The trade that brought shooting guard Stephen Jackson to the Bobcats earlier this season was a stroke of genius as they got a good player for pretty much nothing. Jackson has played in 48 games (all starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 40.7 minutes, 21.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game. The Bobcats were a good defensive team when Jackson came over in the trade but he has really helped boost the offense which will give them a good chance of making the playoffs this year.

The Bobcats are suddenly a veteran team making a run for the playoffs. That has caused Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown to get a lot of bench time this year. SG/SF Gerald Henderson has played in 29 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 7.7 minutes, 2.4 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game. He is only shooting 33.8% from the floor and that’s not good enough to get him off the bench. Brown has been better than Henderson so far this season. The forward has played in 41 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 11.3 minutes, 4.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Brown will also likely be buried on the bench with the addition of Tyrus Thomas last week.

Power forward Tyrus Thomas and center Theo Ratliff are both making good first impressions with the Bobcats. Thomas has played in 2 games off the bench for the Bobcats so far and he is averaging 28 minutes, 10.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 5.0 blocked shots per game. Larry Brown wants to start giving Thomas even more minutes but he hasn’t learned the whole offense yet which makes his numbers even more impressive so far. Theo Ratliff has played in 2 games off the bench for the Bobcats so far and he is averaging 15.0 minutes, 1.0 point, 2.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Bobcats wanted to improve the defense and rebounding in these two trades and they look to have been successful so far.

The Bobcats could decide to move Gerald Wallace to small forward and start Tyrus Thomas at power forward. That would improve the defense and rebounding of the team. If they decide to go that route then Boris Diaw will be the sixth man which was a role he filled so well with the Suns as he played all five positions on the court. Diaw has played in 52 games (all starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 35.4 minutes, 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. The Bobcats might decide to bring Diaw off the bench because they traded Flip Murray to the Bulls. Murray was instant offense off the bench and Diaw is a better player than him. Or the Bobcats could just bring Tyrus Thomas off the bench and leave Diaw in the starting lineup. Time will tell what the Bobcats decide to do.

The Bobcats have acquired 36-year old center Theo Ratliff from the Spurs. The Spurs wanted to just get rid of his salary so they pretty much gave him away for nothing. Ratliff played in 21 games (3 starts) for the Spurs this season and he was averaging 8.7 minutes, 1.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He has now played in 772 games (507 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 25.7 minutes, 7.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 2.5 blocked shots per game. The Bobcats wanted to improve at rebounding the ball and playing defense and I believe they did with the two trades they made today.

The Bobcats have acquired 23-year old power forward Tyrus Thomas from the Bulls for 30-year old shooting guard Flip Murray, 25-year old point guard Acie Law and a future first round pick. Thomas has played in 29 games (3 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 23.4 minutes, 8.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.7 blocked shots per game. Thomas has now played in 254 games (95 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 20.3 minutes, 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Thomas will likely start at power forward for the Bobcats which would make Boris Diaw the sixth man. Flip Murray played in 46 games (1 start) for the Bobcats this season and he averaged 21.6 minutes, 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Acie Law has played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Warriors and Bobcats and he has averaged 7.1 minutes, 3.4 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. I love this trade for the Bobcats who might just pass up the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Standings thanks to Tyrus Thomas.

Michael Jordan, the greatest player to ever play in the NBA, wants to become the greatest owner.  Jordan already has part ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats, but he wants to be a bigger part of the Bobcats franchise and as the majority owner he can do that.  The current owner, Bob Johnson, wants to sell the club.  Although Jordan apparently already has the final say when it comes to basketball decisions, he is not really a big member of the franchise and he is not at the forefront of the team in the offseason, practices, or even games.  Jordan not only has an obvious great knowledge of the game, but he also has incredible passion and competitiveness.  Jordan was the key reason that Hall-of-Fame coach Larry Brown joined the Bobcats, and I think he could do great things for the franchise.  Of course he has to try and make a profit for the franchise, but you would have to think Jordan’s competitiveness and drive would come in to play and he would always try and put a successful, winning team together.  The NBA Commissioner, David Stern, expects Johnson to sell the club within the next few months.  Jordan is not the only one interested in becoming owner, as George Postolos also has expressed interest for months now.  Postolos was recently an executive with the Houston Rockets and has worked in the NBA for years, including a stint working for Stern himself.  I would love to see Jordan get the team and see if the things that made him great as a player can correlate to him becoming a great owner.

Charlotte Bobcats point guard Raymond Felton has been an impact player since his rookie campaign in the 2005-’06 season where he averaged 11.8 points, 5.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.  Felton really stepped it up in his sophomore season, and has played pretty consistently since then.  In those three seasons he has averaged around 14 points, 7 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals.  Felton’s numbers are down this season, and they are more like his rookie numbers with averages of 12.1 points, 5.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals.  Felton’s minutes are down about 5 minutes per game as compared to the last three, so that is a big reason why.  I say he is playing his best basketball though, as he is shooting the ball much better than he ever has and is averaging a career high in steals (1.7) and a career low in turnovers (2.2 per game).  He is shooting 45.3% from the field and 40.4% from three.  His previous career highs in shooting percentages was 41% from the field in ’07-’08, and 35% from three in his rookie season.  The Bobcats should start giving Felton more minutes, not less.  Felton did sprain his ankle during practice yesterday, but it doesn’t seem to be too serious and is a game-time decision tonight against Washington.  When Felton is healthy, he should be on the court as much as possible.

The Bobcats have lost 21-year old 7-foot center Alexis Ajinca for probably the remainder of the season as he will be in a cast for the next six weeks after thumb surgery earlier today. Ajinca has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats so far this season and he is averaging 5.0 minutes, 1.7 points and 0.7 rebounds per game. This is terrible timing for Ajinca as he was going to start getting some minutes for the Bobcats who are really hurting in the frontcourt right now.

The Bobcats are looking for a veteran big man to help the team and they are dangling 2nd year point guard D.J. Augustin as trade bait. Augustin is having a terrible year for the Bobcats as he has played in 46 games (0 starts) in which he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game on 35.8% shooting from the floor. But, teams might look past his horrible stats this season because of how well he played as a rookie last year. In his rookie season, Augustin played in 72 games (11 starts) for the Bobcats and he averaged 26.5 minutes, 11.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He also shot 43.9% from three point range last season which is outstanding. Trading Augustin does carry a risk as he can make the Bobcats sorry they traded him down the road.