Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler, Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace – they were four of the most important players on the Bobcats’ lone playoff team ever (in 2010). None of them are here anymore.
Gerald Henderson is here, however – the Bobcats held a press conference for him Monday after Henderson re-signed with the team. He’s guaranteed to be in Charlotte through the 2015 season, but his third contract year can be voided at his option.
That’s not a perfect situation, but it beats the alternative. Henderson and Kemba Walker were the Bobcats’ two best players last season. They both will return, and the team has added several other key pieces – most notably first-round pick Cody Zeller and big man Al Jefferson, who was the most expensive free-agent acquisition in team history.
Henderson spoke Monday of being “part of the problem” the last two seasons – meaning he signed his name to that combined 28-120 record (worst in the NBA the past two seasons) just like everyone else on those very forgettable squads. Now, the shooting guard said, he wants to be part of the solution.
“Charlotte has become like a home to me,” Henderson said. “… You go through anything tough, it’s easy to kind of give up on it and say you want to move on…. But we need to find our way out of it.”
Henderson, who averaged a career high 15.5 points last season and increased that to 23.9 points over the season’s final 21 games, said he will continue to work to make himself a better three-point shooter.
“That’s where the game has gone,” said Henderson, who has long been known as a slasher with a decent but not spectacular outside shot. “….That’s the direction our team is going too. I’m just going to have to roll with that… It’s always my nature to try to get closer to the basket, but my game has to evolve.”
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2 comments:
I don't know if it's fair to list Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson in the not-much-compensation category. We got two first round picks for Wallace which wasn't a bad deal. For Jackson we moved up from pick 19 to pick 7 plus got Cory Maggette. You can debate if Biyombo was was worth taking at 7, but a rebuilding team trading a player near the end of his career to move up 12 spots is sound logic. Maggette was later traded for Ben Gordon and another first round pick.
In a couple of years you might be writing that the compensation we received from those two deals paved the way for a bright future for this franchise...
Henderson has proved to be one of the better choices that Jordan has made. I can see him being a leader on this team as well as the newly acquired Al Jefferson.
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