NBA 2013-2014 season preview: Charlotte Bobcats
Cody Zeller
Last Season: 21-61 (Finished 14th in the Eastern Conference)
Prediction: 20-62
Key Losses: For there to be a “key” loss, there has to be a “key” player.
Notable Free Agent Signings: PF/C Al Jefferson, C Cody Zeller (drafted 4th in the 2013 NBA draft)
Oh boy. Shockingly, the Charlotte Bobcats weren’t the worst team in the NBA last season. But even though one other team did worse than them (Orlando Magic), if you ask any NBA fan which team they thought was the worse, I’ll give you 500:1 odds that they’ll say the Bobcats.
What a sad franchise; established in 2004 and owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan, the Bobcats have made the play-offs just once in their nine year history (2009-2010 season), and then followed it up by setting a NBA record for the worst season in league history (7-59, win percentage of .106 in the lockout-shortened season).
So how do I think the Bobcats will do this season? Well, if you look at my prediction, the answer is: not too well.
During the off-season, the Bobcats offered Utah Jazz player Al Jefferson a ludicrous 3-year, $40.5 million contract. While the 28-year old has established himself as a proven scorer and decent rebounder (a career 16 points and 9 rebounds a game), the man can’t play defence.
In fact, it seems as if he rarely jumps as he has earned a reputation around the league as playing flat-footed. However, you can see why the Bobcats did it as they hoped to add a semi-big name to a roster whose most notable player before the deal was arguably Kemba Walker or Ben Gordon. (Keep nodding your head with me if you think the Bobcats earn the Worst Franchise in the NBA award for the tenth consecutive season).
To top it all off, Jefferson will no doubt hamper the ability of draft pick Cody Zeller to develop this year as now Zeller has to play behind Bismack Biyombo and Jefferson. Speaking of draft picks, does anyone know why the Bobcats decided to pass up Nerlens Noel and draft Cody Zeller instead? No? Nobody? Zeller can certainly score, but the seven-footer could use a little bulking up, maybe 20 pounds, maybe 40. He isn’t explosive around the rim and while he can defend, he isn’t the shot-blocker Noel is.
With an elite defender in Biyombo already, a Noel/Biyombo combination would have been a great piece to build a roster around. Alas, our expectations were a little too high for the Bobcats front office this off-season; they will surely be in contention for worst team in the league this upcoming season and as Zach Lowe of Grantland puts it, “will stay bad enough to try the top-five lottery gods” again.