Category: Charlotte Hornets Blog

The Charlotte Bobcats today named Dan Leibovitz and Brian Winters as assistant coaches on the staff of new Head Coach Mike Dunlap.  Leibovitz and Winters will join Stephen Silas and Rick Brunson, who officially signed with the team in July.

“It was important to me to put together a coaching staff that mirrors my coaching philosophy and one that will consistently challenge our players to get better each and every time they hit the basketball floor,” said Dunlap. “When I selected my staff I wanted to assemble a group that will care about the players, care about the team and love to teach the game of basketball.”

Brunson enters his fourth year as an NBA assistant coach after previously serving as a player development coach in Chicago (2010-12) and Denver (2006-07), where he first worked with Dunlap. Following his stint with the Nuggets, Brunson served as Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Virginia from 2007-09 before spending the 2009-10 season at the University of Hartford as an assistant coach under Leibovitz. A former standout player at Temple University under Naismith Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, Brunson played in the NBA for nine seasons, appearing in 337 games for eight different teams including Portland, New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Houston, the Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle. His ties to Dunlap also extended overseas in 1996, when he played for Dunlap with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia’s NBL.

Leibovitz brings over 16 years of collegiate coaching experience to Charlotte, joining the Bobcats from the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater.  Prior to joining the Penn staff, he served as head coach at the University of Hartford from 2006-10.  Leibovitz also served as an assistant coach at Temple University for 10 seasons under John Chaney (1996-2006) and was named Best Assistant Coach in the Atlantic 10 by Street & Smith’s magazine in 2005. Leibovitz played collegiately at Franklin & Marshall College.

Silas is entering his 12th season as an NBA assistant coach and is the lone holdover from the previous coaching staff. He initially joined the Bobcats on December 26, 2010, after spending the previous four and a half seasons as an assistant coach in Golden State.  Prior to joining the Warriors, Silas served as an assistant coach with the Hornets (2000-03) and Cavaliers (2003-05) and as an advance scout with the Wizards (2005-06). Silas originally joined the Hornets in the summer of 1999 as an advance and college scout. Silas also played four seasons at Brown University.

Winters brings a wealth of experience to the Bobcats staff, having been an NBA head coach in Vancouver (1995-97) and Golden State (2001-02), in addition to serving as head coach of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever (2004-07).  His coaching career also includes time in Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver and Golden State, as well as a stint at Princeton University. The 12th overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft after a collegiate career at the University of South Carolina, Winters played nine seasons in the NBA, appearing in 650 career games for the Lakers and Bucks with averages of 16.2 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds.  He made two All-Star appearances and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Team following the 1974-75 season.

Haywood, who grew up in Greensboro, made it clear he’s coming back to the Carolinas with the goal of helping the Charlotte Bobcats turn things around after they finished with the worst record (7-59) in the NBA last season.

Claimed off waivers last week from the Dallas Mavericks, the 7-foot Haywood was introduced Thursday at a news conference along with free-agent acquisition Ramon Sessions, a point guard who opted out of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers to sign with the Bobcats.

“Myself and Ramon will be great additions to this team,” Haywood said. “We’re looking forward to getting this thing started and help this team be better than it was last season.”

Haywood still owns a home in Charlotte and has frequently worked out at the Bobcats facility in the past during the offseason.

He called returning to Charlotte “a blessing.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has withdrawn its qualifying offer to forward Derrick Brown. Brown now becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Selected by the Bobcats with the 40th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Brown averaged career highs of 8.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 22.2 minutes in 65 games played last season. In 171 games over three NBA seasons with the Bobcats and Knicks, he has career averages of 5.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.9 minutes played.

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment owns the Charlotte Bobcats and operates Charlotte’s Time Warner Cable Arena.

Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has been awarded center Brendan Haywood off waivers from Dallas. Haywood was designated by the Mavericks as the team’s amnesty player.

According to ESPN.com, “NBA.com reported the Bobcats’ winning bid was just more than $2 million, which means Dallas must pay roughly $6.3 million of Haywood’s $8.3 million salary in 2012-13. Releasing Haywood via amnesty wiped the $27.2 million he’s owed over the next three seasons off the Mavericks’ books for salary-cap and luxury-tax purposes. The Bobcats now will assume more than $6 million of that financial obligation.”

An 11-year NBA veteran, the 7-0 Haywood has played in 733 career games for the Wizards and Mavericks, with 531 starts. He has career averages of 7.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 23.7 minutes. His career field goal percentage of .534 ranks seventh among active players and 28th in NBA history.

Haywood was a member of Dallas’ 2011 NBA Championship team, and has appeared in 53 career playoff games, averaging 6.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks, while shooting .564 from the field.

The Greensboro, NC native played four seasons at the University of North Carolina before being selected by Cleveland with the 20th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. His rights were traded on draft night to Orlando, who later traded him to Washington.

Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has signed second-round draft pick Jeffery Taylor. The Bobcats selected Taylor with the 31st overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

The 6-7 Taylor finished his career at Vanderbilt ranked second in career scoring (1,897), sixth in rebounding (752) and eighth in steals (146), becoming the only player in school history to rank in the top 10 in all three categories. During his senior season, he appeared in 36 games and averaged 16.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 32.1 minutes. He was named First Team All-SEC in 2012 and Second Team in 2010 and 2011, while also being named to the SEC All-Defensive team in each of the last three seasons. In 2008 Taylor played for the Swedish National Team in the FIBA Under-20 European Division B Championships, where he averaged 19.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in eight games.

Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has withdrawn its qualifying offer to D.J. Augustin.  Augustin now becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Augustin was initially selected by the Bobcats with the ninth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.  In four NBA seasons, he played in 282 total games for the Bobcats, with averages of 10.9 points, 4.4 assists and 2.0 rebounds.  In 2011-12, he saw action in 48 games, averaging 11.1 points, 6.4 assists and 2.3 rebounds.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the Bobcats are expected to sign free agent guard Ramon Sessions.