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February 18, 2010
Thomas release | Thomas gallery | Ratliff release | Ratliff gallery | Bobcats Player Profiles
The Charlotte Bobcats were busy at the 2010 NBA trade deadline, acquiring Tyrus Thomas from the Chicago Bulls and Theo Ratliff from the San Antonio Spurs. With Tyson Chandler (ankle), Nazr Mohammed (back) and DeSagana Diop (MCL) all nursing injuries, expect to see the newest Bobcats in action soon. Watch what General Manager Rod Higgins and read what Head Coach Larry Brown had to say about the trades below:
BOBCATS HEAD COACH LARRY BROWN
On how Tyrus Thomas fills a dramatic need in the Bobcats froncourt
Well, one, with Acie, hopefully he'll get a chance to play since we really didn't have an opportunity here. And then, you know, Flip was somebody we didn't want to lose, but we tried everything we could to try to keep him, but at the end of the day he was a big part of it, the Bulls deal, so that was tough. But all year we've been struggling to have a replacement for Boris (Diaw). We've been playing Gerald (Wallace) at 4, and we didn't really think that was fair to him,and now he can kind of settle on one position. And you know Tyrus, he's like getting a lottery pick in my mind. A young big kid that's got a huge upside, and he fills a lot of needs for us.
On the questions about Thomas' attitude
Well Lindsey Hunter and I are close, and Lindsey's been with the kid a couple years, and I was with Yannick Noah this summer. They both had great things to say about the kid. A lot of young kids are sometimes a little bit immature or trying to realize how to handle a situation, and that's my job. We've got a great locker room, we've got some really good leadership, and I have to think our coaches, myself, Rod and Michael (Jordan) will show the kid that he's important to us and try to help him with this whole process because he's still very, very young and we all gotta grow up sometime.
On if injuries played a part in getting Theo Ratliff
There are a lot of things going on, and when I saw Nazr's back problem and Gana's situation and Tyson's history… It's nice having great relationships in this league because (San Antonio Spurs Head Coach) Greg Popovich and R.C. really helped us out. I love Theo, and know what he's about. He's meant a lot to me in my career, and I still think he has some basketball in him, and he gives us a lot of things that I think we can take advantage of. He's long, can block shots, is good in the locker room and can mentor a lot of these young kids.
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