Charlotte Bobcats acquire Brendan Haywood through amnesty waivers – NBA News
The Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday picked up former North Carolina centre Brendan Haywood off the waivers by placing the highest bid for his services.
Haywood played for the Dallas Mavericks last season, but was amnestied by the team on Thursday via the one time amnesty clause, setting off a 48 hour process in which teams under the salary cap had the opportunity to bid for his
services for next year, otherwise he would become an unrestricted free agent.
The league informed the 30 NBA teams on Saturday that the Bobcats had submitted the highest bid for Haywood, reportedly a little more than $2 million. Haywood was scheduled to get $8.3 million in salary for the 2012-2013 season,
which means the Mavericks owe him $6.3 million for the next year.
However, the Mavericks cleared $27.2 million off their books by releasing Haywood, who was owed the money over the next three years of his contract. Clearing some salary cap space, the Mavericks signed centre Chris Kaman to a one
year deal for $8 million, and picked up forward Elton Brand off amnesty waivers by submitting the highest bid for him, worth $2.1 million. Brand was earlier amnestied by the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Mavericks are keeping considerable cap space for next summer where they will look to sign a star player in free agency.
Haywood played the first 9 seasons of his career with the Washington Wizards, where he played alongside Charlotte owner Michael Jordan for some seasons. Haywood is a strong presence at the centre position, averaging 7.2 points,
6.2 rebound and 1.4 blocks over a career spanning 11 years. Last year, Haywood averaged 21.2 minutes for the Dallas Mavericks and managed 5.2 points and 6 rebounds per game.
The Bobcats have been aggressive in free agency this year after landing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with their 2nd overall pick. They acquired shooting guard Ben Gordon in a trade with the Detroit Pistons, and then signed
free agent point guard Ramon Sessions to a two year deal.
With the likes of Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo already in the team, the Bobcats have a good roster on hand to recover from a demoralizing and frustrating 2011-2012 regular season campaign, where they finished with a 7-59 record,
the worst record by any team in NBA history.
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