The Charlotte Bobcats have acquired shooting guard Stephen Jackson in a trade with the Golden State Warriors.
In exchange, the Bobcats sent guard Raja Bell and forward Vladamir Radmonovic to the Warriors.
Jackson had more than worn out his welcome in Golden State after repeatedly criticizing the head coach.
It’s an interesting deal for the Bobcats considering that head coach Larry Brown is notoriously stingy when it comes to acquiring disgruntled players.
There is no questioning Jackson’s talent, and he could have a positive impact on the Bobcats if he can just play his game.
Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 6:41 pm by steve
BREAKING NEWS: The Charlotte Bobcats have acquired G/F Stephen Jackson from the Golden State Warriors, along with guard Acie Law, in exchange for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic.
The Warriors have been silently shopping Jackson ever since he demanded a trade in the preseason, despite his career-best year last year. In the 2008-09 season, Jackson averaged 20.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.5 assists, making him one of only four players in the NBA to average those gaudy stats. The other three? Guys by the name of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Paul.
But the Warriors decided Jackson’s presence in the locker room could be toxic and weigh down a team of youngsters, and thus, they shipped him to Charlotte in exchange for a defensive stopper in Bell.
Charlotte’s offense is averaging an NBA-low 82.4 points per game and had been desperately searching for a spark to their offense. They’d been mentioned as contenders for Jackson (behind Cleveland, the Texas teams, and the N.Y. Knicks), but they remained intent on keeping versatile big man Boris Diaw out of trade talks.
“I know Stephen, he loves to play, and we’ve got to make it work out — and I’m confident it will,” Charlotte head coach Larry Brown told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan. “Stephen gives us a lot of flexibility, but we lost a lot. Raja’s probably as good a defender as there is in the league at his position, and tough, and Vlade was an unbelievable teammate. But you make a trade and hope it helps your team, and you hope it helps the other team, too.
“We are struggling, we can’t score,” Brown added, “but one of the reasons we’re struggling was because Raja and Flip [Murray] were out and missed a lot of time, and Tyson [Chandler] and Boris basically missed all of preseason. Those are four key guys, plus we didn’t have rookie camp or summer league, so our rookies are a little behind. So there’s a lot of factors, but yeah, we have had problems scoring the ball. We’re defending well, but we just can’t make a shot.”
Jackson’s agent, Mark Stevens, told ESPN.com: “This is what he wanted, a new start, and this gives him a chance to compete. Plus, he’s a huge fan of that team’s president, Michael Jordan.” Stevens also mentioned that Jackson is expected to be dressed, in uniform, for the Bobcats’ game against the Orlando Magic tonight.
Monday, November 16, 2009 at 11:23 pm by bryan
Early in the season, no team seemed able to match the offensive woes of the Charlotte Bobcats. That’s because they hadn’t run into the New Jersey Nets yet.
The Bobcats and the Nets squared off in one of the lower-scoring games NBA fans will be treated to this season, as the ‘Cats finally got their gears going in the second half and rolled the Nets, 79-68.
Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace had a career breakout night, with 24 points, 20 rebounds, four steals and a block, as the offensively-challenged Bobcats managed to limit the Nets to scoring zero points in over a ten minute span between the third and fourth quarters.
“Larry Brown, he says I should get every rebound that comes off the rim,” Wallace said. For what it’s worth, Charlotte out-rebounded the Nets, 51-33.
The Bobcats started off slow, getting down to an early deficit but managing to stay in the game because of New Jersey’s offensive ineptitude (or because of the Bobcats’ stellar defense… something tells me it’s the former, though). After halftime, things got rolling for the Cats, as the Nets shut down completely right when Wallace was waking up for his career night.
“One time I looked up and we were 6-for-38 [from the field] and we were down 11,” Bobcats coach Larry Brown said. “I kept telling them if we didn’t defend we’d lose by 40.”
Point guard D.J. Augustin scored 21 for the Bobcats, who have managed to score less than 80 points in three of the four games they’ve played so far. Somehow, they’ve turned that into a 2-2 record, and they welcomed back guard Raja Bell from a wrist injury to earn their second win against the Nets.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 8:09 pm by bryan
Bobcats shooting guard Raja Bell plans to delay surgery on his wrist and start tonight against the New Jersey Nets.
Bell, who has a partially torn ligament in his left wrist, opted to try and play with the injury instead of going with a surgical option, which could take up to four months to recover from. He went through a shootaround yesterday, and coach Larry Brown plans on starting him, despite the fact that he hasn’t made it through a full-contact practice yet.
“It’ll be an adventure, but I feel pretty confident about it,” Bell said. “The passing, the dribbling, the rebounding and stuff is OK. I’ll try to protect it a little bit as best as I can until I get some practices. But when you feel like you can get out there and help, in any capacity, it’s kind of time to go.”
Bell should provide an immediate boost to the Bobcats (1-2), who have started the season as the NBA’s lowest scoring team. With backup SG Ronald “Flip” Murray out due to a stress reaction in his left shin, the shooting guard position for the Bobcats has provided huge problems offensively and defensively so far. Murray may make his season debut on Friday against Atlanta.
Bell averaged 13 points and four rebounds last season after being traded from Phoenix to Charlotte in December. He provided the Bobcats with a 42 percent shooter from three-point range to stretch defenses, yet he was also considered Charlotte’s best defensive threat.
And if the injury flares up?
“If it starts to hurt,” Bell said, “then I’ll deal with that when it happens.”
Monday, November 2, 2009 at 10:35 pm by bryan
