The Numbers
- NBA Rank: 26
Conference Rank: 14 
Charlotte Bobcats
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.
Lewis Carroll
The Brief
Since Jordan bought into the Bobcats, they've fought their way to the bottom of the league. Last season they "only" finished with the second worst record in the league. Based on their offseason, they stand poised to "only" be the second worst team in the east. At this rate, the Bobcats will be a playoff team in another decade. Eighth seed, here we come!
The Story
Apparently, Michael Jordan decided that if he was going to be a bad owner he was damn well going to be the Michael Jordan of bad owners. A really tall order when faced with such luminaries as James Dolan, the Maloofs and Donald Sterling. Never fear though, his Airness is wearing his Hanes ™, and is up to the task.
Last Year
| Player | Minutes | Age | WP48 | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kemba Walker | 2859 | 23 | .098 | 5.8 |
| Bismack Biyombo | 2186 | 21 | .062 | 2.8 |
| Gerald Henderson | 2133 | 26 | .047 | 2.1 |
| Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | 2025 | 20 | .102 | 4.3 |
| Ramon Sessions | 1652 | 27 | .060 | 2.1 |
| Ben Gordon | 1560 | 30 | -.086 | -2.8 |
| Jeff Taylor | 1507 | 24 | .049 | 1.6 |
| Byron Mullens | 1428 | 24 | -.047 | -1.4 |
| Brendan Haywood | 1162 | 34 | .003 | .1 |
| Josh McRoberts | 802 | 26 | .134 | 2.2 |
| Jeff Adrien | 713 | 28 | .086 | 1.3 |
| Hakim Warrick | 482 | 31 | -.086 | -.9 |
| Reggie Williams | 380 | 27 | .086 | .7 |
| Tyrus Thomas | 360 | 26 | -.149 | -1.1 |
| Jannero Pargo | 292 | 34 | -.005 | -.28 |
| DeSagana Diop | 226 | 31 | .006 | .03 |
| Cory Higgins | 32 | 24 | -.176 | -.1 |
| Matt Carroll | 6 | 32 | .017 | 0 |
Indicates that the player is no longer with the team.
Last season, the Bobcats had two players that were above average: Josh McRoberts and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Barely. The moves the Bobcats made were remarkably bad. They bailed Joe Dumars and Detroit out of Ben Gordon's terrible contract. They waived Borris Diaw, which allowed Popp to revive his career on the Spurs. MKG was a good draft pick, but it's hard to rest your entire team on the performance of one rookie. Looking at the Bobcats sub-par roster makes it hard to find any signs of hope.
This Year
| Player | Position | Minutes | Age | WP48 | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kemba Walker | 1.1 | 2835 | 23 | .088 | 5.2 |
| Al Jefferson | 4.9 | 2747 | 29 | .080 | 4.6 |
| Gerald Henderson | 2.4 | 2426 | 26 | .057 | 2.9 |
| Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | 3.3 | 2012 | 20 | .127 | 5.3 |
| Cody Zeller | 4.0 | 1935 | 21 | .038 | 1.5 |
| Bismack Biyombo | 4.8 | 1555 | 21 | .080 | 2.6 |
| Ramon Sessions | 1.4 | 1363 | 27 | .113 | 3.2 |
| Ben Gordon | 1.9 | 1188 | 30 | -.026 | -.6 |
| Josh McRoberts | 4.2 | 972 | 26 | .148 | 3.0 |
| Jeffery Taylor | 2.0 | 788 | 24 | .055 | .9 |
| Anthony Tolliver | 3.7 | 665 | 28 | .077 | 1.1 |
| Jannero Pargo | 1.1 | 519 | 34 | -.028 | -.3 |
| Jeff Adrien | 4.2 | 391 | 28 | .076 | .6 |
| Brendan Haywood | 5.0 | 277 | 34 | .063 | .4 |
Indicates that the player is new to the team.
The Bobcats have seemingly built a plan around tanking. Like much of the internet, they haven't gotten the memo that this strategy is poor. It's not just that they wasted a top four pick on Cody Zeller; to make up for this mistake, they went out and grabbed Al Jefferson, who despite scoring lots of points, is not a very effective center. What does it say about him that we think his former team will improve without him? Given his age and history, we expect Big Al to bring his game down to the level of the Bobcats. Kidd-Gilchrist should improve, Sessions and McRoberts may bounce back, and we like Kemba -- just not as your lead guard.
And in the end, the Bobcats will still be hoping the lottery balls bounce their way.
Projected playoff lineup: MJ was going to fill this out but decided golfing was a better use of his time.
The Wrap
A mere four seasons ago the Bobcats celebrated their first playoffs. Since then, Jordan has systematically dismantled the team. It's impossible to improve if your team keeps signing bad players, and the Bobcats stand poised to keep this tradition going. The question will be if Jordan has the gall to bring this up in the next lockout.
The Second Opinion Arturo is phoning this one in MJ style
My model has the cats at 29 wins. The Vegas over/under is at 27.5. In general, this is a really bad sign. The Bobcats do have the fifth youngest projected roster in the league and some hope for improvement, but they have a front office and ownership group that have shown themselves to be incapable of identifying talent. If this team ever improves it'll be despite itself.