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Charlotte Bobcats: The Beginning (2004 - ...)

Granite Armadillo

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Granite Armadillo Newbie

Granite Armadillo

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INTRODUCTION

During the middle of the 2001-02 playoffs, the Charlotte Hornets found themselves in the midst of a playoff series with the New Jersey Nets. Rumors had been circulating for some time that the Hornets, who had finished the season dead last in league attendance, were on their way to New Orleans. Just before the Nets upended Charlotte in five-games of the Eastern Conference semifinals, NBA Commissioner David Stern made Charlotte’s worst nightmare a reality: for the first time since the ‘80s, professional basketball would not be played in North Carolina.

 

It was thought to be a death blow to the sport in a state where college basketball held a death grip on the market. However, with the announcement of the New Orleans Hornets came the possibility of something new; as David Stern expressed the possibility of adding a thirtieth franchise. On December 18, 2002, Robert L. Johnson was awarded the NBA’s thirtieth squad, which would be located in Charlotte. Long-time NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff was positioned to be the first head coach of the expansion franchise; yet the question remained: Who was going to lead the next era of professional basketball in Charlotte? Much the the chagrin of NBA insiders, Johnson tabbed long-time Hornet Dell Curry, at the young age of 39 years old, as a rookie general manager.

 

Led by Curry and Bickerstaff, many were hesitant of where Charlotte’s basketball prospects were heading. But in the midst of the Dallas Mavericks run to the 2003-04 NBA Championship run, when the Charlotte Bobcats name was announced, many knew that was next to come was sure to be worth watching: for good, or for bad.

Hey ya'll. Some of you might remember me from my short-lived
. Others might not remember me at all. What is important, though, is that I am back with an attempt at changing the course of professional basketball history.

 

I've been following the NBA since, ironically, 2004, and have always been fascinated by the Charlotte Bobcats. Expansion franchises, generally, interest me, and after seeing that there was a momentary void in the Fast Break Pro Basketball 2013 Dynasties, I thought I would step up and give the Charlotte Bobcats a chance. I'll admit, my experience with FBPB 2013 is limited (I've only played a few seasons into a Boston Celtics and a Toronto Raptors game up until this point), but I absolutely love the game and have enjoyed reading the work of other writers in this section of the GDS forums. So, while I don't promise greatness, I do promise that I'll be more successful than Isaiah Thomas.

 

Before I get any further, I wanted to give a shot out to two of the previous dynasty writers who have inspired the format of this dynasty: michgcs's "
" and trypio's "
." If you have not yet given either of those dynasty's a read, I highly recommend it.
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Granite Armadillo Newbie

Granite Armadillo

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NBA DRAFT LOTTERY

 

The Charlotte Bobcats, as the National Basketball Association's only expansion squad, head into the NBA Lottery with the highest odds for obtaining the No. 1 pick. Based off my experience with the game, I'm not overly optimistic in my chances.

 

 

Against all odds, we managed to hold onto the number one pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. At puts us in the driver's seat in a three-man race between Andre Iguodala, Kevin Martin and Dwight Howard. Overall, the draft is rather deep for potential starters and depth, but I'm glad that I don't have to pick between Josh Smith and J.R. Smith.

 

 

Charlotte's projected to take Andre Iguodala first overall, which is a potential option. I'm also torn between Kevin Martin and my favorite option, Dwight Howard. I plan on building a solid shooting team that plays stellar defense, which makes Martin (who looks to have decent shooting skills, and the defensive force of Dwight Howard enticing options. Another wrinkle, though, is that Iguodala is the perfect player for each role. He currently has B's in all of his shooting stats, and is a solid perimeter defender with great stealing ability. He also has the chance to develop into a decent post defender. Martin's biggest weakness his his poor defensive skills, and Howard cannot shoot. Ultimately, what happens at the Expansion Draft is going to play a factor in determining who goes third overall.
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Granite Armadillo Newbie

Granite Armadillo

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UPDATE

 

In the midst of my last version of this save, I managed to progress through free agency. However, do to my own shortsightedness, I managed to crash the game without remembering to save at any point. Thus, for those who have previously read my last post, I restarted from the end of the 2003-04 season and have just finished the NBA Draft Lottery. From this point, I now know the importance of saving!
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Granite Armadillo Newbie

Granite Armadillo

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To be perfectly honest, I am rather pleased with my options at center. While I do not want any of these three to start game one, they are all serviceable options. All are on one year deals, and barring an amazing season I can only possibly see Bender coming back for the 2005-06 season. Though, his lack of size does make me a little hesitant, as I worry he's going to get beaten down in the post too easily against larger, more traditional centers. Brian Grant only being six-feet, nine-inches also has me leaning toward playing him more at the power forward spot. While he cannot shoot as well as I am going to eventually want my fours to shoot, his rebounding skills make him worth playing at some point.

 

 

Malik Rose ended up as the lone power forward drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats. What sold me on him was his rebounding ability, something that I am going to prioritize in my post players. Again, while he might not be able to shoot as well as I'd like my fours to, he is going to serve as an excellent utility player. He's a player who I can see being quickly replaced in free agency, depending on how the NBA Draft goes.

 

 

Rodney White is one of two players from the expansion draft with green potential. He is also the first player from this draft that I would be comfortable starting this season. He has a decent jump shot, and can make threes, and isn't a complete turnstile on the defensive end. In an ideal world, I can resign him after this season and transition him into a solid sixth (or seventh) man. Aleksandar Pavlovic, on the other hand, is the first project I picked up. He's on a cheap one year deal, so my ability to experiment with him is limited. However, he'll likely get stashed in the NBA D-League at the beginning of the season with the hopes that he can improve before a stint on the main roster. With his size and shooting ability, I could see him playing as a stretch four on the second unit.

 

 

Not much to comment on here. Bucknner has a decent shot of making the roster because of his amazing jump shot. Otherwise, he's relatively average at everything else. Meanwhile, Udoka has nothing that particularly stands out. He'll likely be my first choice to clear up roster space.

 

 

The logjam on the Bobcats roster is at point guard. The obvious head of the class is Dixon, who is likely going to get a chance at starting this season due to his shooting ability and perimeter defense. However, after him the battle for the backup spot becomes murkier. Richie Frahm seems to be more of a shooting guard, and Kevin Ollie is a solid ball-handler with absolutely no shooting stroke. Thus, by default, Travis Best seems to be the best option. Regardless, this is the logical place on the roster for me to clear up another roster space heading into free agency,

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

I think it goes without saying, but the Charlotte Bobcats are going to need some upgrades to its starting lineup before the season starts. Hopefully I can work some magic over the phones and trade a piece or two, but what I end up doing with the number one overall pick is going to be extremely important entering free agency.

 

Overall, I think we have a couple of good pieces and a handful of guys who I could see making the final roster. While I have high hopes this offseason, Charlotte has $12,226,469 in cap room and flexibility is going to be a consideration as the franchise sets a tone in its early years.
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Granite Armadillo

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It did not take long for me to find a trade partner for Kevin Ollie, as the Spurs stepped right up to the plate when I asked for Robert Horry. This trade was an easy decision for me. Horry, while not the stellar perimeter defender that Ollie is, has the range and size that I was looking for in my power forward spot. Additionally, while I'll like move Frahm to shooting guard I don't plan on going too deep into my bench unless I have to. For what I want to do offensively, Horry is a perfect fit for the Charlotte Bobcats.

 

OTHER NEWS

 

I wanted to have some roster space heading into free agency, and ultimately I was less than enthralled with the deeper portions of my bench. That ultimately led me to place center Dan Santiago and shooting guard Ime Udoka on waivers; in addition to delegating Aleksandar Pavlovic for assignment in the NBA D-League.

 

Udoka had virtually zero shot at making the roster, and Santiago was a tough call at center. But with Rose, Horry, Bender and Grant all needing playing time, I need to trim some fat in order to potentially find long-term substitutes. With Pavlovic playing for the Columbus Riverdragons in the D-League, that was the best way for me to get him some experience without having to lose his rights.

 

NBA DRAFT

 

"And with the first pick, in the 2004 NBA Draft... the Charlotte Bobcats select... Dwight Howard, center, Southwest Atlanta Christian!

 

 

At the end of the day, a combination of Dwight Howard's youth, defensive abilities and size made him too hard to pass up. As I looked up and down my roster, I came to find that shooting wasn't an absolute need for the squad. Plus, I had neglected the team's defense in my roster construction. In a few years, Howard should be the answer to both of those concerns. Though, I must admit, the decision between Howard, Iguodala and Martin was MUCH harder than I would have imagined.

 

Here's how the rest of first round of the 2004 NBA Draft went.

 

 

Nothing particularly surprising, though one could argue that San Antonio taking Kris Humphries over Anderson Varejao, and Kris Synder going in the first round at all (let alone twenty-fifth overall) were two of the night's biggest shockers. But outside of the first round, I think we are really arguing over semantics.

 

As for the second round, Charlotte picked up the guy who I hope to be the Robert Horry of the future:

 

 

Matthew freakin' Bonner. To get a guy with green potential in the second round made my day. The optimist in me sees him easily slipping into the starting lineup, taking over Horry's duties as the stretch four who can spread the floor and make defenses pay with his three-point shooting ability.

 

Anyhow, that's all for the NBA Draft. Next up is free agency, where the likes of Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kevin Garnett are up for grabs.
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michgcs Apprentice

michgcs

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OH, MAN! You wouldn't believe how hyped I am for this one! Thanks for the shout-out, man! I'm glad this part of the forum is getting some much needed attention :D

 

1. Impressed with the Horry trade. He and Dwight could be a real force on both ends of the floor, IMO

 

2. Dwight Howard and Bonner in one draft? AND Bonner's got green potential? A+!

 

3. I like your frontline of Dwight/Grant/Bender at the C then Horry/Rose/Bonner at PF, but I think the 'Cats need to sacrifice a year to shore up the wings. (Personally I'd try Horry at SF and Rodney White at SG)

 

Good luck, my friend. :) May the basketball gods smile in your general direction :p

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Granite Armadillo Newbie

Granite Armadillo

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Nice first draft.

 

Remember Save, save, save...:D

 

Thanks. Like I noted in the post, I couldn't believe on selecting that first pick proved to be. While I don't expect the team as a whole to do anything groundbreaking this season, I think Howard and Bonner are going to be perfect for Charlotte moving forward.

 

 

OH, MAN! You wouldn't believe how hyped I am for this one! Thanks for the shout-out, man! I'm glad this part of the forum is getting some much needed attention :D

 

1. Impressed with the Horry trade. He and Dwight could be a real force on both ends of the floor, IMO

 

2. Dwight Howard and Bonner in one draft? AND Bonner's got green potential? A+!

 

3. I like your frontline of Dwight/Grant/Bender at the C then Horry/Rose/Bonner at PF, but I think the 'Cats need to sacrifice a year to shore up the wings. (Personally I'd try Horry at SF and Rodney White at SG)

 

Good luck, my friend. :) May the basketball gods smile in your general direction :p

 

Such kind words. I definitely agree that the frontline is stronger than the Bobcats wing. As you'll see when I posted by free agency recap, I tried to strengthen the wing, with mixed success. I definitely think we'll be bad this year, but my goal is to at least be competitive. Our ticket prices are half the league average, and so I want to get some butts in the seats. Overall, I'm happy with how the team looks after the first offseason.

 

It should also be noted that I realized how tiny everything looked after checking on this forum on another computer. So, with that said, the graphics for posts from now on aren't going to be so small, and I took the liberty of increasing the text size on previous posts. Sorry about that, and thanks for everybody who beared through the tiny font.

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Granite Armadillo

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As you can see, most of the big names in free agency stayed put this offseason. The biggest names to move were Stephen Jackson, Elton Brand and Steve Francis. The team that made the most interesting moves was the Utah Jazz: signing Elton Brand on a six-year deal, and Reggie Miller on a two-year deal.

 

As for the Charlotte Bobcats, the first players I went after were Jamal Crawford and Mike Miller. Unfortunately, my lack of success caused my max offer to not be enough for either, with Crawford returning to Chicago on a seven-year deal worth $105,634,375 and Miller sticking around with the Grizz on a seven-year deal also worth $105,634,375. From there I went after Raja Bell, but the price tag climbed up way too fast for me, and I want to be able to save some cap space (after all, no reason to blow it all right now). He ended up heading to Washington on a six-year deal worth $58,889,910. With the preferred free agents all wrapped up, I went after some solid players with some flaws who I thought would help the Bobcats be competitive. Anthony Peeler, Anferenee Hardaway, and Quentin Richardson all denied my advances, signing with Detroit four-years, $14,479,692, Toronto at four-years, $8,481,828, and the Clippers at five-years, $32,781,388, respectively.

 

It should be noted that I made a conscious decision to ignore the major players in free agency, as I knew that our roster wouldn't have the talent to compete and I had no need to blow all my cap space on one player right away. In the end, the 'Cats managed to sign one player for the 2004-05 NBA season. Obviously he wasn't my first choice, but I think the addition of him can lead to some interesting lineups this season...

 

 

Peterson signed with us on a team-friendly three-year deal worth $13,354,628. While he does play the same position as Rodney White, he is a three-point shooter with some length who is serviceable on defense. Based on our current roster, Peterson is likely going to play the two for the Bobcats, with White filling in at the three in the starting lineup.
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Granite Armadillo

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Overall, I feel like we had a solid showing this preseason, going 3-3 with a road win. Hopefully as the season progresses, the Bobcats can manage to find a consistent scorer; though, it is nice to see that there is enough depth where we do not have to rely on one guy for our offense. I was pleasantly surprised with Greg Buckner's performance, as I was entirely sure who from my second unit would step up. Dwight Howard also yanking down some rebounds was nice.

 

If I had any concerns, it would probably have to be in the apparent lack of ball movement. As you can see, there was no player who dispersed the ball consistently. We also only maxed out at five assists per game, which doesn't bode well for the open-style that I would prefer the team play. It is only the preseason, however, so I am going to keep my concerns tempered for the moment and be glad that the team escaped without any injuries.

 

Up next will be the first month of the season. Based on what we've seen, any guesses as to what the season win total will amount to?
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The Charlotte Bobcats are off to a solid start, winning one of the teams first fifteen games. In all seriousness, though, I couldn't have imagined going 1-14 to start the season off. I knew we were likely to be bad, but I never would have imagined that we were going to be
that bad
. Our current skid does have us in the driver's seat for Chris Paul. On the flip side, the skid has hurt us attendance wise. Charlotte is already a small market franchise, and the skid has us at poor fan loyalty; which means that Charlotte is averaging 7,847 fans per game. That fills up only 32.6 percent of the Charlotte Coliseum. Barely one third!

 

On a game to game basis, I have noted that the team struggles to score points. We've managed to play just well enough to finish twenty-eight on a points per game basis. Defensively we aren't that great either, ranking twenty-one out of thirty in points allowed per game. And we are getting killed on the boards, getting out-rebounded by a full seven rebounds per game.

 

I've tried to improve the roster quality, but I've had no takers. I've even tried to unload some of the roster, but nobody has expressed much interest either. The red line on the grid is an indication of the two-year contract extension Jonathan Bender received, which was a good deal in my mind considering that he is still young, is playing okay for the price and didn't receive much of a raise at all. Here's what the per game stats look like for the roster, as well as the league standings:

 

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Granite Armadillo

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DECEMBER 2004

TRADE NEWS

 

TRADE ONE

WIZARDS GETS

http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o744/babinatadam/NBA%20Diary/Frahm%203_zpsl2gzzsmz.png

 

BOBCATS GETS

2005 Washington Wizards Second Round Draft Pick

 

AND

 

http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o744/babinatadam/NBA%20Diary/Whitney_zpswtn6eiit.png

 

TRADE TWO

CLIPPERS GET

http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o744/babinatadam/NBA%20Diary/White%203_zpspwkndb89.png

 

BOBCATS GETS

2006 Los Angeles Clippers Second Round Draft Pick

 

TRADE THREE

JAZZ GET

2005 Washington Wizards Second Round Pick

 

AND

 

2005 Charlotte Bobcats Second Round Pick

 

AND

 

2006 Los Angeles Clippers Second Round Pick

 

BOBCATS GETS

2005 Utah Jazz First Round Draft Pick

 

I'm going to refer to these series of trades as one super trade. My ultimate goal was to get something for the players I had, most of whom are on one-year contracts. This year is a wash, so getting a second first round pick was important to me. Unfortunately, all anybody was willing to give to me for my players were second round picks; but that didn't stop me. I got rid of Richie Frahm in exchange for Whitney, who ended up riding the bench, in what was my first transaction of the month (marked below). Frahm was a solid shooter, but he was a blackhole on defense and did not have a future with Charlotte. Getting a second round pick for him felt like a steal. The move not noted here, but noted below, was the release of Malik Rose. I had to eat his salary for 2005-06, but he was growing discontent with his lack of playing time. This was what led to a more focused on my first seven to eight in my rotation, which saw an improvement in those players. Of course, Rose was not the only player in December to show discontent in Charlotte. My starting small forward, Rodney White, began to crumble about halfway through the month. I noticed that he was regressing, but decided to check a few weeks to see if maybe he could right the ship. By 2005 things had not improved, which led me to send him to the Clippers for a 2006 second round pick. From there I upgraded Aleksandar Pavlovic, who had been playing well in the D-League, to the main roster, moved Buckner into the starting five and thought about heading into 2005 with a slightly weaker roster and a bunch of second round picks. That idea did not stick in my head for too long though, as I wanted to be able to go into the off-season with two first round picks; so, I shopped around those second rounders and managed to snag Utah's 2005 first round pick in exchange for three second round picks, only two of which were for this year's draft. Anyways, enough about the off-the-court news. The Bobcats actually started to show some fight in December!

 

 

First off, the first colored line signifies the Frahm-Whitney trade; the second colored line the Rose waiver; and the third colored line the White trade/trade for Utah's first rounder. With that established, I am actually pretty content with how the team played. We managed to win three games this month, and one of those was even on the road! What was even more comforting was the emergence of Dwight Howard as a stable rebounder, and Morris Peterson as a scorer. My only concerns rests with Buckner moving to shooting guard, and Peterson returning to small forward, effecting the flow of what little offense the Bobcats have. Overall, though, positive signs. Now, here's how the 'Cats did on a per game basis, plus the league standings:

 

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NoNeck Newbie

NoNeck

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Just wanted to check in and let you know I'm following along and enjoying. I know next season is still way off, but a young core of Chris Paul and Dwight Howard would be pretty sweet building blocks going forward. Guys like MoPete and Matt Bonner fit in with that, too.

 

Good luck. Can't wait for more.

 

:)

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ozziebattla Newbie

ozziebattla

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This is looking good, definitely a follower here. I have done this also as an idea playing the game, I usually nab Iggy and Okafor in my first draft then Chris Paul in year 2 to build around. Dwight and Chris Paul (if your lucky enough to get him) would be the ideal foundation for you to build a championship dynasty in the Queen City. good luck
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