Larry Brown just took the job as the coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. This will be his 9th NBA team he has coached, not counting NCAA or ABA teams. He last coached the New York Knicks, which was a complete disaster. It proved that a team full of 2-guards can’t compete in the NBA. Charlotte isn’t a bad job to take, even if the team has never made the playoffs. He will only end up staying there a few years, so he will expect a quick turnaround.
Charlotte had its best overall season this year, but it wasn’t good for Michael Jordan, who runs the team. The team has Adam Morrison (who was hurt the entire year), Emeka Okafor, and Gerald Wallace as their cornerstones to build around. The team will get a pretty good lottery pick in this year’s draft, but could be better off by trading it for some veteran help. Brown has a track record of not being “rookie-friendly,” and he will be hard-pressed to try and find some vets via free agency. The team is full of Wooden Award winners, but they haven’t played at a high-level together. The addition of Jason Richardson last summer helped the team on the offensive end, but with Adam Morrison being on the shelf all year, they should be a pretty explosive duo next season.
I’m going to make a bold prediction that the Charlotte Bobcats will make the playoffs next season. They were only a few games out of the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference this year and I look for a few veterans to sign this summer. Who knows, maybe they can swing a trade for Allen Iverson and maybe he’ll even practice.