Patrick O’Bryant

Bobcats Waive Patrick O’Bryant

The Bobcats have waived center Patrick O’Bryant, the team announced via press release. The former ninth overall pick was in camp with Charlotte on a non-guaranteed deal. The release, sent via email, states that the club now has 16 players on its roster, but the 16 guys listed on the roster that appears on the team’s website include O’Bryant, so the team seems to be down to 15 players.

O’Bryant washed out of the league after four seasons, the first two of which he spent with the Warriors, the team that used its 2006 lottery pick on him. The 7-footer appeared in a total of just 90 NBA regular season games, averaging 2.1 points in 5.8 minutes per contest. He was well-traveled after the Raptors let him go in 2010, playing in Puerto Rico, Greece, Lithuania and the D-League before finally getting another chance this month in Charlotte. Though he grabbed five rebounds in his one-game, six-minute preseason stint, it wasn’t enough to make the Bobcats opening-night roster.

The ‘Cats could open the season with the 15 players they have, but they could also make two more cuts. Jeff Adrien and James Southerland figure to be the most likely to go, since neither of them has a guarantee on his deal. Jannero Pargo‘s contract is partially guaranteed for $300K.

Bobcats Release Abdul Gaddy, Troy Daniels

The Bobcats released a pair of camp invitees today, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who tweets that Abdul Gaddy and Troy Daniels have been waived. The pair of cuts reduces Charlotte’s roster count to 16 players.

Both Gaddy and Daniels went undrafted in June before playing for the Bobcats’ Summer League squad in July. Gaddy, out of Washington, and Daniels, a VCU product, were both believed to be on fully non-guaranteed contracts, so Charlotte won’t be on the hook for their salaries.

Assuming the Bobcats’ 12 fully guaranteed players and Jannero Pargo ($300K guaranteed) make the roster, that leaves up to two potential openings for Patrick O’Bryant, James Southerland, and Jeff Adrien. O’Bryant, a 7’0″ center, may have seen his chances at a roster spot increase today when the team announced Brendan Haywood would be sidelined for the next 12 weeks after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot that will require surgery.

Patrick O’Bryant To Camp With Bobcats

The Bobcats have added another experienced NBA veteran to their training camp mix this fall.  Sources close to the situation tell Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (on Twitter) that Patrick O'Bryant will be in camp with Charlotte.

O'Bryant made it known back in July that he was seeking an NBA opportunity but he wasn't getting any bites at that stage of the offseason.  The ninth overall pick in the 2006 Draft, who last appeared in the NBA with the Raptors in 2009/10, was only getting interest from overseas teams at the time.  Now, he'll at least have a puncher's chance of getting a job in the Association this year.

The 27-year-old spent last season with Lithuania's Lietuvos Rytas.  In parts of four NBA seasons, the big man averaged 2.1 PPG and 1.4 RPG for the Warriors, Celtics, and Raptors.

Odds & Ends: World Peace, Jennings, Barbosa

Metta World Peace tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that he has no hard feelings toward the Lakers, who amnestied him last week. The former Ron Artest thinks the move was a shrewd business decision for the team, and while the Lakers will save some luxury tax money, the amnesty wound up helping World Peace's bank account, too. He'll receive his $7.7MM salary from the Lakers as well as the nearly $1.6MM he'll make from his contract with the Knicks this season, minus a small amount taken away from his Lakers paycheck because of set-off rights. There are plenty of other maneuvers, financial and otherwise, happening in the NBA, as we round up here:

Odds & Ends: Lazenby, O’Bryant, Hibbert

Jabari Davis of Sheridan Hoops noted a few highlights from a roundtable discussion between longtime personal friend of Phil Jackson/NBA author Roland Lazenby and the hosts of a blog talk radio show called TheOpinioNationNetwork. Most notably, Lazenby feels that Jackson's return to the Lakers is a foregone conclusion and went on to briefly talk about how Jackson would be able to handle the team's schedule, Nash's fit within the triangle offense, and where he currently stands with Jerry Buss. 
    
While the head coaching situation in Los Angeles currently appears to be the most polarizing topic of the basketball world, we'll keep track of tonight's other rumblings from around the Association here:

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