Bobcats may trade No. 2 overall draft pick

Bobcats may trade No. 2 overall draft pick

Published Jun. 15, 2012 11:11 a.m. ET

It's apparent the Bobcats are assessing the trade value of the No. 2 overall pick in the June 28 draft.

There is a workout set for two of the top candidates for that pick, Florida's Bradley Beal and North Carolina's Harrison Barnes, either of whom would be considered an upgrade in the backcourt for different reasons.

It's conceivable the Bobcats could either trade down to get multiple picks or even trade out of the first round, as they did in 2007 when they sent the eighth pick (Brandan Wright) and salary-cap space to the Warriors for veteran shooting guard Jason Richardson.

The Bobcats can create as much as $21 million in space under the salary cap, based on who they might amnesty. Cutting a player under the amnesty clause can't happen before July 1.

The Bobcats might be shaking up their color scheme, though that's unrelated to a grass-roots effort to change the nickname to "Hornets" once the New Orleans franchise changes names. A cap design, related to the upcoming draft, showed a light-blue bill to contrast with the darker-blue color the Bobcats have long used. The orange in the team's colors has been deemphasized for several years. Tom Benson, who is buying the Hornets from the NBA, wants to change the team's name to something more Louisiana-oriented, so returning "Hornets" to Charlotte is viable.

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