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June 23, 2011
The Charlotte Bobcats selected Kemba Walker with the 9th overall pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft. The team also acquired Bismack Biyombo, the 7th overall pick, from the Sacramento Kings in a three-team trade. As part of the deal, Charlotte received Corey Maggette from Milwaukee in exchange for the 19th overall pick (Tobias Harris), Stephen Jackson and Shaun Livingston. The Bobcats later traded the draft rights to Jeremy Tyler, the 39th overall pick, to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for cash considerations.
An early entry candidate, Walker (6-1, guard) led the University of Connecticut to the 2011 NCAA Championship and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. He also earned the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard and was a top-five finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Awards. In 111 career collegiate games, he averaged 16.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals in 32.9 minutes. He also set a school single-season record with 965 points in 2010-11.
Last season, Walker averaged 23.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 37.6 minutes. He totaled two double-doubles, one triple-double and scored 20 or more points in 27 contests. He set a career high with 12 assists against Bucknell on March 17, in the NCAA Tournament.
Biyombo (6-9, forward) was an international early-entry candidate from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was a member of the World Select Team that competed in the Nike Hoop Summit this year in Portland, where he recorded the only triple-double in the event’s history against the U.S. Junior Select team with 12 points, 11 rebounds and a Summit-record 10 blocked shots.
Last season, Biyombo appeared in 28 games for two different Spanish League teams, Fuenlabrada and C.B. Illescas. In 14 games with Fuenlabrada, he averaged 6.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, while connecting on .552 from the field. In 14 games with C.B. Illescas, he averaged 9.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks and connected on .588 of his field goal attempts.
His best game last season included a career-high 28 points on 12-15 shooting from the field with 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals against Juventud as a member of C.B. Illescas.
A 6-6 forward, Maggette was selected by Seattle with the 13th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft before having his draft rights traded to Orlando. In 777 NBA games with Orlando, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State and Milwaukee, he holds career averages of 16.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists. During the 2010-11 season, Maggette scored his 12,000th career point, played in his 750th career game and passed Jack Sikma for 50th place in NBA history for free throws made (4,391). In 67 games last season, he averaged 12.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists.