The Charlotte Bobcats are 2-6 in their last eight games, including an embarrassing (2nd) loss to the 6-54 New Jersey Nets, and their recently stagnant offense is to blame.  In those six losses, they averaged only 88.8 points and their top players like Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Raymond Felton, and D.J. Augustin all shot the ball poorly.  Wallace is averaging just 9.7 points in his last three games, Jackson has been turning it over too much and is shooting 41% during this eight game span, Felton is shooting 29% from the field in his last six games, and Augustin has hit only 22% of his shots in the last eight games.  Those are all some pretty pathetic numbers and these guys are the Bobcats best offensive players.  If the Bobcats are going to get themselves out of this funk and get into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, all of these players need to step up their game big time.

Tyrus Thomas has been playing well since joining the Charlotte Bobcats, but unfortunately for them it has not resulted in many wins.  The Bobcats are only 2-5 since Thomas joined the Bobcats, but you can’t put the blame on Thomas’ production on the court.  It may have to do with the Bobcats giving up a lot of depth at the guard position with Flip Murray and Acie Law gone.  Thomas has been more productive with the Bobcats than he was with the Bulls, and in 7 games with the Bobcats he is averaging 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, 1.4 assists, and 1.1 steals.  He is also shooting 52% from the field.  In 29 games with the Bulls this season he was only averaging 8.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.1 assists, and 1.4 steals.  He came off the bench in Chicago, just like he has been here with the Bobcats, and he is getting similar minutes (23 mpg in Chicago, 27 mpg in Charlotte).  This is a good sign for the Bobcats, but they need their guards to step it up.

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.