Charlotte Bobcats make a qualifying offer to Dante Cunningham – NBA Update
The 24 year old Charlotte Bobcats forward Dante Cunningham became a restricted free agent on Monday and almost immediately the North Carolina franchise made a qualifying offer to him. The offer is understood to be worth approximately
one million dollars and is for one year.
The legendary Michael Jordan, owner of Bobcats said that the team was looking forward to extend Cunningham’s contract before the final game of the last season. However, the team became cautious after the news of Dante’s arrest
flashed.
The former Villanova University superstar was apprehended by the police in Radnor Township due to reckless driving and over speeding. After Dante pulled over his car, police found out that Cunningham was carrying marijuana and
a loaded gun.
The Charlotte Bobcats who were considering a future role for their forward at that time were baffled at the incident and had stated, "We are aware of the unfortunate incident involving Dante Cunningham in Pennsylvania. We are in
the process of gathering more information and will have no further comment until the legal process has run its course."
Cunningham was brought in front of the court and later he was released on bail. The speculation continued to grow about Dante’s future as the off season progressed.
Rod Higgins, the president of basketball operations said last week that the team is focusing on the NBA draft when he was asked about Dante’s future. The Bobcats traded their best scorer Stephen Jackson to Milwaukee Bucks on the
draft night in a three way deal involving Sacramento Kings. The deal has left the team very thin on the front court and this is believed to be the major factors why the Bobcats offered a qualifying offer to their small forward.
Dante took part in the recent offseason workouts of the team and he might start for the team permanently from the next season with Jackson no longer a part of the line-up.
Bobcats’ coach Paul Silas showed his support for Cunningham and said, "Things happen and I just hope he learned from it and that certainly that will never happen again. At least that's my hope. Everybody makes mistakes and if he
learns from his mistakes he'll be OK."
Dante was acquired by the franchise in the middle of the 2010-2011 season from the Portland Trail Blazers. He played 22 games with the team and averaged 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 24 minutes of playing time per game. Cunningham
definitely has the potential to lead the young Bobcats and he couldn’t have a better platform that this to do so.
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