Expanding and contracting

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email

Bickerstaff isn't talking, but Insider, drawing on several interviews with Bernie B. and other GMs around the league, is willing to take a shot.

Bickerstaff made it clear that the team is looking for young, athletic players. It will shy away from veterans in the expansion draft, especially those with huge contracts. While, theoretically, the team could nab high-priced veterans like Keith Van Horn, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Penny Hardaway, Raef LaFrentz, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel in this draft, Bickerstaff has made it clear the team would only spend that kind of money on a player that "makes a real difference."

When asked to clarify, Bickerstaff stated that only a handful of players in the league (read: Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett) qualify as "difference-makers."

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 that Charlotte can quickly clear off the books to make room for free agency.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email
• Subscribe

Chad Ford | email

Senior Writer, NBA Insider

• Follow
• Archive

• Senior NBA Writer for ESPN.com
• ESPN Insider NBA Draft Analyst since 2002
• Writes ESPN's NBA Draft Top 100 and Lottery Mock Draft