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This started with a call Monday from an NBA scout. For lack of a better description, this guy does quality-control for an Eastern Conference team.
I ask him a lot about various players and so once a year he calls to ask for my review of the Charlotte Bobcats and, particularly, their free agents. The guy figures if I see these guys 70 or more games a season, I should have some sense of what they are, who they are and what they're worth.
That got me thinking about the Bobcats' depth chart, their payroll and how they might proceed during an offseason that should lead to a first playoff spot. What started out as some scribbling on a legal pad led to – I hope – giving you a better picture of the local NBA team's situation.
An overview
They have 10 players under guaranteed contract for next season, adding up to $57million-plus in payroll. I won't be surprised if one of those 10 – point guard Sean Singletary – is cut before September. (Singletary's partial guarantee grows if he's on the roster in September.) I don't see much future here for Singletary; he faded out of the picture the last third of the season and he's not the big third point guard coach Larry Brown prefers.
Dontell Jefferson does have the size Brown likes at the point. I'm told by an NBA source – though I haven't confirmed this – that Jefferson is under contract, unguaranteed, for next season. If so, then Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins deserves kudos for writing that into Jefferson's deal.
To me, the greatest area of need is depth – a reliable backup shooting guard who also can play some small forward and a backup power forward who can rumble in the lane. Their lottery pick – somewhere in the top 14 – could address one of those needs.
From here on, I'll break down the five positions by depth, salary and some analysis, plus throw out a potential free-agent acquisition.
A caution about these unrestricted free-agent suggestions: I don't know if they can afford any of these guys, much less two or more. But each is a veteran with a high basketball IQ. And all four have played for Brown before.
With the Bobcats chasing the playoffs, additional experience – particularly people who know Brown's methods – would help.
One more thing: Parenthesis symbolize an unresolved situation.
POINT GUARD
1. (Raymond Felton, anticipated restricted free agent, $5.5million qualifying offer)
2. D.J. Augustin, $2.37million salary
3. (Jefferson, Singletary or a veteran acquisition.)
THE SKINNY: Brown and Felton seem confident Felton will stay. I tend to agree for two reasons – Felton wants to be here, and this isn't the best summer to hit the free-agent market. Between the economy and the limited number of teams with major salary-cap space, there shouldn't be many suitors. Dallas, Portland and Oklahoma City all could be potential threats, but I bet Felton is this team's starting point guard on opening night.
FREE-AGENT SUGGESTION: Kevin Ollie, late of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ollie (6-foot-4) has the size and experience Brown wants from his third option at the point. Had he been the Timberwolves' last cut in training camp (that was possible), Ollie likely would have spent last season with the Bobcats. At 37, Ollie is no kid by NBA standards, but he could do at the point what Juwan Howard did at forward for the Bobcats this season.
SHOOTING GUARD
1. Raja Bell, $5.25 million
2. (name your guy, I will below)
3. (Cartier Martin, a restricted free agent)
THE SKINNY: I'm a bigger fan of Bell than many of you, based on my e-mail. I like that he's rugged defensively, guarding some of the league's best scorers, yet is still good for an occasional 25-point game. However, I get it that he's a high-mileage player who suffered two groin strains and a calf strain during roughly a half-season with the Bobcats. He needs a reliable backup and the Bobcats are more vulnerable here than anywhere. I loved Cartier Martin's approach – he always tries to do the right thing – but he was in the deep end doing the doggy paddle in minutes that decided games.
FREE-AGENT SUGGESTION: Anthony Parker, late of the Toronto Raptors. Sure, he's aging (34 in June), but he's a big swingman (6-6) who understands the game, understands Brown (two seasons with him with the 76ers) and should be ready to be a backup in return for job security. The Raptors are in rebuilding mode, so it's hard for me to believe they'd take extreme measures to retain a guy in the sunset of his career.
SMALL FORWARD
1. Gerald Wallace, $9.5 million
2. Vladimir Radmanovic, $6.47 million
3. (Someone else, or Boris Diaw in a pinch)
THE SKINNY: This is the most solid position on the roster, primarily because things have played out so well between Wallace and Brown. Wallace needed coaching and he absorbs it from Brown with humility and attention. Wallace understands this is his chance to grow, and Brown loves the savvy questions Wallace asks during practice. Radmanovic is a reclamation project, and an expensive one. He fell out of Phil Jackson's favor, which subjected him to borderline-cruel sarcasm. He's a bright kid with a wider skill set than the Lakers utilized. But he's a mistake-player, too – he tries too hard to impress – and that's what sent Shannon Brown packing out of here.
FREE-AGENT SUGGESTION: Check above, concerning Anthony Parker.
POWER FORWARD
1. Boris Diaw, $9 million
2. (Somebody … Juwan Howard? Sean May?)
3. Alexis Ajinca, $1.37 million.
THE SKINNY: Diaw is the most skilled player in Bobcats history. He makes one-handed passes through traffic that – maybe – five others in the league can complete. He changed the way they play and addressed their most basic flaw – an inability to create easy baskets. But he's not the most intense guy and the backup should be something different; a low-post enforcer. Ajinca will never be that, but it's silly to give up on him. Anyone with that length and skill (as a passer and a shooter) someday will screw up defenses. He just needs about 3,000 protein shakes to get where he needs to be strength-wise.
FREE-AGENT SUGGESTION: Antonio McDyess, late of the Detroit Pistons. He's one of Brown's all-time favorites and can play power forward and center. He started out as an unrefined athlete, but now he knows the game. The smart move would be using his final two or three seasons with a title contender, but if there was ever a time for Brown to leverage his personal relationship with Dice, it's now.
CENTER
1. Emeka Okafor, $10.5 million
2. Gana Diop, $6.03 million
3. Nazr Mohammed, $6.47 million.
THE SKINNY: Center is not a bad place to have too much depth, but that doesn't explain away trading two expiring contracts for Mohammed. He isn't playing, he likely won't play, and he wants to be somewhere else. But particularly in this economy, who will take on roughly $13million in guaranteed money over the next two seasons? Diop is younger and perhaps a better post defender, but he needs to improve dramatically on offense.
FREE-AGENT SUGGESTION: Rasheed Wallace, late of the Detroit Pistons. Understand, up-front, this is a pipe dream. Wallace should draw interest from a contender (Cleveland, for instance). But he has that wide skill set (can defend any front-court position, can shoot out to NBA 3-point range) that could assure the Bobcats a playoff spot. The issue is his potential threat to great chemistry. I've never been around a group of professional athletes so vested in each other's success. Messing with that is risky business.
