The Bobcats took 21-year old, 6’1″, 172 pound point guard Kemba Walker with the 9th overall pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft last night.  Walker played in 41 games for Connecticut last year and he averaged 37.6 minutes, 23.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  Walker played in 111 games in his three years in college and he averaged 32.9 minutes, 16.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  It will be interesting to see how much P.T. Walker can get at point guard with D.J. Augustin ahead of him on the depth chart.

The Charlotte Bobcats picked 18-year old power forward Bismack Biyombo with the 7th overall pick in the NBA Draft last night.  The 6’9″, 243 pound Biyombo sure talks a good game as he has predicted that he will lead the NBA in both rebounds and blocked shots in the future.  Biyombo played in 28 games in Spain last year and he averaged 19.5 minutes, 7.7 rebounds, 5.8 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  Biyombo played in 78 games in two years in Spain and he averaged 20.8 minutes, 7.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  It will be interesting to see if Biyombo can back up his big talk or not.

UPDATE:  (12/16/2011) – Bismack Biyombo can’t get out of his contract with his team in Spain.  He will miss the 2011-12 season for the Bobcats.  This is a bad break for the Bobcats.

UPDATE II: (12/19/2011) – Bismack Biyombo has come to a buyout agreement with his team in Spain ($1.3 million bucks), which will allow him to play for the Bobcats this year.

The Charlotte Bobcats have acquired Corey Maggette from the Bucks and the #7 overall pick in tonight’s NBA Draft.  The Bobcats dealt 33-year old SG/SF Stephen Jackson and point guard Shaun Livingston to the Bucks and the Bucks dealt the #19 overall pick tonight to the Kings.  31-year old small forward Corey Maggette might step right into the starting lineup for the Bobcats.  He played in 67 games (18 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 20.9 minutes, 12.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  Maggette has now played in 777 games (450 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 28.6 minutes, 16.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. 

33-year old SG/SF Stephen Jackson played in 67 games (all starts) for the Bobcats last year and he averaged 35.9 minutes, 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Jackson played in 139 games (all starts) in two years with the Bobcats and he averaged 37.7 minutes, 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Jackson was the best offensive player for the Bobcats since the day he got to Charlotte, so he will be hard to replace.  Shaun Livingston played in 73 games (0 starts) in his only year with the Bobcats in 2010-11 and he averaged 17.3 minutes, 6.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. 

The Bucks also got 28-year old point guard Beno Udrih from the Kings in this deal.  The Kings got 31-year old SF/SG John Salmons and the #10 overall pick from the Bucks. 

The Bobcats are in full rebuilding mode now as they now hold the #7 and #9 picks in the first round tonight in the NBA Draft.

Starting power forward Boris Diaw has picked up his player option worth $9 million bucks for the 2011-12 season to return to the Bobcats.  Diaw played in 82 games (all starts) for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 33.9 minutes, 11.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.  Diaw has now played in 623 games (433 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 30.5 minutes, 9.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.  This was a no-brainer for Diaw as he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere  near $9 million bucks on the open market.

The Charlotte Bobcats are the owners of the #9, #19 and #39 picks in the NBA Draft.  The Bobcats could decide to package the picks  to move up, or they might decide to stand pat.  I think they should go with the picks they have.  They really need help at shooting guard and power forward and I can see them filling both of those holes in the first round.  SG Alec Burks and PF Tristan Thompson will both likely be available at #9 for the Bobcats.  I see them taking Burks if given the choice.  At #19, PF Kenneth Faried and SG Marshon Brooks could both be on the board.  I think Michael Jordan will see a lot of Dennis Rodman in Faried.  Faried would be an outstanding pick at #19 for the Bobcats.  With the #39 pick, the Bobcats would probably take the best player left on the board.

The Charlotte Bobcats will be busy trying to retain some of their own free agents this off-season.  First off, SF/PF Boris Diaw has a player option that he is no doubt picking up to return to the Bobcats in 2011-12.  The Bobcats would really like to keep center Kwame Brown but he’s going to have some suitors which will drive the price up.  It will be interesting to see how far Michael Jordan is willing to go money wise to bring his boy back in 2011-12.  Young PF Dante Cunningham, who came over in the Gerald Wallace deal last year, is a restricted free agent.  As long as the price is right, I think the Bobcats will match an offer to keep him around in 2011-12.  SG Garrett Temple is a restricted FA and I don’t see the Bobcats bringing him back.  SF Dominic McGuire and C Joel Przybilla are unrestricted free agents that the Bobcats will likely let walk away.