Charlotte Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats are looking to rebuild from their shortsighted playoff run in 2010 that left them with bloated contracts and a very limited upside. Firing a disinterested Larry Brown last fall and hiring Paul Silas as head coach instituted some major changes, especially as Brown preferred an incredibly slow pace while Silas wants to bring the Bobcats more uptempo. After trading the team's best two players in Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson, they went through a ton of upheaval. Acquiring a ton of young talent and trying to shed salary, they received some draft picks, which helped the Bobcats get two top-ten draft picks, which turned into Bismack Biyombo and Kemba Walker.

To sum up the roster, it's a mediocre supporting cast lacking a star scorer. That adds to a modest supporting cast, including D.J. Augustin, a newly-acquired Corey Maggette, Gerald Henderson, Tyrus Thomas, Boris Diaw and some other role players. Augustin was a solid starting point guard with the 6th best assist to turnover ratio (among point guards playing in 40+ games and 30+ mpg, according to HoopData.com). Gerald Henderson is an up-and-coming defender with offense that needs much development. His midrange jump shot is the most consistent part of his offense as he has no long ball and no post game.Tyrus Thomas is a strong, energetic rebounder and a good defender with athleticism enough to play either the 4 or the 5. His midrange jumper goes in more often than not, but he relies on it too much and makes poor decisions with the ball in his hands. Thomas also needs to stay healthy, as he only played 41 games in the 2010-11 season. Moving on, Boris Diaw has always been a multi-talented forward, but his motivation is never not in question. When assertive, he's a triple-double threat as he has great range on his shot, an array of post moves, and he is a good passer. But too often he resigns to living on offense just to make fancy passes. His defense is underrated, though he will hardly ever get blocks and struggles guarding the uber-athletic forwards, like Blake Griffin.

The team has major weaknesses as far as big men, though Biyombo could alleviate that. But more than that, there are major doubts with how this team can score. There are also a good many contracts holding the team back, in the form of Corey Maggette, Matt Carroll and DeSagana Diop. However, the Bobcats made a huge move in hiring former Portland general manager and Seattle/Oklahoma City assistant GM Rich Cho. Although I wouldn't expect this team to be competitive for a couple seasons, things are looking up for the franchise as it looks like they've embraced a youth movement to focus on achieving sustainable success.

-Ben Swanson