Swarm and Sting
Fansided

The Charlotte Hornets’ GM History since 2004

By Brent Best

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 20: PJ Washington reacts after being drafted with the 12th overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets during the 2019 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 20, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 20: PJ Washington reacts after being drafted with the 12th overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets during the 2019 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 20, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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Charlotte Hornets
CHARLOTTE, NC – JANUARY 12: Teammates Gerald Wallace #3 and Stephen Jackson #1 of the Charlotte Bobcats react during their 96-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls at Time Warner Cable Arena on January 12, 2011 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Rod Higgins is an often forgotten GM of the eventual Charlotte Hornets, but the then Bobcats would see their only playoff appearance under his watchful eye.

Rod Higgins – 2007 – 2011

Rod Higgins took over as general manager for Bernie Bickerstaff in 2007. He went 145-183 (44.2% winning percentage)  with the team making the playoffs once during his tenure in 2010.

The Good – Charlotte traded Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic to Golden State for Stephen Jackson and Acie Law in a midseason trade during the 2008-09 season. Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace ended up leading Charlotte to their 1st playoff appearance since coming back the following season.

In 2011 Rod Higgins’ last major transaction was trading their best player in Gerald Wallace for 2 1st round draft picks (in 2011 and 2014). Charlotte probably realized that they were not going anywhere with their current core and were able to obtain 2 valuable assets for a player that showed some regression from his All-Star season the year prior.

The Bad – Higgins’ tenure is filed with “meh” transactions that didn’t move the needle either direction but some decisions did stand out more than others. Trading for DeSegana Diop for instance proved the be costly as he had just signed a 5 year $32 million dollar contract.

Diop was beyond unproductive averaging 1.6 points, 3 rebounds, and less than a block per game. He was also horribly inefficient and could not hit a free throw to save his life shooting less than 27% from the free-throw line in Charlotte, including this gem.

The Ugly -Trading a future 1st round pick (which became Jusuf Nurkic) for Tyrus Thomas, then giving Tyrus Thomas a 5 year, $40 million dollar contract. Tyrus Thomas was a former number 2 pick but never lived up to the “potential” scouts felt he had.

He had previously been suspended twice by the Chicago Bulls and went on to average 7.5 PPG while grabbing 4 rebounds and making less than 42% from the field as a 6’10” athletic big man.

Higgins and Jordan once had over 25% of the team’s salary cap tied to Tyrus Thomas and DeSegana Diop. And new Charlotte basketball fans think Nicolas Batum has a tough contract… That deserved its own paragraph.

Next up, we’ll cover the GM whose names fans are still cursing to this day.

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