Bobcats trying to leverage for Okafor, threatening to take Juwan...

Or rather, they could trade him. Not sure if they could just dump his salary.

 

<a HREF="http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/basketball/nba/charlotte_bobcats/8980924.htm">Bobcats trade up to No. 2: Expansion team expected to land Okafor or Howard in Thursday's NBA </a>

<i>There are two prizes in Thursday's NBA draft, and now the Charlotte Bobcats know they're getting one of them.

The Bobcats have traded up to the Los Angeles Clippers' No. 2 spot, assuring the chance to draft Connecticut's Emeka Okafor or Atlanta high school star Dwight Howard. Bobcats coach/general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said he'd be thrilled to add either one.

In return, the Bobcats will send their first- and second-round picks (Nos. 4 and 33 overall) to the Clippers, plus take on the contract of Clippers forward Predrag Drobnjak in today's expansion draft. Drobnjak, an underachieving 6-foot-11 forward, will make $2.55 million next season and $2.77 million the following season.

Bickerstaff loved Okafor all winter, at one point spending five days on Connecticut's campus to watch him play and practice.

That doesn't mean Bickerstaff would be disappointed if Howard, a gifted 6-11 forward, were the one available. Bickerstaff is intrigued by Howard's uncommon ball-handling skills for a player of his length. He is often compared to superstars Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.

"We would be pleased starting our basketball team with either one of those young men," Bickerstaff said Monday. "I think they represent what we'd like to become in terms of the character, the competitiveness and the talent."

This deal will cause some scrambling in an already busy day for the new franchise. Tonight the Bobcats will announce a minimum 14 veterans they'll choose in the expansion draft -- each off a different NBA team. This morning, both Okafor and Howard will visit the Bobcats for job interviews -- not workouts -- so Bickerstaff and Co., can size up their personalities and motivations.

Okafor said recently he finds workouts silly, since he built such a strong resume in leading the Huskies to the NCAA championship. Friday he worked out for the Orlando Magic, which has the No. 1 pick, in part to dispel concerns about the back injury he suffered over the winter.

Bickerstaff said the new team's medical staff cleared Okafor's back, following a league-wide physical in Chicago.

Howard also worked out for the Magic and hoped that his hometown Atlanta Hawks would trade up to the Clippers' pick in order to take him. Last week Bickerstaff spoke with Howard's father, who said his son would be happy to play in Charlotte.

Although Bickerstaff is most impressed with Okafor, a rugged 6-10 shotblocker, it's no lock that the Magic also prefers him. Bickerstaff has heard that Magic officials are vacillating over the decision.

Bickerstaff said he'll contact his counterparts in Orlando, but expects to hear only "misinformation" about their intentions. Bickerstaff said he'd consider compensating the Magic if that team would flip-flop the top picks.

All that is still speculation. The certainty is the Bobcats have the second pick and Drobnjak, a three-season veteran from Serbia-Montenegro. By early Monday evening the NBA's Web site, nba.com, had already affixed a Bobcats logo to Drobnjak's profile page.

He didn't do much for the Clippers last season, averaging 6.3 points on 39 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from three-point range.

"He likes to shoot the basketball," Bickerstaff said. "It's hard to make predictions about the future, but it's up to him. He'll get an opportunity to come in. ... We do understand the things he can do, and we'll be pulling for him to succeed."

The Bobcats will select at least 13 other veterans today, and Bickerstaff reiterated that he'd stay away from high salaries and long-term contracts in the process.

For instance, Bickerstaff denied reports that the team would select Dallas forward Antoine Walker (one year, $14.6 million) or Cleveland point guard Kevin Ollie (four years, $12 million plus).

Bickerstaff said the expansion draft could involve three or more side deals, in which the Bobcats are compensated for selecting a player, not selecting a player or trading a player on to another team.

The Observer reported Saturday that the Bobcats have a deal in which Charlotte would get a future first-round pick and cash from the Phoenix Suns in return for taking the final season of center/forward Jahidi White's contract.

White will make about $5.9 million next season.

The Suns "are trying to clear (salary) cap space and we seem to be the facilitators," Bickerstaff said Monday. "We're receptive if it's good for us."

Stanford forward Josh Childress appears to be a casualty of the Bobcats-Clippers trade.

A prime candidate had the Bobcats stayed at No. 4, Childress worked out for the team for the second time Monday and expressed hope they would take him.

Although the Bobcats lost their second-round pick in the Clippers transaction, it's possible they will add one or more picks in Thursday's draft during today's business.

Sources say Bickerstaff is high on Saint Joseph's point guard Jameer Nelson, who figures to go somewhere in the middle of the first round.
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Not sure how he got this but, even so, Charlotte has said they expect to select 18 players tomorrow in the expansion draft and there is only 11 on this list. They ARE REQUIRED to take at least 14.

 

I think the Bobcats are just posturing - and from what I have read, despite his lackluster 2st year, Gaines would be a better fit than Stevenson in JVG's system. Stevenson is a bit of a "streetballer" - Gaines is a bigger PG/SG type

http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/reecegaines.htm

 

Actually a couple of nice prospects on the list. How will announcement of their pix be done? Is this to be on TV or just Ticker/crawler?

Will there be an unofficial official announcement about TMac/SF before the date it can become official?

 

Expansion draft is being televised tonight on NBA TV (6 pm Central, IIRC).

Evan

 

I'd much rather have Gaines for the long term.

 

Stevnson had a chance in Utah and was a bust - I would never rule out a top 15 pick that had to play on the worse team in the league in his first year. Even JVG haters might agree that he is good at getting more out of a certain kind of player

 

Mr Right On a/k/a Hangin' Chad Ford reported a Bob expansion take list today without either Pike or Ollie on it.

 

The Bobcats have said they are not taking on any big contracts, which is Howard. If they want to take the risk on him and think the Magic will give up a #1 for him, let them.

Grey said it won't kill the deal, it will just have to be re-worked.

 

its Gaines (the tall PG) not Howard that is exposed

 

Anyone find it weird that a guy who had an average of 1ppg 1rpg might be holding everything up?

Anyways, does anyone know why this trade can be done before Steve's BYC is up?

 

The deal may not be official until Steve's BYC is up, which I believe is July 1st.

 

its a little strange, but the guy can play (he was a decent college player). Unfortunately he was drafted by the Magic - had to play for two coached, never developed within any kind of system, and now needs a trade to help him get his career started.