Report: Kemba Walker pitched Bobcats on, recruited Al Jefferson

In 2011-12, the Bobcats could have won 12 more games – in a 66-game schedule, no less – without sacrificing any lottery positioning. The Magic out-tanked Charlotte last season, but both those teams were so far below the rest of the NBA, the Bobcats still could have won a couple more games without relinquishing any lottery odds.

Charlotte can stand to get a little better, raising its level from embarrassment, and still remain in position to get the high draft picks necessary to rebuild.

That’s where Al Jefferson comes in. He can upgrade the Bobcats’ woeful power positions without taking the team out of the Andrew Wiggins Sweepstakes.

But how did Jefferson get to Charlotte? Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer:

According to a source familiar with the situation, Walker identified Jefferson, a low-post scorer, as the unrestricted free agent best suited to filling a team need. So the team encouraged him to reach out to Jefferson in the offseason to gauge his interest.Walker and Jefferson share an agent, Jeff Schwartz, so they had a connection. When Walker ran into Jefferson in New York, he lobbied Jefferson to consider the Bobcats, with Jefferson’s contract expiring with the Utah Jazz.

Kemba Walker’s lobbying might have helped, but I suspect the three-year, $41 million contract Jefferson received – seemingly more money than he could have received elsewhere – played a bigger role.But if Charlotte wants to feed the perception Walker is responsible, that make sense. Isn’t that the whole point of signing Jefferson, anyway? Convincing the Bobcats players to have some faith in the team while it’s dreadful.