The Bobcats have waived 32-year old small forward Jamario Moon.  Moon played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats last year and he averaged 15.4 minutes, 2.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Moon only shot 7 of 24 (29.2%) from the floor last year for the Bobcats.  He has now played in 286 games (157 starts) in his first five years in the NBA and he is averaging 22.6 minutes, 6.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  This is no loss for the Bobcats as they reloaded at small forward in last week’s NBA Draft.

The Charlotte Bobcats selected 23-year old small forward Jeffery Taylor out of Vanderbilt with the 31st overall pick (2nd round) of the 2012 NBA Draft.  Taylor is 6’7″, 225 pounds.  Taylor played in 36 games for Vandy last year and he averaged 32.1 minutes, 16.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Taylor played in 134 games in his four years in college and he averaged 29.3 minutes, 14.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Taylor will be backing up Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in his rookie season.

The Bobcats have acquired 29-year old shooting guard Ben Gordon and a lottery protected 2013 first round pick in exchange for 32-year old SG/SF Corey Maggette and a $1.3 million dollar trade exception.  If the Bobcats don’t get the Pistons’ first round pick in 2013, the pick is top 8 protected in 2014, #1 overall pick protected in 2015 and it’s unprotected in 2016.  Gordon played in 52 games (21 starts) for the Pistons last year and he averaged 26.9 minutes, 12.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.  He has now played in 594 games (269 starts) in his first 8 years in the NBA and he is averaging 29.9 minutes, 16.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.  Gordon is also a 40.6% shooter from three point range in his NBA career.  Gordon is going to challenge Gerald Henderson for minutes in 2012-13.

Corey Maggette played in 32 games (28 starts) in his only year with the Bobcats in 2011-12, and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 15.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

The Bobcats took on salary in this deal, but the pick they are getting from the Pistons was just too good to pass up.

The Charlotte Bobcats have hired 55-year old Mike Dunlap to be their new head coach.  Dunlap has spent 30+ seasons as an assistant coach, mostly in college basketball.  He was an assistant under George Karl from 2006-08 with the Denver Nuggets.  Karl gave the Bobcats a glowing review of his ex-employee.  His only experience as a division one head coach in college came last year at St. John’s.  He was an interim head coach (due to Steve Lavin’s cancer) and he led the Red Storm to a 13-19 record (40.6%).  He is known as a good teacher, and that might work well in Charlotte, where they are building the team from the bottom up.

The Bobcats have three restricted free agents to make decisions on.  First up is point guard D.J. Augustin.  He actually probably has some nice trade value, so he would be part of a sign and trade deal this summer.  The Bobcats would then give the keys to the offense to 2nd year point guard Kemba Walker.  Forwards Derrick Brown and D.J. White are guys the Bobcats might like to bring back, but only at the right price.  Unrestricted free agents Jamario Moon and Eduardo Najera have played their last games with the Bobcats.

68-year old head coach Paul Silas won’t be returning for the 2012-13 season for the Bobcats.  His contract has run out and it will not be renewed.  Silas led the Bobcats to an amazingly pathetic 7-59 (10.6%) record this year, setting a new NBA record for the worst win/loss percentage in league history.  Silas was 32-88 (26.7%) in his two years in charge with the Bobcats.  He won’t likely be getting another NBA head coaching gig anytime soon.  Silas is 387-488 (44.2%) during the regular season in his 12 years in charge and he is 13-16 (44.8%) in the playoffs.  Silas was the Hornets’ head coach in their last four years in Charlotte.

31-year old shooting guard Matt Carroll is going to opt in for the 2012-13 season for the Bobcats and his deal is worth $3.5 million bucks.  Carroll has played in 50 games (2 starts) for the Bobcats this year and he is averaging 11.6 minutes, 2.8 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  He has now played in 393 games (84 starts) in his first seven years with the Bobcats and he is averaging 18.4 minutes, 7.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Carroll is #3 in games played (393) in Bobcats’ history.  He is also #7 in rebounds (829), #9 in assists (300), #5 in steals (212), #3 in three pointers made (337) and #6 in points scored (2,919).  The fact that Carroll is so high up in the record books for the Bobcats shows just how bad they have been.  I don’t blame Carroll for picking up his option, but you know Bobcats’ management was hoping he would decline it.

The Charlotte Bobcats have signed 27-year old PF/C Darryl Watkins to a 10-day contract.  Watkins’ only NBA experience before last night came in 2007-08 with the Sacramento Kings.  He played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Kings in 2007-08 and he averaged 7.9 minutes, 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.  He made his debut for the Bobcats last night as he finished up with 2 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocked shots.  To make room for Watkins on the roster, the Bobcats waived PF Chris Johnson who has a concussion and wasn’t likely to play the rest of this year.  Johnson played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this year and he averaged 11.7 minutes, 3.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.

The Bobcats have signed 31-year old small forward Jamario Moon for the rest of the 2011-12 season.  Moon played in 59 games (20 starts) for the Cavaliers & Clippers last year and he averaged 17.7 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  He has now played in 278 games (157 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 22.8 minutes, 6.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  Moon will give the Bobcats a good effort off the bench when called upon.

The Charlotte Bobcats have bought out 29-year old forward Boris Diaw.  Diaw played in 37 games (28 starts) for the Bobcats this year and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.  He has now played in 260 games (251 starts) in his four years with the Bobcats and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 11.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.  Diaw shouldn’t be out of work long but the Bobcats will be better off without him because of his attitude.