Charlotte Bobcats Ben Gordon as good as gone

The Charlotte Bobcats have a gaping hole heading into the trade deadline, and that hole is in the frontcourt where they could pretty much use any starting-caliber big man to pair up with Byron Mullens. The Bobcats have plenty of talent in the backcourt and more than enough depth there to go around, so it definitely makes sense for them to deal a guard for a big.

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Ben Gordon is a very good veteran scorer off the bench, but he is clearly one of the “surplus” guys on this team. Gordon could be a very good trade piece for a team that needs a guard badly, because he can still score at a high level and has value. The Bobcats and Brooklyn Nets were in talks about a deal that would send Gordon to Brooklyn for big man Kris Humphries, which is a deal I would approve of. Although Humphries doesn’t have the best reputation around the league, that stigma is undeserved and Humphries would be a solution at a position of need.

Meanwhile, it sounds like Gordon is somebody whose reputation deserves to take quite the hit. The Charlotte Observer confirmed on Thursday that Gordon was being a general nuisance during the shootaround before the victory over the Boston Celtics, and he told coach Mike Dunlap that he needs to “humble himself”. Gordon has constantly squabbled with his head coach, and that’s more than enough reason to warrant a trade.

To me, Gordon’s time in Charlotte is up, and I want him out of here. He keeps complaining about wanting a bigger role with the team, when it’s obvious that he’s worse than the two starters and, in my opinion, Ramon Sessions. Gordon is hurting his own value by being unprofessional about the whole situation. Even though the Bobcats seem only lukewarm on the Humphries deal, I honestly think they should do the deal if they can’t find a better one.

This isn’t just to get rid of Ben Gordon, but it’s also because Kris Humphries actually holds more value to the team. Talent in the frontcourt is a desperate need for the Bobcats, who easily have the NBA’s worst frontcourt situation. Their backcourt, on the other hand, is as deep as any team in the league, thus making guys like Gordon even more expendable.

Kemba Walker is the only person who has had a squabble with Dunlap, and he’s obviously a no-trade guy and that argument was very minor. Gordon’s misfits have happened more than once, and he isn’t nearly as good, nearly as young, and doesn’t have nearly as much potential. I will be very surprised if Gordon manages to stick around with the Charlotte Bobcats, because it seems like the writing is on the wall for him. Dunlap is a well-respected coach, and Gordon’s behavior at the shoot-around was a detriment to the whole team- not just Dunlap, because it came when Dunlap was giving a talk with the team. That kind of selfishness cannot be tolerated from a veteran player, and I’d rather get this guy out of here for a player who is better behaved and fits a bigger need.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.