2011-2012 Finish: 25-41

Season Highlight

For a 25-41 team, there isn't many highlights. However, towards end the month of April, Charlotte reeled off 6 wins in 7 games, including wins against Milwaukee and Boston.

Season Lowlight

This is a tough one. Was it the losing streak of 11 out of 12 games, with a 7 straight game losing streak? Or how about the 46 point loss at home against the Mavericks? Both are good choices, but we will go with the multitude of trades over last season made by the Bobcats. Sure, there were a few good ones, but most were headscratchers for Bobcat fans. Some of the trades were highway robbery that had the receiving GM sending thank you cards and Christmas baskets to GM Loose.

Let's look at some of those bad trades:

- Delonte West for Sean Williams and GM points

- Leandro Barbosa for Jermaine O'Neal GM points and a 1st rounder

- Marcus Morris and a 1st rounder for Ryan Anderson and GM pts

- Trevor Ariza, LaMarcus Aldridge, Mychel Thompson for Delonte West, Marc Gasol, Omer Asik, Chase Budinger

- Kawhi Leonard for Marcus Morris

Sure, there can be arguments for these trades, but if you look at what he gave up for what he got, GM Loose was clearly on the wrong end of these ones. Yes, the Bobcats did make some good trades and even a great one or two, but the overall consensus was that you could get over on Charlotte when talking trades.

Best Trade

Moving Nene for John Salmons, Iman Shumpert and a 1st rounder was the shrewdest trade we saw the Bobcats make. And they made A LOT of trades. Nene increased his scoring after leaving the Bobcats, but Nene makes $13 million a year. Salmons and Shumpert make almost $10 million combined, and they combined for over 30 PPG also. That's double the scoring for $3 million less.


Worst Trade

There can be plenty of arguments, but we keep coming back to the trade with the 76ers that saw Trevor Ariza and LaMarcus Aldridge head North along with Mychel Thompson. Charlotte did get Marc Gasol back, along with Delonte West, Omer Asik and Chase Budinger. It looks close to even on paper, but Gasol doesn't do as much as Aldridge did for the Bobcats. West was hurt and never played a game for Charlotte before he was traded away. Budinger is decent, but Salmons and RJ are better players, so he is relegated to bench duty. Asik has already been traded. In addition, Charlotte gave up Ariza, who was shooting 44% from 3, and scoring almost 14 PPG.

Honorable mentions go to the trade for Ryan Anderson and trading away Barbosa.

Other Notable Trades

The Anthony Randolph trade was another trade we felt the Bobcats did well on. They sent Toney Douglas and Samardo Samuels to GS along with the 1st rounder they got in the Nene deal, but got Randolph and a 2nd back. Randolph became the star of the team, so moving 2 contributors and a pick to get your star is a fair enough trade.

Best FA Signing

Nene - Nene had health issues early for the Bobcats, but he also only scored 11.3 PPG. Keeping that in mind, the Bobcats traded Nene and got Salmons, Shumpert and a 1st rounder in return. Salmons and Shumpert combined for over 30 PPG. Not a bad return on investment!

Worst FA Signing

Juwan Howard- Only Williams had less points per game, but he also played half as much time as Howard. Juwan averaged 10.5 minutes a game, and scored 2 points per game. Now that is just pitiful!

Star

Anthony Randolph - PF/C - Let's be honest, Randolph is the star of this team by default. Before the multitude of trades the Bobcats made, LaMarcus Aldridge was the clear cut star of this team. He was averaging almost 21 points per, and getting over 2 blocks per game. All that being said, Anthony stepped into the star role and performed admirably for the Bobcats. His stat lines were 18.2 PPG, 8.4 REB, 1.8 AST, 1.5 STL, 1.1 BLK. For a player always talked about for potential over actual ability, Randolph was delivering on his projections in the NLL last year. Losing him would create a huge void in the Bobcats lineup. Plus, we are curious to see how he and Gasol would play together for an entire season.

Surprise

John Salmons - SG - Salmons came over in the trade with the Jazz that saw Charlotte surrender Nene. During his 8 game stay with Charlotte, he started all 8 games, and doubled almost every one of his statistical categories. He also shot 53% from behind the arc. If Salmons plays like this all next season, I think Charlotte will be set at the SG position.

Goat

Ryan Anderson - PF/SF - Anderson had a breakout season in the NBA, but it just didn't translate in the NLL. Ryan struggled with scoring, only averaging 8.0 per game and 4.6 rebounds. Keep in mind that Charlotte also gave up Morris and a 1st rounder for Anderson, making Ryan's contributions look even more paltry.

Draft Report Card

The Bobcats took Kendall Marshall in the 1st round (#12 overall) and Marcus Denmon in the 2nd (#51 overall). Unfortunately, Denmon headed overseas to cash in quick, so only time will tell if he will play in the NBA. Marshall is a different story. He was a guard at North Carolina that blew up come tourney time and saw his stock rise as a direct result. Kendall had a rough time in the summer league, but gradually showed improvement as the league progressed. Unfortunately, we have gotten an early rumor that his rating will be a 65 in 2k13, so unless he starts strong this year, he's probably going to be coming off the bench limited minutes early on.

Looking to the Future

Charlotte has Mark Gasol signed for 3 more years and John Salmons for at least 2. Aside from that, they are thin on able bodies. They have RJ, Dahntay, Budinger and Shumpert all signed for next year. Hopefully, they can resign Randolph, O'Neal, Anderson and Duhon. They better hit free agency hard. Gasol is a solid piece, but is he good enough to build a franchise around? The rookies don't look like they will be ready to contribute immediately, either. If Shumpert can handle the point, that would be a big assent. However if he can't, if they can get a floor general and some good outside shooting, they could make some noise. We don't expect that the Bobcats will make the playoffs next season.

Upcoming Free Agents

Anthony Randolph (RFA), Ryan Anderson (RFA), Sebastian Telfair, Chris Duhon, Ben Uzoh (RFA), Juwan Howard, Kyrylo Fesenko, Jermaine O'Neal, Xavier Silas.

Some of these players can walk and would not hurt the Bobcats, even with them only having 6 roster spots currently filled. (7 if Marshall signs). However, decent big men are at a premium, so Charlotte should be focusing on resigning Randolph, Anderson and O'Neal. Duhon is a solid backup PG, and could be pressed into a starting role if Shumpert can't lead.