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.

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 currently have no picks in tomorrow night’s NBA Draft. I look for that to change though as it has been known that a lot of teams are willing to sell their picks. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see the Bobcats move point guard D.J. Augustin tomorrow night as he was a huge disappointment for them last season. Trading Augustin would be risky business however as Raymond Felton is a free agent and a lot of teams will be interested in him.

The Bobcats selected another solid and experienced player in Derrick Brown of Xavier. Brown played three years at Xavier appearing in 106 games in which he averaged 10.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Brown will be a back up on the Bobcats this season but he could develop into more than that down the road.

The Bobcats got themselves another good athlete when they selected 21-year old shooting guard Gerald Henderson with the 12th pick in the NBA Draft last night. Henderson played in 103 games in three years at Duke in which he averaged 12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Henderson is a player with a good motor as he always plays hard especially on the defensive end of the floor. This was a good pick for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats made a smart pick here as Kyle Weaver is a talented 22 year old shooting guard. He is 6’6″, 201 pounds so he has nice size and he has a decent all around game despite not excelling in any one area. Weaver played in 121 games (103 starts) at Washington State and he averaged 9.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Look for Weaver to get some minutes off the bench backing up at shooting guard as a rookie but he might do a whole lot more in the future.

The Bobcats wanted to add a big body but there was a lot better left on the board at #20 than Ajinca. Ajinca is 7’0″, 220 pounds but he doesn’t play big as he’s a tad soft. Ajinca played in 28 games (0 starts) in the pros overseas and he only averaged 4.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. This was a poor pick for the Bobcats who are a team that can’t afford to waste draft picks.

The Bobcats likely drafted D.J. Augustin to light a fire under current point guard Raymond Felton. They are different types of players as Augustin is a pass first point guard. Augustin is a small guy at 6’0″, 180 pounds but he’s lightning fast with the basketball in his hands. He played in 73 games (all starts) at Texas in his career and he has averaged 16.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Augustin push Felton right to the bench.