All Summer, Charlotte’s GM Worked Hard To Avoid This Situation. But, It’s Now On DJ Augustin To Lead The Bobcats

As the Bobcats sputtered through their first Playoff ride last spring, Charlotte fans seemed finished with former starting point guard, Raymond Felton. Despite the poor play of his understudy, DJ Augustin, the clamor over Felton’s contract expectations and Playoff stumble signaled the end of the love for the ex-Tarheel. The Bobcats made no effort to resign Felton, despite the lack of a viable replacement at the point guard spot.

Yea, it was the free-wheelin’ free agency season of 2010, so we all believed that the trade-happy Bobcats were surely gonna find someone to play the point better than any Bobcat before him.

Over the summer, Toronto had a deal worked out with Charlotte and Phoenix that would have delivered Jose Calderon as the new starting point guard for the Bobcats. Just before that trade agreement was finalized, the basketball gods interceded to notify Michael Jordan that he was about to make another boneheaded management decision. Quickly, that situation was diffused and Toronto was stuck with their oft-injured Spaniard. Still, we all knew that something was going to happen over the summer. Something had to happen, right?

The Erick Dampier trade seemed promising, until no other team showed the slightest interest in Dampier’s supposedly valuable $13 million non-guaranteed contract. It really seemed like the Bobcats were lining up their chess pieces for a masterful play, but then they just left the room, hopped on the sofa and turned on the Playstation.

Shooting Bricks In Free Agency

Last week’s “news” report about Devin Harris finding his way to Charlotte in the Melo-to-the-Nets swap was just enough to make me believe that Charlotte’s front office had set themselves up perfectly to take advantage of the messy circumstances that are inevitable in the NBA. Man, I was crazy psyched for that trade to go through. In my excitement, I high-fived fellow baseliner Deesdale, and even left a semi-drunken voice mail to Bobcats Baseline’s foreign correspondent, A.S. Chin. (He’s 12 hours ahead, so maybe he’d know when the deal was finalized – right?)

Then, we found out that the super-complicated, 4 team trade was crumbling and it was later reported that Devin Harris hated the idea of playing in Charlotte. So, it was back to the drawing board for GM Rod Higgins and Michael Jordan as training camp was set to begin. Last week, Larry Brown gave us the old “Larry Brown” routine and griped about the state of the roster during his first meeting with the media. The next day, he praised some guys for their hard work and conditioning, and so it goes…

Now, As It Stands – 6′ 0″

Today, we’re still wondering what the Bobcats are going to do to get an NBA starter-quality point guard? It looks like DJ Augustin is next up on the depth chart, but it’s clear that the team has scrambled all summer to avoid this situation. Can Larry Brown turn Augustin into a capable starter over the next few weeks? It was rumored that Larry Brown made the call to draft Augustin over Brook Lopez. How long can Larry try to justify that opinion before he sends DJ off, like so many past Bobcats?

Another way to consider this would be to ask – Can DJ Augustin turn himself into a true, starter-quality point guard in the next few weeks? The Bobcats have given the media some nice bits about DJ’s “confidence” and new assertiveness as a leader. Now that he holds the reins, it would be great to see DJ make huge strides as a player. Still, I have to wonder if he’s got what it takes to meet Larry Brown’s demands and the fans’ expectations.

– Mike

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