NBA Off-season Review – Charlotte Bobcats

With the Bobcats coming off their most successful season as a NBA franchise, the team has undergone a larger than normal turnover for a playoff team.  Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton are gone, DJ Augustin will get his chance to show he is a starter, and the team added some toughness in Erick Dampier and Eduardo Najera.  Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace are still around, and Gerald Henderson will hope to have a more consistent sophomore season.  Boris Diaw, Tyrus Thomas and Derrick Brown round out the rotation.  The one thing that this blog is concerned about, draft picks, is the one thing the Bobcats had none of.  So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the Bobcats’ off-season and whether a rookie free agent has a shot of making the team.

Players Lost

Theo Ratliff – C – Free Agent to Los Angeles Lakers

Tyson Chandler – C – Trade to Dallas

Alexis Ajinca – C – Trade to Dallas

Raymond Felton – G – Free Agent to New York

Larry Hughes – G- Free Agent

Stephen Graham – F – Free Agent

Players Gained

Shaun Livingston – G- Free Agent from Washington

Matt Carroll – G- Trade from Dallas

Erick Dampier – C – Trade from Dallas

Eduardo Najera – F – Trade from Dallas

Dominic McGuire – G- Free Agent from Sacramento

Free Agents Re-Signed

Tyrus Thomas – F

Draft Picks & Other Rookie Signings

None

Draft Pick & Rookie Outlook (Based on Roster as of 8/1/10)

Not going to be a lot here, with no picks in June’s draft and no rookie free agent signings yet this summer.  Right now, they still have one roster spot available, but very little space on the depth chart for a rookie signee to get any playing time.  Two areas they may look to shore up before the start of the season are point guard, where DJ Augustin will take over for the departed Ray Felton, and center, where the Bobcats have swapped out Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinca for Erick Dampier.  Dampier, who contract is non-guaranteed, will team with Naz Mohammed and DeSagana Diop in the post.  Right now, my guess is that Sherron Collins will have the inside track on the last roster spot, especially after his continued improvement in the Orlando Summer League, including a 32-point performance in the last game.  Collins fits the kind of point guard that Larry Brown works well with, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he not only made the team, but became Augustin’s backup by the end of the season.

As the summer winds down, we will update this once the training camp invitees are known.  Make sure to check back later today for a look at the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards, as well as a brief look at the pre-season college tournament brackets which were released yesterday.