Your New Bobcats (so far)

Though not landing an offseason splash like, say, the Clippers (CP3 OMG Caron Butler LOL WTF) or the Pacers (David West is a nice pickup as they quietly build a solid quad around a starting five of Collison, Rush, Granger, West, Hibbert), the Charlotte Bobcats didn't exactly sit on their hands.

While some teams rushed judgment and made what looks to be some awfully foolish signings (the aforementioned Caron Butler for 3 years, $24 million and DeAndre Jordan for 4 years and $43 million), the Bobcats took the first six days of the free agency slowly.

As we waited on pins and needles for word on Kwame's decision, the Bobcats penned Derrick Brown, who was waived last year at the trade deadline to make room for the Gerald Wallace and Nazr Mohammed deals. Then four days later, Kwame dropped the bomb that he wouldn't be returning to the Bobcats (my heart shattered into a thousand pieces when I heard) and would instead sign with the Golden State Warriors for $7 million for one year. And in the past 24 hours, the Bobcats signed former Bobcats Melvin Ely (one year unguaranteed, figures unknown) and Reggie Williams for a very reasonable two-year $5 million contract.

The Bobcats also invited the following players to their training camp: Ronald Dupree, Will Blalock, Taylor Griffin, Ismail Muhammad, Durrell Summers.

Derrick Brown is hardly forgotten by most Bobcats fans. A high-flier out of Xavier, the left-handed Brown is pretty versatile. His jump shot needed much work, last I could recall. But he was efficient with the ball in his hands, not taking a lot of shots and driving to the rim, where he knew he was most effective. Brown's defense is decent, more so on man defense. His offense last year in Charlotte came mostly from cuts and in transition, which are focuses in Silas's offense. For a minimum contract for one year, there is incredibly low risk for a guy like him when we need small forwards with the ability to score. Hopefully he's added some polish and reliability to his jumper since we last saw him.

Melvin Ely is no stranger to Charlotte, either. There isn't much risk in signing Ely, though with his age and not having played close to a full season since 2005, I have enough concerns to think he could easily miss a significant portion of the season. But that's where the unguaranteed part of his deal comes in, I suppose. He adds a much-needed big body to the team. Frankly, that's pretty much all the Bobcats are looking for here: a big man to fill the paint for a year as the team builds its youth into a core. He's a subpar rebounder and defender, but it's not like he's expected to be one.

The signing of Reggie Williams is by far my favorite. I was hoping they could snag him, and was surprised to hear the Bobcats were even in the running for him. And for such a cost-effective price of $5 million over two years? I'm pretty freaking psyched. Offensively, Williams is one of the more efficient guards/forwards out there. He finishes well at the rim (67.6%) and can hit from deep (42.3%), good for the 7th-best eFG% for swingmen, all via HoopData. Efficient, versatile scoring swingman? Sign me up.

His defense may not be great, but just watch this and try not to swoon.

Not bad, Bobcats front office.