Posted by TrueBlue:
Boykins
What's up with this kind of move?
Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins today announced that the team has signed veteran point guard Earl Boykins for the remainder of the 2007-08 season. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. Boykins will wear jersey #11 and join the Bobcats on Friday, Feb. 1, when they face Golden State.
“Earl Boykins is a proven talent in this league and a player we feel very fortunate to add to our roster without having to disturb the chemistry and core of this team,” said Higgins. “His production over the past few seasons was evidence enough that he could make an immediate impact, while adding experience and depth to our backcourt.”
A nine-year NBA veteran, Boykins has appeared in 484 career games for New Jersey, Cleveland, Orlando, the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State, Denver and Milwaukee with career averages of 9.8 points, 3.4 assists and 1.5 rebounds. At 5-5, he is the second-shortest player in NBA history behind Bobcats radio analyst and former NBA standout Muggsy Bogues, who stands at 5-3. He is also the shortest player in league history to score over 30 points in a game – a number he has reached several times, including two 36-point games while playing in Milwaukee last season.
“I am very happy to welcome Earl to our team. He adds experience and scoring ability to our guard rotation,” Bobcats Head Coach Sam Vincent said. “We’ve had key injuries this season which have left us short-handed at point guard, and his addition will hopefully alleviate that problem moving forward.”
Boykins had his best statistical season in 2006-07, when he averaged a career-high 14.6 points, 4.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 66 games split between Denver and Milwaukee. A career .881 free-throw shooter, Boykins has finished among the NBA’s top ten in free-throw percentage in each of the last four seasons, including the 2004-05 season, when he finished second after shooting a career-high .921 (279-303). He has also finished in the top five in voting for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award three times, coming in fifth in 2003-04, third in 2004-05 and fifth in 2005-06.
All it costs them is money and most importantly, it reduces the minutes of McMinus who flat out sucks. It also helps address some of the depth problem. This team needs two immediate things, a PG and a PF. Boykins is not a long term solution as far as starting PG goes, but helps immediately and helps make a playoff push for this season. It's different than the Knicks situation because here in Charlotte, they are trying to bring back NBA basketball to an indifferent city that once regularly sold out the 24,000 seat Charlotte Coliseum. They need to make the playoffs.
And Boykins and Wallace are going to be a terror for opposing teams to contain. Now you have 2 guys who can get into the lane at will for layups or kickouts to wideopen JRich or Carroll. Also helps Okafor get easy layups with all of the penetration into the lane.
Also this makes it tougher for the Knicks to make the playoffs, not that they really have a shot anyway.
1/31/2008 10:19 PM
