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The Bobcats (finally) are in the house. After a year of planning, scouting and strategizing, the Charlotte Bobcats will begin adding the first key pieces of their franchise tonight in the NBA expansion draft.

Charlotte actually got a head start Monday night when it shipped its No. 4 and No. 33 picks in the regular draft to the Clippers for the No. 2 pick and Peja Drobnjak. By virtue of the trade, which was completed last night, Drobnjak officially becomes the first Bobcat.

On Thursday, the Bobcats will cap the week with the No. 2 pick. It's no secret Bobcats general manager Bernie Bickerstaff prefers the Magic take Dwight Howard and leave Emeka Okafor for Charlotte. But if Howard falls to them, the Bobcats can live with it.

Tuesday night's expansion draft should add anywhere from three to six pieces to the Bobcats' puzzle. While they must select a minimum of 14 players, the Bobcats are expected to select a number of restricted free agents, who will automatically become unrestricted free agents and won't play for the Bobcats next season.

For the most part, the work is already done. Charlotte must submit its list to the league no later than noon ET on Tuesday. Several league sources told Insider on Monday that the Bobcats already have agreed to two trades and have decided to select and keep at least three players on the list.

Bickerstaff reiterated Monday evening that the team would not select any "big-money players." That means names on the expansion list like Antoine Walker, Penny Hardaway, Eddie Jones and Jerry Stackhouse can rest easily.

Bickerstaff also made it clear what he is looking for in his expansion players.

"We're looking for young players who need an opportunity to play, to get minutes," Bickerstaff said. "They've got skills, athleticism and talent, and we just feel they need the opportunity. That's how you get better. You don't get better through osmosis. You have to get on the court, and you have to participate. What we like about it also is that a lot of these young men will come into the situation and they will be hungry, simply because a lot of them are in the last year of their contract also."

That means the Bobcats are going to be looking for deals that land them draft picks, young players with a chance to develop, and/or players with low-priced contracts or team options whom Charlotte can clear off the books quickly to make room for free agency.

Before we begin, just a quick reminder of the rules of the expansion draft:

Unrestricted free agents are ineligible for the expansion draft.

Each team can protect up to eight players. A team with fewer than eight players on its roster to protect (because of pending free agency) still must leave at least one player unprotected.

The Bobcats must select a minimum of 14 players and can select a maximum of 29 overall.

The Bobcats can select only one player from any one NBA team.

The Bobcats are not bound to the salary cap during the draft. They can take on as many contracts as they choose. However, once the draft is over, any players they've drafted and kept on the roster will count toward their cap (which should be around $29.5 million next season, 66 percent of the full cap number).

If the Bobcats waive a player selected in the expansion draft before the first day of the regular season, the player's remaining contract will not count against the team's salary cap. Of course, Charlotte still would be on the hook for the actual salaries of waived players, but there would be no cap effect.

Restricted free agents selected in the expansion draft automatically become unrestricted free agents.

Teams are allowed to entice the Bobcats to select players by offering cash (up to $3 million), draft picks or agreeing to additional trades in return.

If a team has a player selected by the Bobcats, it receives a trade exception equal to the player's 2004-'05 salary. This allows teams to replace a player lost in the expansion draft with another player of comparable salary.

Here's Insider's take on what could go down tonight. Insider has learned that some of these players on the expansion mock draft will be taken by the Bobcats. Others are speculation. The comments detail which is which.

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