Bobcats got Ajinca, which took everyone by surprise

CHARLOTTE - Alexis Ajinca seems to be a pleasant enough fellow, based on first impressions.

He bears some facial resemblance to Brandan Wright, the former North Carolina forward that the Charlotte Bobcats drafted last June and promptly traded to Golden State. And he's long and lanky like Wright, only longer and lankier at 7-0, 220 pounds with a 7-8 wingspan.

It was clear yesterday that Ajinca was still a bit overwhelmed by the reality of being selected by the Bobcats with the 20th pick in Thursday night's NBA Draft.

And why shouldn't he be?

There were plenty of others around the NBA and in the Carolinas who were stunned when the Bobcats called Ajinca's name, too. You could have gotten really good odds in Las Vegas for betting a daily double of D.J. Augustin and Alexis Ajinca as the Bobcats' two first-round picks.

Ajinca averaged five points and 3.1 rebounds for Hyeres-Toulon of the French Pro A League as a 19-year-old last season, playing just more than 10 minutes a game in 24 games. He showed promise on various French junior teams, but that remains his calling card. Promise. Raw, undeveloped talent.

"I wasn't sure where I would get drafted," Ajinca said at a news conference introducing the Bobcats' three newest additions yesterday.

So what were the Bobcats thinking?

Why would they trade next year's first-round pick to Denver on Wednesday to acquire the No. 20 pick in this draft and then use it on a project who had nights last season when he hardly got off the bench in a French league?

The answer is that they found themselves in a bind by the time the 20th pick rolled around, and so they chose to roll the dice on a center that may or may not pan out.

They went into the draft intent on coming away with help at point guard and center.

They couldn't pull off a trade that would have sent Gerald Wallace to Toronto for point guard T.J. Ford, so they made the corporate decision to draft a point guard first and wait and pick a big man with the 20th pick. They selected Augustin, the best pure point guard left, at No. 9 and passed over the top-rated center in the draft, Brook Lopez.

Had they taken Lopez at No. 9, the best point guard remaining at No. 20 would have been Kansas' Mario Chalmers, who dropped all the way to the second round.

The hope was that Georgetown's Roy Hibbert would still be around at No. 20, and the Bobcats could come out of the draft with Augustin and Hibbert.

But Toronto foiled that by taking Hibbert at No. 17. Then Washington took another center, Nevada's JaVale McGee, at No. 18, and the Bobcats were left with a quandary. The center options besides Ajinca at that point where Memphis' Joey Dorsey, Ohio State's Kosta Koufos, or Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan, another bona fide "project."

"I think it's a move that was worth the chance," General Manager Rod Higgins said. "You see a guy who's 7 feet tall, a 7-8 wingspan. I played with a guy named Manute Bol and he changed the game. I mean, he wasn't an offensive player or a traditional center where you catch it on the post and make your move on the block, but in terms of defense you were always looking for him. I played against him as well as with him, and he had an effect on the game.

"So you know, Alex has a learning curve, but he shoots the ball well. So we can probably put him at the high post a little bit and use him that way. But you know, in this business, sometimes you take chances. We felt that was a chance worth taking."

Higgins understands that if the pick backfires and Aginca proves to be a longer-range project than they hope, or a total flop, then the Bobcats will have to address the center situation again.

Aginca will play for the Bobcats' summer-league team in Las Vegas next month, and only then will Higgins get a real feel for what Aginca can do against NBA competition.

Higgins said that it was possible the Bobcats may have to acquire a veteran backup center for next season if Aginca doesn't play well in Las Vegas.

"We'll see how Alexis does in the summer league," Higgins said. "If he can have an impact and show some growth in the summer league, that's usually an indicator that's going to translate come October when we start training camp. If he struggles a little bit, then maybe we'll know we need to do other things. We'll have enough time after summer league to hopefully get another veteran if we have to."

That's something Michael Jordan, the Bobcats' managing member of basketball operations, doesn't want to do.

"We want to keep our options open," Jordan said. "We want to get the kid in and get him some experience here in the States. He played professionally in Europe so he's gained some knowledge about professional basketball, but it's a little bit different here.

"Physically he's going to have to put on some weight. But his scoring ability, he can play in this league with his scoring ability. His defense is going to take some adjusting, it's just going to take adjusting. But I don't think Coach wants to throw him out there and put heavy minutes on him. I think he wants to expose him to the game and see what he can provide and let him grow within. But I don't think it's too far-fetched that he will get minutes."

■ John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.