Michael Jordan's trying to win games these days. Not on the court, but from behind a desk with a phone as his main tool instead of a basketball. As the main puppeteer of the Charlotte Bobcat's roster activity, Jordan has a lot on his plate these days. After last year's first round pick (#3 overall), Adam Morrison, struggled to come off the bench at the end of the season, Jordan was feeling pressure to find help right away this year.
Jason Richardson was a 20-plus per game scorer just two seasons ago (23.2 ppg). After being slowed with injury this last season, Richardson re-emerged in the playoffs to help the Warriors push past the one-seeded Dallas Mavericks. At only 26 years old, "J-Rich" still has plenty of juice in him to help the Bobcats push to playoff contention. In addition, he should complement the young roster of defensive-minded players by providing a scoring leader and athletic wing.
Charlotte's current roster features Richardson, power forwards Emeka Okafor and Sean May, point guards Raymond Felton and Brevin Knight and perimeter guard/forwards Adam Morrison and Matt Carroll.
One of the team's best players last season, Gerald Wallace, is a free agent this summer and may be asking for more money than the Bobcats will be willing to spend. If he does not re-sign with the team, Richardson may start at small forward with Matt Carroll playing at shooting guard.
In exchange for Richardson, the Bobcats sent its number eight pick, which was used to select Brandan Wright from the University of North Carolina, to the Golden State Warriors. The deal frees up significant cap room in order for the Warriors to go after a big name free agent, like perhaps Rashard Lewis of the Seattle Supersonics, or in order to have cap room available for when rising stars Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins ask for contract extensions.
Some consider Wright (6-9 205lbs) to be the third best prospect in the draft. Yet, because he's also considered to be more of a project than a player who will contribute right away, he slipped all the way to pick number eight. Many experts compare him to Chris Bosh. He's a freak of an athlete and should fit in well with Don Nelson's run-n-gun system.
The Golden State Warriors also drafted Italien guard Marco Belinelli, who may be the best pure shooter in the draft. The Charlotte Bobcats used pic number 22 on do-it-all small forward Jared Dudley.
