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 will be without 23-year old forward D.J. White for a while (6-8 weeks) due to recent surgery on a fractured thumb. White has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 9.0 minutes, 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. The Bobcats won’t miss White too much as they weren’t playing him much anyway.

The Bobcats will be without starting center Tyson Chandler for at least a week with a stress reaction in his left foot. Chandler has played in 25 games (all starts) this season for the Bobcats and he is averaging 25.7 minutes, 6.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. The Bobcats will start Nazr Mohammed at center while Chandler is out of action. This should help the offense of the Bobcats as Mohammed is a much better player than Chandler on that side of the court. He has played in 27 games (2 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 13.5 minutes, 7.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Bobcats should be fine until Chandler is ready to return to action as Mohammed is a very capable back-up.

Starting shooting guard Raja Bell has a partially torn ligament in his left wrist. If it requires surgery he will miss most of the 2009-2010 season. The Bobcats then would likely have to decide between shifting Raymond Felton to shooting guard and playing him alongside with 2nd year man D.J. Augustin at the point. Or if they don’t want to go that small they can leave Raymond Felton as the starting point guard and play first round pick Gerald Henderson at shooting guard. All three of those players are capable of playing well which will cushion the loss of Bell but they will still miss his defense.

The Bobcats will be without Gerald Wallace indefinately due to a serious concussion. He has played in 50 games (49 starts) this season so far for the Bobcats. In those games, Wallace has averaged 39.0 minutes, 20.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Bobcats miss the all out effort that Wallace gives on both sides of the basketball court in addition to his talent.