In real life, Jordan knows it’s not that easy to upgrade the
roster. Not with a salary cap, luxury tax and a balance sheet full of red ink.
Jordan’s first full season as majority owner of the
Charlotte Bobcats begins next week after an offseason that saw point guard
Raymond Felton leave in free agency, center Tyson Chandler dealt essentially
for cap space, and two potential trades to improve the backcourt fall apart.
It’s left uncertainty and depth issues as coach Larry Brown
begins his third season charged with getting Jordan’s club back to the playoffs
while playing in the same division as the superstar-filled Miami Heat and
powerful Orlando Magic.
“We’ll be OK,” Jordan said. “Obviously, we don’t have the
marquee three All-Stars, but we’ve got a good young nucleus with something to
build upon.”
Buoyed by a trade early last season for Stephen Jackson ,
the Bobcats rode the eccentric Captain Jack and All-Star Gerald Wallace to a
44-38 record and the franchise’s first playoff appearance. But not long after
Jordan bought the team, Orlando quickly ended Charlotte’s season with a
four-game sweep in the first round.
Soon the salary cap-strapped Bobcats made no attempt to keep
Felton, who signed with New York. They also traded Chandler, acquired last year
for Emeka Okafor , to Dallas for Erick Dampier and his $13 million,
non-guaranteed contract.
The Bobcats couldn’t find another taker for Dampier and
waived him. It got the Bobcats below the $70.3 million payroll threshold that
would have triggered the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax — something Jordan said
he wouldn’t pay — but made journeyman Nazr Mohammed the starting center.
D.J. Augustin is now the starting point guard after a poor
sophomore NBA season. That’s because deals for Toronto’s Jose Calderon and New Jersey’s
Devin Harris collapsed after extensive talks.
“I’m always looking to better the scenario if any other
All-Star point guards become available,” Jordan said. “Sure, I’d be willing to
talk but as of right now I’m happy with what I have.”
The good news is Augustin is having an impressive preseason.
After acknowledging his confidence was shot last season, he’s making better
than 50 percent of his shots, something Charlotte never enjoyed with the
poor-shooting Felton.
“He’s in much better shape. He’s much stronger and quicker
than he was,” Brown said of Augustin. “He’s got to facilitate more and the only
way that’s going to happen is for him to be more aggressive offensively. But
I’m sure that’s going to come. He’s had a terrific preseason.”
Wallace, who averaged 18.2 points last season and made the
NBA’s All-Defensive team, thinks Augustin’s shooting prowess will boost a team
ranked 28th in scoring in 2009-10.
“It’s totally different because D.J. spreads the floor,”
Wallace said.
Behind Augustin is uncertainty. Shaun Livingston is
returning from a devastating knee injury in 2007 and has missed most of the
preseason, and Sherron Collins is an undrafted rookie.
The Bobcats are in good shape at the wings with Wallace and
Jackson, who averaged 21.1 points with Charlotte. Boris Diaw , involved in both
the Calderon and Harris trade talks, could see his playing time reduced after
the athletic Tyrus Thomas signed a five-year, $40 million deal.
Mohammed provides an offensive spark. There are questions
behind him with newly signed Kwame Brown (ankle) missing the preseason.
“We’ve made progress in a lot of areas, but we’ve got a lot
of progress still to be made,” said Brown, who flirted with leaving in the
offseason. “Under the circumstances with the new people we have and all the
injuries, I think we’ve done as well as can be expected.”
But it may not be enough to get Charlotte into the
postseason as it plays in the same division as LeBron James , Dwyane Wade and
Dwight Howard ?
Jordan has made 13 trades involving 35 players since gaining
control of basketball operations in 2006. Since the ownership change in March,
the Bobcats have sold 2,000 new season-ticket packages and gained 45 new
sponsors as Jordan seeks to make the franchise profitable for the first time.
With those folks to please and with the impatient Brown
seeking reinforcements, the team that hits the floor Oct. 27 at Dallas may not
be the finished product.
