2009-2010 Finish: 41-41

What went bad

GM Xilca took a bold new direction with the Bobcats, blowing up a team that had long played together, sending off stalwarts in favor of a new shape. The GM played fast and loose, making enemies in the league as quickly as he traded away his squad. That Jerry Stackhouse trade would come back to haunt him as the new season began. He gave up Stack’s fat salary and both his picks to the Bucks for Amir Johnson and Shaun Livingston. Stack would negotiate a cheaper deal while Livingston would be off the roster before the season even started. A high price.

As the season began, the Bobcats inked franchise cornerstone Ben Gordon to a long-term, extravagant deal. They also retained the services of Aaron Gray and then sending him off to Utah with Keyon Dooling and Tony Allen for Andres Nocioni. These trade multiple player for one deals would eventually come back and haunt Xilca and are the main reason the franchise is in such a sorry shape today. Xilca continued his big spending ways, dropping nearly $7 million on FAs Marcus Williams, Coby Karl, Primoz Brezec and Rodney Carney. Do I need to add more?

The season began and the Cats seemed strong. Though Redd played in only 14 games before tapping out for the season, players like Nene Hilario, Jamal Crawford and LaMarcus Aldridge stepped up to play good ball. Then Xilca pulled another trade that would sink the team. Right before the deadline, he sent Gordon (who was NOT playing good ball) and Eric Maynor to the Kings for Lamar Odom and Marco Belinelli. The deal made no sense for either team and the Bobcats began to sink.


What went worse

Xilca became more and more erratic, benching Odom and starting guys like Carney and Belinelli. As the Nets began to surge, the Bobcats losses continued to mount. Finally, Xilca committed the ultimate offense to the city of Charlotte. As all hope appeared lost for his Cats, he quit before the season ended. Talk about a cowardly end to a terrible GM tenure. And yes, the Nets overtook the Bobcats and pushed them out of the playoffs.

Stars

- LaMarcus Aldridge, FC-

Aldridge’s stats took a step back this season, but he is still one of the best offensive bigs in the league. He scored 18.4ppg and hauled in 9.1rpg. Although he didn’t quite average the double double of the season before, Aldridge needs to work harder on asserting himself this coming season.


- Nene, FC –

A longtime Insider goat, Nene had a breakout season in Charlotte now that he is healthy. Forming a two-headed monster with Aldridge, Nene was part of one of the most fearsome frontcourts in the league, hitting 16.9ppg and pulling in 9.8 boards.


Goats

- GM Xilca –

Shame on you for abandoning your team and fans as the season took a turn for the worst.


- Michael Redd –

Redd’s 37ppg season in Charlotte is a thing of the past. This guy can’t stay healthy and is set to make more than $18mil this season. Rumor has it he will not play at all in 2010-11.


Looking to the future

The Bobcats are in a complete shambles and without a GM to fix the situation, things will only get worse. They have six players under contract (including the non-playing Redd) and less than $1 million left under the cap. Plus Aldridge is due for an extension that will pay him $10 million next season. While he, Crawford, Nene and Odom are great start four, the team needs more than four guys to compete. Keeping Amir Johnson is to their benefit as well, but is his $5 million pricetag worth it?

The problem goes back to Xilca and Redd. Redd is eating up so much cap space for another year, it will be impossible to do much until he is gone. And thanks to Xilca’s boneheaded moves, the team has no rookies coming in this season. So what to do? Use the MLE wisely. What about the BAE? Too bad. Xilca wasted it on Coby Karl. So it will be guys looking just to play that will fill out this roster. Unless the Bobcats gets a GM who deals one of the big money guys for some cheaper guys. I am glad I’m not a Bobcats fan right now.