HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Last week the Charlotte Bobcats completed a couple surprising trade deadline deals leading many observers to believe the franchise threw in the towel on making a playoff run this season and was instead focusing on retooling for the future.

The first deal sent former All-Star forward Gerald Wallace to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Joel Przybilla, Dante Cunningham, Sean Marks and two future first round picks. The second move sent veteran center Nazr Mohammed to Oklahoma City for forwards D.J. White and Morris Peterson (subsequently waived).

Bobcats owner Michael Jordan seemingly agreed with most observers on the team rebuilding for the future during a brief interview with the Associated Press last week.  

"I love the trade," Jordan said referring to the Wallace swap. "I think it’s one of the best trades. We’re all right, I like where we are. "We don’t want to be the seventh or eighth seed."

The Bobcats are currently only a half game behind the Indiana Pacers for the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference, so there are many in the organization who still feel the postseason is within the club’s reach despite the  huge loss of talent.

Count second year guard Gerald Henderson as one of the optimists in the crowd.

"Absolutely," Henderson responded to HOOPSWORLD when asked if the team still possessed playoff potential. "We still feel we have plenty of talent to make the playoffs. These last 20-25 games will be big for us. We still feel like we have enough people here to make that push. I’m not going to make any guarantees, but we feel like we should be and we feel like we can so we’re going to do everything we can in this next month to get there."

Times of change usually open up opportunities which never previously existed.

Henderson, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2009 draft, spent his first NBA season toiling on the bench under head coach Larry Brown and didn’t make any court appearances during the team’s first ever playoff berth last season.

Positioned on the depth chart behind two All-Star caliber players in Wallace and Stephen Jackson and playing under a veteran head coach in Brown made Henderson’s path to court action even more difficult.

{AUTHOR_BOX} "That was the journey I started to go through as a NBA player," Henderson said. "That was just a time for me to sit, watch and learn as much as I could.   Obviously I didn’t want to sit, but that was the route that was sent for me. But I’m playing now and I just want to play well."

"It gave me a lot of time to get better more than anything and just work on my game," Henderson continued explaining to HOOPSWORLD. "Obviously the best way to get better is to get experience on the court but in terms of my skill level I was given a lot more time  to just work on things I didn’t do well. In terms of that, it (not playing) was a good thing."

For Henderson it has turned out well.

The bench riding made him focus on other nuisances of his game and the results have showed as the young guard gets more court time.

During the month of February Henderson averaged 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists on 46 percent shooting from the floor. The twenty-five minutes per night logged during the month was his highest output of the season and clearly shows new head coach Paul Silas’ system complements his game.

More importantly, the athletic Henderson appears to be more comfortable under Silas’ free-flowing schemes as opposed to the departed Brown’s traditional set.s

"Yeah I think you could tell by the way we play that it fits a little better," Henderson said to HOOPSWORLD on the different coaching philosophies. "We have athletic guys and guys that kind of need to play free and coach Silas saw that in us and let us go. It’s been a really good thing for us."

The Bobcats are 17-14 since Silas took over coaching duties after a 9-19 start to the season.

For now the team has to continue making adjustments without Wallace who was the team’s top defender, leading rebounder and second leading scorer.

Henderson believes he can be a part of that solution long term, but admits losing a player with Wallace’s talent will take a by committee approach.

"Sure," Henderson responded to if he can help fill some of the production void. "Not just for me but a few guys on our team [like] Matt Carroll definitely. It’s on both of us to fill that spot and be that next guard on the wing."

"Me and Gerald Wallace play a little differently," Henderson continued. "But in terms of athleticism we both kind of bring that to the table. But I don’t go in trying to be him or do what he did. I go in and try to play my game. It changes the shape of our team a little bit but I think it’s still a good thing."

While the trades were tough to swallow, Bobcats players are still focused on making a strong run at their second consecutive playoff berth while also gearing up for another period of rebuilding looming in the near future.

However, the squad is confident in their newly acquired teammates.

"[It was] sad to see Nazr (Mohammed) go, but in return we got Joel (Przybilla) who is a really good player too, Henderson said. "It’s all going to add to what we already had here.  They’re really skilled guys, hard working guys and that’s what we need."

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