Off-Season Grade: Charlotte Bobcats

Tonight begins the Charlotte Bobcats’ preseason schedule against the Atlanta Hawks, making this a great time to look back at an eventful offseason.

Free Agency

All discussion of the Cats’ free agency must start with the signing of Al Jefferson. Big Al is undoubtedly the biggest signing in the history of this young expansion franchise. But the signing brings with it a few question marks as well: Was it too much money? Does this signing come a year too early with an incoming draft class expected to be one of the best in recent years? Is this a move toward mediocrity or building for the future?

Al signed a contract worth $41 million dollars over 3 years, which is undoubtedly quite a lot, but the other top 5 free agent centers (Dwight Howard, Nikola Pekovic, Andrew Bynum and Tiago Splitter) earned contracts worth $13.845 million per year. This average is actually more than Al’s per year number by about $200,000. Al also signed for the shortest amount of time among this group aside from Andrew Bynum (for obvious reasons). With all these details in mind I find the money and the length both satisfactory for the Bobcats, as they needed a strong frontcourt player more than any other team in the league, and got one of the best available on a market-value deal lasting only three years. Also, any free agent signing that made the amnestying of Tyrus Thomas necessary is a win.

Still, this ignores the issue of this upcoming year’s draft position, which many believe will not be low enough thanks to the addition of Big Al. Strangely enough, these are the same people who were critical of the amount paid to the big man. If Al Jefferson is good enough to take the second worst team in the league and improve their record to the point of picking outside the top 8, wouldn’t paying him $13.6 million per year be considered a steal?  I’m just trying to point out that you can’t be upset about both, he’s either too good for a team trying to gather picks and thus worth the cash, or he’s not worth the cash and the Cats still pick high in the first round. The Cats are set to deal with the possible lack of high pick better than other teams, as even if they move up too far in the standings, they own two other first round picks to use for trading up (which could both be in this upcoming draft). In all, it’s a defeatist attitude to critique the signing based on anything other than the player’s impact and fit on the team compared to the contract signed.

The Cats also made the shrewd resigning of Gerald Henderson at a criminally low rate of $18 million over 3 years. Henderson is a still-developing part of this team who plays great defense and helped Kemba Walker carry the scoring load last year, though he needs to improve his shooting and ball handling. This contract was great for both sides as the Cats got a player they didn’t want to lose for an affordable amount, and Gerald Henderson can opt out after the second year if he outplays this contract.

The lesser known signing of Anthony Tolliver and the resigning of Josh McRoberts add frontcourt depth and flexibility. McRoberts showed a lot of heart and effort on a terrible team last year and earned his reasonable two year deal.

The Cats, being the Cats, had to somewhat overpay for their best free agent signing, but got a talented player at a position of need.  But, they also resigned a restricted free agent for once (and didn’t overpay), plus locking up depth at thin positions.

Overall Free Agency Grade: B+

Draft

Cody Zeller has had somewhat of a roller coaster affair with the fans of Charlotte in a short span. His selection 4th overall in the 2013 NBA draft was booed by fans immediately (No, not in Charlotte!?), as flashy players Nerlens Noel and Ben McLemore were still on the board.  Predictably, Charlotte fans changed their tune after a stellar (dibs on the nickname “Stellar Zeller”) summer league performance by the Indiana big man. Zeller was the most athletic big man at the Draft Combine, posting a decade high no-step vertical for players over 6’9’’, as well as finishing top six (among all players, not just big men) in agility testing. There will continue to be questions about Zeller’s strength and ability to bang with stronger NBA bigs, but the Cats intend to combat this by playing him as a stretch four. They hope that utilizing his speed, athleticism, and shooting ability will keep him from having to make a living on the low block.

The Cats stuck to their guns and got the guy they wanted, who thus far appears to be the real deal.  They could have improved this grade if they had traded back and still got their guy, but you know, In Cho We Trust.

Overall Draft Grade: A-

The Bobcats had one of the more exciting offseasons in their young history, signing their best-ever free agent, drafting a talented young player at a position of need, and retaining one of their best players at a fair price.  They could have got Al for less and Zeller later, but this does not take much off their final grade.

Overall Grade: B+