No, this is NOT another CBA article. We all know what's happening, and that would be that nothing's happening. We're talking about our team, The Charlotte Bobcats. There are many ways to rebuild a struggling team.  Lots of times all of us here on Trade Street will get into email discussions about the team and its players.  This article is actually a branch out of this discussion.  I posed the question:  If we could sign Shannon Brown, who opted out of the last year of his contract, should we sign him?  We all know we could use a bigger body/3^rd option at PG, and a nice 2^nd/3^rd option at SG.  Shannon Brown would be a great fit because he would fill the need for both.  He can handle the ball fairly well, and he’s taller than our current PGs.  He’s a nice compliment to Hendo and Carroll and adds a great deal of athleticism to the back court.  Oh, if only we could sit down with Mr. Jordan and have this discussion… 

He may laugh at us…he may hire us…who knows…

Read on Trade Street faithful – This is how the email went down:

 

TSP Andrew:

Shannon Brown opted out of his contract and is a free agent...would you guys want to sign him as a combo guard backup at the PG/SG position?  He’s 6'4", 210lbs., and only 25 years old.  He would fit the youth movement, and fit the bill at the “young vet” status.  What do you guys think?

TSP Bryan:

Well, we certainly need depth at the wings but I'm lukewarm on the idea.  He'll probably want $4-5 million a season and given where the Bobcats are headed, I'm not sure it fits our plans.  I wouldn't go more than 2 years if we did it.

TSP Andrew:

That's true, and I would imagine he's probably going to be looking for more than 2 years.  I’d still not be against offering a 3 year deal if we could get him for that $4-5mil per.  We’ll do something with Diaw and Najera at some point I’m sure.  A lot of it will depend on whatever happens with this lockout.  I guess priority one should be to have Kwame signed back, unless someone knows of a different cheap center to bring in (Lord knows we’re thin at center otherwise).

I need to see if Gana Diop is on Twitter.  I'm curious how the Achilles is, and if he'll be able to touch the court when the lockout ends.  If he was as serious about rehabbing it and getting in shape as he was last summer, he may have to serve as that large body under the basket.  We would still need to try and find a 1 year corpse to fill in as a 2nd option, with Biz as our “rookie prospect” that will moonlight between PF and C. 

TSP Matt:

I think Kwame is going to resign with us 100% regardless of whether or not he's offered more money in other places.  The article about his confidence on Rufus on Fire says it all. I think he'll be with us for a while.  He's shown that he can play extended minutes. If we get Diop healthy and playing pre-injury/post-LB, we'll be good to go.  I assume Bismack will get minutes at 5, but as long as we have two other C's then it'll be more experimental than a necessity. Playing Bismack at the 5 makes our awkward situation at the 4 a little more clear.  We need to start Tyrus and have Dubz (DJ White) off the bench.  Rotating Bismack with those two occasionally.  Imagine against a smaller team like the Raptors. We could run a fast paced game with Tyrus and Bismack in the game.  Did you get the invitation to the block party? 

TSP Andrew:

I really hope you're right about Kwame.  I believe that he is quite serviceable. 

TSP Matt:

Regardless of the amount of games we win, this team will be something that the fans haven’t been able to say on a consistent basis: Entertaining!

We have a young, explosive PG that people KNOW in Kemba Walker. We have a young, super athletic, shot blocking/rebounding machine in Bismack Biyombo.  We have Gerald freakin’ Henderson, who I fully believe will become a well known name around the NBA by the end of whatever season we end up having.  All this and I haven’t even mentioned DJ Augustin who is an instant offensive threat when he’s on the floor.  Man, I just realized how awesome it would be if we had room for Reggie Evans on this team. Think about how many of Corey Maggette's mistakes he would clean up on the offensive glass!

TSP Andrew:

You made mention of Reggie Evans cleaning up the boards off of Maggette misses.  If you were to look at the Bobcats in years past; what if we would have had a Dennis Rodman and/or John Salley type player?  Jax could have thrown up prayers all day, and it would have been ok if they missed because someone would have been around the basket to "clean up".  If you're a weak shooting team, you need excellent rebounders, and we've not really ever had that.  We've always had poor shooting, but that poor shooting wouldn't always have to result in low scoring.  It could often result in high rebounds and many points in the paint.  Look at the T-Wolves.  Would Kevin Love put up the numbers he had on a team that could shoot the lights out?  It is possible, but not as likely because when shots are going down, there is no rebound to get.  Kevin Love would probably just be awesome at something else, but I digress.

If a team has great shooters, then it needs 1 or 2 guys that are just shut down defenders.  I look at our team now.  Hendo has a smothering defense, and if you bounce out to YouTube and search...eh, forget searching:

Hendo – He looks to have really improved his range and squaring up to the basket on his shots.

Matt Carroll – Matt had an awkward wind-up on his shot in the past (like squatting to the floor before he springs up and releases his shot), but it would appear that he has quickened his release and his shot looks like it has improved.  His shot was decent before, so an improvement by our current #2 option shooting guard is very welcome.

Matt Carroll, Gerald Henderson, Derrick Brown, Jamison, etc – All I can say on this one is that it is a pretty cool 3 point drill, and I wish we still had Derrick Brown.

 

Hendo has worked on extending his range, which needed to be worked on, and his range of motion in the video looks great since having the corrective surgery on his hip.  His movement and speed will improve with every day of practice and playing that he has.  If our shutdown defender has added some shooting range, and Matt Carroll has improved his to become a better offensive player, then we can be positive for whenever we do play.  We had defense in a good spot to begin with, and the rotation of Boris to Tyrus (translation is that Tyrus should be starting over Boris unless we are showcasing Boris for a trade) and playing Biz, defense and rebounding will be good to go.  Then you can sprinkle in Kemba and DJ, who are both offensive threats, to improve our scoring.  If Hendo and Carroll have improved, and Tyrus is studying his game and he's going to think more instead of being his reckless self.  I honestly believe that we're going to be better than what everyone thinks we are.