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Bobcats pin hopes on Duke's Henderson
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Published: June 26, 2009
CHARLOTTE - North Carolina's most famous basketball star turned to archrival Duke in hopes of giving the Charlotte Bobcats the boost they need to reach the playoffs for the first time.
The Michael Jordan-led Bobcats selected shooting guard Gerald Henderson with the 12th pick in last night's draft, putting aside that fierce college rivalry to give Charlotte an athletic, defensive specialist.
"It's something about our blood that makes it very hard to choose a Duke player," Jordan said, smiling. "But this is a business.... The thing that we saw in Henderson was he's a very capable player who provides us with a lot of different opportunities."
In Charlotte's second draft teaming Jordan, and Coach Larry Brown -- a fellow North Carolina alum -- the Bobcats filled a glaring need. Henderson, who averaged 16.5 points a game as a junior last season, will start as Raja Bell's backup.
Bell, who turns 33 before the start of next season, was plagued by injuries in the second half of last season and the Bobcats had no clear alternative after numerous in-season trades.
"He was injured quite a bit for us last year down the stretch. I think that really prohibited us from making that strong push for the playoffs," Jordan said of Bell. "We felt like if we could secure that a little bit it would put us in a better position to try to finish off the season."
In the second round, the Bobcats selected forward Derrick Brown of Xavier with the 40th pick. With the 54th pick, Charlotte took Robert Vaden, a guard from UAB.
The Bobcats went into the night weighing several options with their first-round pick, including moving down in the draft. Charlotte had targeted Henderson and fellow shooting guard Terrence Williams of Louisville, bringing in each player for two pre-draft workouts. Williams went to New Jersey with the 11th pick, clearing the way for Henderson.
Jordan acknowledged that the choice was between those two players and said if both were gone at No. 12, they would have entertained offers to give up the pick.
"We probably would have traded down," Jordan said last night.
Henderson, whose father is former NBA player Gerald Henderson Sr., has been criticized for making just 33 percent of his 3-point shots in college. But Henderson provides the defensive intensity that Brown craves.
"I think it'll be a good situation for Gerald to learn from Raja and not have pressure on him right away," Brown said. "I think he has a big upside. He's really athletic and kids that are athletes that have a good ethic and want to get better have a real good chance.
"We had trouble when the ball got on the floor and loose balls like that. I think with his athleticism, he can do that."
While Henderson will probably have to wait to be a starter, he's expecting no wait in catching plenty of grief for being an ex-Blue Devil playing for Jordan and Brown. "They are my bosses now, so I'm going to have to put up with them," Henderson said. "It'll be fun. I know I'll be getting all the Tar Heels stuff every day, which is very unfortunate."
As Henderson is eager to learn from Bell, Jordan can only hope that Henderson distances him from previous draft gaffes.
Jordan's reputation as an executive was sullied by his choice of Kwame Brown No. 1 overall when he ran the Washington Wizards and selecting Adam Morrison No. 3 overall in his first draft in Charlotte in 2006.
Morrison was traded last season, one of three major trades that the Bobcats made to shape the roster to Brown's liking.
The Bobcats won 35 games last season under Brown, but failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's five-year history.
Charlotte also needs help at power forward. The position became thinner earlier this week when the team decided not to extend a qualifying offer to impending free agent Sean May.
Derrick Brown could help with Charlotte's rebounding. He averaged 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds as a junior with the Musketeers last season.
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