Charlotte Bobcats

This Isn't What Magic's Bass Expected

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By Tim Povtak 2/04/2010 7:10 PM ET

ORLANDO -- When he signed as a free agent this summer, power forward Brandon Bass thought he would become the final -- and very integral -- piece to help the Orlando Magic win a championship.

He has turned into the missing piece, all right. As in, missing from the lineup. The defending Eastern Conference champions have been moving forward mostly without him.

"I felt in my heart this was the right place for me,'' Bass said Thursday after practice. "When I signed, it just felt right – but it's not going right, (right) now. I'm not playing, and that's bad.''

Bass signed a four-year, $16 million contract this summer, rejecting a more lucrative offer to stay in Dallas, and other opportunities in New Orleans, Charlotte and Portland.

But instead of contributing, he mostly has watched others, playing in only 28 of the 49 games, averaging just 13.3 minutes, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 rebounds in a much smaller role than he anticipated.

The Magic wanted him for front-court depth, giving them a physical presence to help center Dwight Howard, an option beyond a lineup with mostly 3-point shooters.

It just hasn't happened.

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By Tom Ziller 2/03/2010 9:10 AM ET

Last summer, former Rockets exec George Postolos made a bid to purchase the Bobcats from fleeing founding owner Robert Johnson. It didn't work out, but rumors persisted that Johnson was ready to take bids. Well, Postolos is back and, according to ESPN's Ric Bucher, has an offer Johnson will accept. The hitch? Minority owner (and prez of basketball operations) Michael Jordan recently negotiated a right to match any offer. So the sale is on hold until the end of February, at which point MJ can match the bid, purchasing the Bobcats from Johnson, or allow Postolos to take over.

Complicating matters, according to Bucher, is that Postolos does not plan on keeping MJ in power. Given Jordan's total front office track record, that's not entirely surprising. Even the recent moves which have worked out -- namely, trading for Stephen Jackson -- might be the workings of Rod Higgins, Jordan's deputy, a man who was a part of the team that initially brought Jackson to Golden State. No one can ever really tell what exactly Jordan does in Charlotte. That's a problem when a team fails to make the playoffs repeatedly (though that ought to change this season).

No word on Postolos's purchase price, or who Jordan might recruit for backing. For reference, Johnson paid an expansion fee of $300 million to get into the league in 2004. Forbes lists the team's value at $278 million; the Bobcats are believed to have lost money in most if not all seasons of the team's existence.

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By Chris Tomasson 1/29/2010 6:00 AM ET

All Doug Moe could do was laugh when he heard about Friday's battle of septuagenarian set.

OK, so Don Nelson and Larry Brown don't actually turn 70 until later this year. But when they run into each other at Oracle Arena it will be the most years ever seen between opposing coaches in NBA history.

To be precise, Golden State's Nelson and Charlotte's Larry Brown will be a combined 139 years and 29 days.

"They're too old to coach,'' said Moe, the former NBA coach who battled both men in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. "I hope they don't fall asleep on the bench during the game. If I ever got to that age, I'd shoot myself.''

Uh, Doug, you're actually 71.

But Moe hasn't been an NBA head coach since he was 54. When Nelson, who turns 70 on May 15, and Brown, 70 on Sept. 14, were that age, they were barely halfway through their illustrious coaching runs.

Now, they will meet in a geriatric game.

Tomasson: Nellie Vows One More Year | Bobcat Wallace Deserve All-Star Nod
Povtak: Time for Nelson to Retire | Rankings: Charlotte 15th in Power Rankings

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By Chris Tomasson 1/27/2010 1:00 AM ET

Check out the 2004 Charlotte Bobcats expansion draft.

There was a Sampson. No, not Ralph. Jamal.

There was a Peja. No, not Stojakovic. Drobnjak.

There was a J.R. No, not Smith. Bremer.

But on that list of mostly forgettable names there was a Wallace. Maybe it wasn't Ben or Rasheed, but Gerald Wallace has a chance to go down as one of the all-time greatest picks in an expansion draft.

On Thursday, when East All-Star reserves are announced, it would be an injustice if Wallace doesn't hear his name called.

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By Tom Ziller 1/25/2010 9:05 AM ET

After last week's report out of Phoenix that Amar'e Stoudemire and Suns management would be talking extension with a potential midseason trade as the safety net, the inevitable has happened: reports that Stoudemire's camp and the only franchise he's played for are not close in negotiations. As such, reports Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Suns will be listening to bidders for Amar'e a bit more intently as we edge closer to the February 19 trade deadline.

Woj reports the Bulls, Heat, Nets and Sixers have approached Phoenix. The Arizona Republic's Paul Coro reported Sunday the Warriors and Cavaliers have also bid for Amar'e. All these clubs make sense ... but so do a few others.

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By Tom Ziller 1/23/2010 4:33 PM ET

There's only one month left in this season's NBA trade derby. With the biggest summer of free agency since 2000 coming up, there could either be tons of high-level activity ... or small moves only. Time will tell.

In the meantime, let's take a look at 10 players that, due to their contracts, health and/or quality, will be quite difficult to move at the deadline, no matter how badly their teams want to lose them.

You'll note there aren't any 2011 expiring contracts on the list. It's becoming clear at least a handful of teams will sit out Destination 2010 in hopes of taking advantage of a new collective bargaining agreement in 2011, so immediate cap space isn't as much of a concern as it was once thought to be. So Eddy Curry? Jared Jeffries? Dan Gadzuric? Count your blessings.

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By Brett Pollakoff 1/21/2010 8:00 AM ET

PHOENIX -- When it comes to this year's Slam Dunk Contest, Jared Dudley is in a unique position to handicap the field. As a member of the Charlotte Bobcats for the first part of last season, Dudley had two of the event's participants as his teammates: Gerald Wallace and Shannon Brown. And when asked who he thought would take home the title, he didn't hesitate when giving his prediction.

"I think the favorite for me would be Shannon Brown," Dudley said. "He's most people's favorite."

We've mostly seen Brown's in-game dunking abilities displayed this season, as a member of the Lakers. But Dudley saw plenty of Brown's dunks during practices with the Bobcats last year, and he was clearly impressed.

"Shannon used to come with some vicious stuff," Dudley said. "He can jump from the free throw line so easily."

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By Bethlehem Shoals 1/20/2010 2:45 PM ET

As one friend of mine said this morning, "Michael Jordan's appearance on The Jay Leno Show was so stupid, I can't even make jokes about it." He's right, which is why I'll leave the recap alone. If you haven't watched it yet, venture down below the jump; I saw it first at NESW Sports.

The reason I'm still stuck on this totally forgettable meeting of the minds is how perfectly these two men parallel each other. I'm trying to avoid an all-out gimmick post here. But what Leno's doing to late night with his bloodless coup is pretty much the same harm Jordan continues to inflict on the NBA.

One major disclaimer is in order: Jay Leno's actions are intentional, while MJ's hubris is only indirectly responsible for the harm he does. However, look at the two situations: In both cases, we have big names of the past mucking up the present and blocking the future, which only succeeds in making them look silly and preventing us from really appreciating their full importance.

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By Brett Pollakoff 1/18/2010 11:55 AM ET

Of the four players who will be competing in this year's Slam Dunk contest, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out all but one of the participants.

The league announced a "Slam Dunk-In" last Friday, the winner of which -- either DeMar DeRozan or Eric Gordon -- would earn his way into the event. The good folks at Nike effectively leaked the name of contestant number two, when they began a contest to design a shoe for Shannon Brown to wear in the contest -- you know, just in case.

The league's collective bargaining agreement requires the previous year's champ to defend his title, so Nate Robinson as contestant number three was virtually guaranteed.

With Dwight Howard bowing out and LeBron James continuing to back off of his bold declaration from last year that he would give it a go, the fourth and final spot went to the Bobcats' Gerald Wallace.

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By Rob Peterson 1/12/2010 3:15 PM ET

Welcome to the first Stinkface of 2010, good people.

Considering that we've entered the second decade of the 21st Century, it's probably appropriate that we start this edition of Stinkface with a term -- "The Bee's Knees" -- which dates back nearly 400 years. No wonder then, even with the most powerful of search engines, pinning down the origin of the idiom has been difficult.

There's the Shakespeare origin and the '20s flapper version. And then there's the contraction of "b's and e's" or the "be-all and end-all". Say it fast as the English do -- bees-n-ees -- and you get bees' knees. (Kind of like how the Brits contracted bottom into bum, which is very Stinkface appropriate.)

Whether you approve of the Bard's, the Betty's or the bastardized version, each comes to the same conclusion: bee's knees means the height of excellence. And it describes our first Stinkface of the new year courtesy of Miami's Michael Beasley.

The height of Beas' knees -- right in Boris Diaw's face -- after the jump.

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