Larry Brown: With Him Gone, Where Do the Charlotte Bobcats Go?

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Larry Brown's resignation as head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, while surprising this early in this season, is not a complete shock, as many believed he would be gone at the end of the season.

The team's 9-19 start coming into the season, after the franchises' first playoff series, has proven that last season was not a mirage and not a sign of future playoff success.

Larry Brown should take some of the blame for this start. At the same time, though, Brown did do his signature coaching move, taking a franchise in dismay and leading it to the playoffs. He was able to do it in several of his stops, like the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. 

With Michael Jordan nearing his first anniversary of ownership, here a few moves and gambles he should do to better the franchise. 

Trade for Carmelo Anthony

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The Carmelo-Anthony-to-the-Bobcats rumor has been out there since before this season started and is one MJ should pursue.

While Anthony has reportedly said he would only sign an extension with the Knicks, that's OK for the Bobcats.

Renting him for the rest of this season would show fans that Michael is willing to do what it takes to win, would lead to another playoff appearance for the Bobcats and could maybe lead to actually winning a playoff game this season instead of being swept. 

The Bobcats lack that superstar player that fans want to watch, and Anthony would put butts in the seats more than any other player out there, that is unless MJ came out of retirement.

The hardest part of this trade would be finding the players the Nuggets would want in return. If they are able to pull this off and Anthony leads them to the playoffs, maybe he will get to love Charlotte and actually resign there. 

Get an Actual Point Guard

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The Bobcats have no players on their roster that closely resemble an NBA point guard.

With two solid players in Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson, they need someone to get them the ball and D.J. Augustin should not be a starting point in this league.

Letting Raymond Felton go, especially with the season he is having in New York, has proven to be a huge mistake. The franchise should have drafted Ty Lawson in the 2009 draft over Gerald Henderson. While Lawson has been behind Chauncey Billups in Denver, I think he would have been a much better fit with the bobcats than Augustin.  

They don't need a flashy scoring guard either, just someone who can dish the ball and play good defense. A veteran guard with experience, such as an Andre Miller or Billups type player, would be just fine.

Including Augustin in an Anthony trade is actually a likely move the Nuggets would want to make. 

Hire a Coach with a Track Record of Working with Young Players

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While Larry Brown is one of the NBA's greatest coaches, it is no secret that he hates playing first and second year players, and for the Bobcats to be good, they will need to rely on good young players.

They will need to get a coach who can build a team with that makeup. I like Paul Silas as the interim coach, and he seems to have a good working relationship with MJ, which is important. 

The team could go with either a young assistant in waiting or hire a proven veteran, but they must avoid the coaches like Mike Woodson or Flip Saunders.

I think a Scott Brooks type coach is the move here.

Hire a Competent General Manger

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Rod Higgins is not the greatest General Manger in the world, and the Bobcats need to fire him as well and not make Larry Brown the only one to take a fall for this start.

The perfect candidate to replace him is former Trailblazers GM Kevin Pritchard, who was fired for no real reason on draft day. He did a great job of rebuilding the Trailblazers, and I think he could do the same thing in Charlotte. 

The biggest reason the Bobcats need a veteran GM is so that MJ can focus on being owner, or coach for that matter if he feels like it, or playing golf. Pretty much anything but acquiring players, unless he trades for Anthony, then I will take that statement back.

The Bobcats need to get into a position where they are building around young players and have a lot of cap space. The way to do this is to not over pay mediocre role players and stop trading draft picks away.