all along it has looked as if Chandler would exercise his option for next year and just play out his contract. After all, he hasn’t been very productive these last couple of seasons and 12.6 million dollars is a very nice salary. The Bobcats still say they haven’t heard anything about Chandler opting out and the game plan has been for him to be here playing next season. Chandler has until June 30th to opt out of his contract and time will tell what Chandler decides.
Now if you take a look at this from the Bobcats perspective this could potentially be good news. Chandler underachieved in his first season here in Charlotte and the Bobcats already have three centers with big contracts. So Chandler opting out might not be such a bad thing. The move would free up some much needed cap space for the team with players Tyrus Thomas and Raymond Felton still looking to be signed. But don’t forget, the Bobcats also liked what Chandler brought towards the end of the regular season and in the playoffs with his energy and good defensive play. So it will be interesting to see how this situation plays out.
What do you think Bobcats fans? Do you like what Chandler brings to the table when he’s healthy and do you want him back? Or would you rather have the cap space to sign other guys and go with the other centers that we have on the team?