Charlotte Bobcats: Retaining Gerald Henderson Keeps Young Backcourt Intact

The Charlotte Bobcats retained second-leading scorer Gerald Henderson, signing the restricted free agent to a three-year, $18 million contract that includes an early termination option after the 2014-15 season.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Henderson took less money in order to get the ETO language in the deal.

Henderson certainly seemed excited about getting the deal done:

Henderson averaged 15.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and one steal per game last year and was second on the club behind point guard Kemba Walker (17.7) in scoring. To say the Bobcats were guard-dominant on the offensive end in 2012-13 would be a gross understatement—the third- and fourth-leading scorers on the team were second-unit guards Ramon Sessions (14.4) and Ben Gordon (11.2).

Henderson made significant progress in his fourth year in the league. The 6’5” shooting guard improved his stroke from beyond the arc, hitting a career-best 33 percent (33-for-100) and got his free-throw percentage above 80 percent for the first time in his career by hitting 82.4 percent from the stripe.

For the first time in his career, he also posted an above-average player efficiency rating, checking in with a solid-but-unspectacular 16.4, while his true shooting percentage rose from 51.1 percent in 2011-12 to 53.1 percent last season.

He showed some of his offensive potential when he poured in a career-high 35 points against the Boston Celtics in March:

One concern with Henderson is durability. He missed 14 games in 2010-11 and 2012-13 and was unavailable for 11 games in 2011-12.

Last season, he was bothered by foot and back injuries and played in just 68 games, coming off the bench in 10 of those appearances. But he logged a career-high 2,133 minutes (although his minutes per game dipped slightly from 33.3 in 2011-12 to 31.4 last year).

The 25-year-old out of Duke has improved each year he’s been in the league and probably hasn’t reached his ceiling (but at 25, he might be approaching it). Basketball-Reference.com’s simple projection for Henderson sees him continuing his upward climb in production in 2013-14 at 17.1 points per game.

That’s up for debate. While the addition of free-agent center Al Jefferson from the Utah Jazz gives the Bobcats a low-post presence they haven’t had since, maybe ever, the fact is that Jefferson demands the ball … a lot. His usage rate of 25.3 percent with Utah last season is considerably higher than the 21.7 percent of the now-departed Byron Mullens.

So while theoretically, the presence of Jefferson will lead to teams actually having to consider double-teaming the post (something that never happened with Mullens or Bismack Biyombo playing the 5), the fact that Jefferson is so ball-dominant may not create as many more opportunities for the perimeter players such as Henderson and Walker as one might think at first glance.

On the other hand, the wild card in this is the arrival of new coach Steve Clifford, so it’s likely the system will be revamped and everyone, including the returning players, will be starting from square one once training camp opens.

The Bobcats have likely finished with their major dealing this offseason, but will need to add some warm bodies to the roster to flesh it out. Charlotte currently has 12 players on the roster and has committed roughly $54 million of the $58.6 million allowed under the salary cap and may look to add a minimum-priced big and perhaps another point guard.

The ‘Cats have gone into seasons past with just 14 players on the roster, which allows for added flexibility in potential trades or to fill gaps caused by short-term injuries.