25-year old starting point guard Raymond Felton will never be the kind of guy who can carry a team to the promised land. But, not being a pure pass-first point guard is a good fit for the Bobcats. Felton has played in 63 games (all starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 32.7 minutes, 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The Bobcats don’t have a lot of outstanding offensive players on the team so it doesn’t hurt that Felton wants to make sure that he gets his points every night.

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 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.

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.