Howard Smith – USA Today Sports Images
The Charlotte Bobcats made big news in NBA Free Agency on July 4 when they landed one of the biggest names on the market by agreeing to terms with Al Jefferson. They were also able to rid themselves of the burden of Tyrus Thomas the player and Thomas’ absurdly overpriced contract.
Though it wasn’t as big of a move, the Bobcats were able to continue to add depth to their frontcourt by agreeing to re-sign power forward Josh McRoberts to a two-year, $6 million contract that contains a player option in the second year according to reports from Yahoo! Sports’ Marc J. Spears.
As covered in McRoberts’ season in-review, McRoberts came over to the Bobcats via a trade at the deadline with the Orlando Magic for Hakim Warrick. He only played in 26 games for Charlotte, but was actually a big part of their rotation as he played 30.8 minutes per game. While with Charlotte he averaged 9.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.8 steals per game on 50.5 percent shooting.
One of the things that the Jefferson signing and the selection of Cody Zeller in the 2013 NBA Draft told about the Bobcats is that they are building to be much better offensively than they were last season. McRoberts fits into that philosophy quite well.
McRoberts was good for the Bobcats last season in the pick-and-roll, becoming one of the only solid options for Charlotte when the ball went to the screener as he averaged 1.06 points per possession in those sets.
Given his offensive capabilities and savvy on the boards, McRoberts will be a solid addition to the offensively charged Bobcats next season. He comes at a bargain price, which is a plus, and will be a good player coming off the bench to give some solid production. Thus far, the Bobcats are doing solid work in free agency for a change.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google+ and like his Facebook page.
