Charlotte minority owner and managing member of basketball operations Michael Jordan may be the one known as a gambler, but it was Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins going all in on this one.
Stephen Jackson as resident savior? It was as much a sure thing as saying resident nomad Larry Brown will be the team's coach five years from now.
But Higgins went for the deal anyway, taking the disgruntled and mercurial Jackson from Golden State in a Nov. 17 trade that has indeed turned the Bob- kitties into Bob-tigers. Despite losing to Orlando on Saturday, they were 9-3 in 2010 and 18-15 since Jackson joined – good for a tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference and the very real possibility of the franchise's first playoff berth coming in its sixth season.
When it comes to the Bobcats' decision-makers, it's the jet-setting Jordan with the final say no matter where he is at the time, with Higgins and Brown weighing in throughout. But Higgins was the only one with a prior relationship with Jackson, meaning he had the best chance at weighing the risk against the reward.
Higgins was still the Warriors' general manager when Jackson was beloved in the Bay Area, when the 2006-07 team qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the regular season and pulled off an electrifying upset of Dallas in the first round. There was no guarantee this move could replicate that.
Jackson's trade demand early this season had included a desire to play for a winning team. And, as if Charlotte's history wasn't bad enough (it'd had 16 days of winning records in five previous seasons), the Bobcats were 3-6 at the time of the trade.
What's more, there was the matter of Jackson's contract – a combined $35.4 million owed from 2009 to 2013. Risk all around.
"I just said, 'Stephen, let's just try to treat this like a situation kind of like the one you just got out of, where you helped that (Warriors) club that hadn't been to the postseason in quite a few years get there,' " Higgins said of his conversations with Jackson immediately following the trade. " 'Come help this young ballclub, and we'll provide you with what you need.'
"With Larry and Michael and myself, we could manage him if we allowed the communication to be wide open. There's a risk in any trade you do, but he's what our team needed: another playmaker, another guy you could count on to score night in and night out. I thought it was the perfect fit."
It appears that way so far. Brown – the Hall of Fame coach who is no stranger to strong personalities or controversial characters – has the Bobcats ranked as the league's top defense in his second season with the club. Jackson and former Kings small forward Gerald Wallace form a fierce duo on the wings, both respected for their defensive dedication but more than capable on the offensive end as well.
Charlotte averaged 82.4 points through its first nine games, but 97.4 points in the 32 games since the trade. And Jackson – who has averaged 21 points (42.4 percent shooting), five rebounds and 3.5 assists while with the Bobcats – is far from the only player flourishing under Brown.
Higgins cited "the evolution of (fifth-year point guard) Raymond Felton" as a key factor. Down low, the Bobcats continue to defend the rim with a combination of starting center Nazr Mohammed and reserve 7-footer DeSagana Diop that has made up for the continued absence of Tyson Chandler (foot injury, out since Dec. 22) down low. All of which is evidence that marriage between the Bobcats and Brown is going quite well, too.
That hire had risk of its own in the summer of 2008, as Brown's debacle in New York led to a two-year exile of sorts from the league until his old North Carolina friend (Jordan) brought him in on a four-year deal. He was a relative success last season, as the Bobcats were in playoff contention until March and improved by three games from the previous season.
But much like the Jackson gamble, the well-chronicled past means the short-term solution is no guarantee of long-term success. What's more, Charlotte has quickly gone from a team building a young core to a veteran squad with no projected salary cap space until the 2011-12 campaign. For now, though, they will enjoy the payoff.
"With all situations, only time will tell," Higgins said. "You give (Jackson) the benefit of the doubt, continue to work with him and with us as a group and continually try to improve the team and get to that point where we're considered a very good team."
Playing well amid tragedy
Samuel Dalembert has been more than a humanitarian recently. The Philadelphia center is a good basketball player again, too.
Lost in the news of Dalembert's yeoman's efforts to help his homeland of Haiti after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake has been his Herculean play this month – on a relative basis, anyway. The upswing started before the disaster, as the third-year center entered Saturday averaging 11.3 points on an eye-popping 68.9 percent shooting.
Through December, Dalembert had been shooting 47.2 percent. His rebounding has seen a spike as well (12.6 per game), making his situation among the more intriguing heading toward the Feb. 18 trade deadline.
The question now is whether that makes him indispensable to the 76ers or easier to trade. Dalembert – whose production has never lived up to his contract that has a combined $24.9 million this season and next remaining – has reportedly been available for quite some time, and league sources continue to indicate the Kings have interest.
Yet, as is often the case, economics stand in the way of a deal. The Kings would surely look to shed some of their own future salary in such a trade, but the 76ers are committed to approximately $65 million in salaries with Dalembert.
Meanwhile, Dalembert said he's no longer looking to be traded like he was last season.
"I love the guys we have here," said Dalembert, who visited Haiti on a goodwill mission between games on Jan. 18 and Jan. 20 and has donated $130,000 to relief. "Last year I felt like my talent was being wasted. But if I can be on the floor and help out, I'm happy. Now it's about winning."
The 76ers have done more of that lately, winning seven of their last 13 games.
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