Predrag Drobnjak

“This trade allows us to open up a roster spot and also gives us a second round pick next year that we lost last month," said Bickerstaff. “We had six players at the power forward and center positions and this will relieve some of the logjam and present more minutes for the guys on our roster.”

Charlotte dealt its second round pick in the 2005 NBA Draft on July 14 to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of a trade in which the Bobcats received 6-10 forward/center Melvin Ely and 6-1 guard Eddie House.

The Bobcats added Drobnjak on June 22 as one of the team’s 19 picks in the Expansion Selection. Charlotte agreed to take Drobnjak as part of a trade with the Clippers on June 21 in which the Bobcats also received the second overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft – used to select Emeka Okafor – in exchange for the fourth and 33rd overall picks in the 2004 NBA Draft.

Drobnjak, a 6-11 forward from Serbia & Montenegro, was initially drafted by Washington in the second round (49th overall) of the 1997 NBA Draft, but remained in Yugoslavia. He spent the first two years of his NBA career with the Seattle SuperSonics (2001-02 and 2002-03) before signing with the Clippers on September 28, 2003. Drobnjak has appeared in 207 NBA games with 95 starts and has career averages of 7.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.9 minutes.