Watch Out for the Charlotte Bobcats this Season

Oct 5, 2013

No I’m not joking. I am dead serious, I think that the Charlotte Bobcats will be a team to watch out for this season. After the smart off season moves they made this summer, there is nowhere to go but up for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats definitely had an under rated off season. Besides all the crap they took for signing a good player, nobody has payed real attention to whats been going on in Charlotte. The biggest move that was made was the signing of center Al Jefferson. Now a lot of people think that Charlotte over payed him with a three year 40.5 million deal, that maybe so but realistically who else would that money go to?

It’s not like Al Jefferson’s contract will stop them from giving Kemba Walker his contract extension when the time comes. It’s not like any of the other top free agents were looking at Charlotte as a destination anyways. The Bobcats have never had an offensive big man like Big Al, and low post offense was one of the teams biggest issues, looks like that problem is solved. In an Eastern Conference where Tyson Chandler, Brook Lopez, Joakim Noah and Roy Hibbert have all been selected all-stars, this year Jefferson can definitely get his first all-star nomination.

Another big move was resigning the players on the team that made a difference last season. Gerald Henderson was the leader for the Bobcats, he could of probably gone somewhere else and came off the bench but Charlotte decided to pay the man a nice 3 year 18 million extension. That’s solid money for whats now the number 3 option in their option. I think his 15 points per game were more than deserving of his contract.

Bringing back Josh McRoberts is a real feel good story. McRoberts has talked bout not feeling wanted on previous teams but when he came to Charlotte he finally found a home, a franchise that values him and what he brings to the table. They didn’t let McRoberts rot on the bench, they gave him minutes and he showed how versatile he is. McRoberts isn’t elite but he can shoot, rebound, pass and defend. A two year deal and an opportunity to fight for the starting role sounds pretty good to me.

Also the Cats resigned Jannero Pargo as the third three point guard. That was also another solid move because he brings alot of the same things Ramon Sessions does to the table and he wont be relied on much unless of an injury.

Another positive the Cats did was cut loose all the dead weight. There were guys on the roster who didn’t bring anything at all to the table, who just sat there and ate up salary. Tyrus Thomas and DeSagana Diop did nothing positive for the team so its great the both of them are gone. Byron Mullens and Reggie Williams brought some offense but it wasn’t very efficient, now both have moved on to new teams where they probably wont play much anyway.

The Cats kept it simple in the draft and picked up an offensive big in Cody Zeller to further produce more low post offense. At first I was upset the Cats didn’t go for a big name in the draft but I like the move now. They weren’t worried about who everyone else was after they found who they liked and went for him. He should play a big part in the teams future and can come in play from the beginning.

All the player acquisitions were nice but I really like that they let Mike Dunlap walk. he just wasn’t cut out for the job. Now Steve Clifford, the new Bobcats head coach sounds like a man who knows that he’s doing. He’s already called out all his players and let them know what they need to do in order to win. He’s let everybody know that they’re going to run things his way and play some damn defense, which they didn’t do last season. He’s pushing everyone to be better rebounders also. I feel like Clifford is the perfect man for the job and will definitely lead this team to improvement.  The Cats will be find on offense with what they got but now under Steve Clifford I think they might be a decent defensive team as well.

I don’t know if the playoffs are realistic yet but I have a feeling we’re looking at a different Bobcats team. Gerald Henderson said they aren’t losers, and I want to see if that’s true. This season watch out for the Charlotte Bobcats, they might be on to something here.