Larry Brown is the NBA’s nomad as all he does is move to new cities every couple of years and turn his new team into a winner. Brown led the Bobcats to a 35-47 (42.7%) record in his first season there. With Emeka Okafor traded off to the Hornets for Tyson Chandler, Brown has his work really cut out for him this year. Brown has a career regular season record of 1,045-847 (55.2%) and he is also 189-100 (52.9%) in the post season. Brown lead the Detroit Pistons to a NBA Championship during the 2003-2004 season. Brown will have done a great job coaching this team if he can win as many games as he did last season but that won’t be easy.

The Bobcats expect defense and rebounding out of their centers and that’s likely all they are going to get out of them. 27-year old Tyson Chandler will be the starter for the Bobcats this season. He played in only 45 games for the Hornets last season and he averaged 32.1 minutes, 8.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. 27-year old DeSagana Diop has almost no offense game to speak of but he is a solid rebounder and defender. Diop played in 75 games for the Mavericks & Bobcats last season in which he averaged 13.8 minutes, 2.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. 32-year old Nazr Mohammed will be #3 on the depth chart for the Bobcats this season at center. He played in 39 games for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 8.7 minutes, 2.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Mohammed could get some playing time at power forward also this season. 21-year old Alexis Ajinca had a rough rookie season for the Bobcats last year. He played in 31 games for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 5.9 minutes, 2.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.1 assists per game. Ajinca will have a hard time getting playing time this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CENTERS IN 2009-2010: C-

The Bobcats will be going with undersized Boris Diaw at power forward this season. The 27-year old Diaw has a solid all around game but he will get pushed around under the basket. He played in 81 games for the Suns & Bobcats last season in which he averaged 34.0 minutes, 13.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Diaw is a solid all-around player on offense and he is probably the best passer at his position in the NBA. Rookie 2nd round pick Derrick Brown out of Xavier appears to be #2 on the depth chart heading into this season. The Bobcats were elated to see him available in the 2nd round as they projected him to be a first rounder.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: C-

The Bobcats look solid at small forward for this season. 27-year old Gerald Wallace is the starter and he is solid at both ends of the basketball court for the Bobcats as he plays all-out all of the time. He played in 71 games for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 37.6 minutes, 16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. The only weakness in Wallace’s game is that he is a tad injury prone but that is due to his playing style and the Bobcats aren’t about to ask him to change how he plays the game. 28-year old Vladimir Radmanovic will back up Wallace this season. He played in 78 games for the Bobcats & Lakers last season in which he averaged 18.5 minutes, 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Radmanovic is a much softer player than Wallace and he only really plays hard at the offensive end of the court. 27-year old Stephen Graham will likely be the #3 small forward this season for the Bobcats. He played in 52 games for the Pacers last season and he averaged 13.2 minutes, 5.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SMALL FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: B+

33-year old Raja Bell is back to start at shooting guard for the Bobcats this year. He is a defensive player first but he’s o.k. offensively. Bell played in 67 games for the Bobcats and Suns last season in which he averaged 34.6 minutes, 11.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The Bobcats just signed Flip Murray last week to back up Bell and he’s a offensive minded player. Murray played in 80 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 24.7 minutes, 12.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. 21-year old Gerald Henderson was the Bobcats’ first round pick in the NBA Draft (#12) last June. He will likely be brought along slowly as his game mirrors that of Bell.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SHOOTING GUARDS IN 2009-2010: C