Last Season:	26-56
Preview prediction:	42-40
Oddsmakers:	33-49

The NBA's newest franchise is the subject of today's NBA Blog Preview: the Charlotte Bobcats. Serena from Bobcat Bonfire explains what hurt the Bobcats most last season:

Last year the Bobcats had to rely on some players that normally wouldn’t be called upon due to injuries. The team was riddled all season with a variety of injuries. The only player to play in every single game last year was Raymond Felton, a rookie at the time. Gerald Wallace, Brevin Knight, and Raymond Felton held the team together like glue at the end of the season, while Sean May and Emeka Okafor watched from the sidelines. Last year, each player who was able, stepped up when they were needed and did what they had to do to help the team.

Injuries certainly contributed to some of the subpar Bobcats lineups last season, but the team's thriftiness was also a big factor. Charlotte paid out just over $33 million in player salaries, which was nearly $10 million less than the next-cheapest team (Atlanta) and nearly $20 million less than Donald Sterling's Clippers. They entered the season with Kareem Rush and Keith Bogans as their primary shooting guards and gave up on both before it ended, trading Bogans for gun fan Lonny Baxter and publicly dissing Rush as they cut him with 9 games to go.

Heading into this season, Charlotte is again on track to spend the league minimum, which is surprising for a team that is trying to build up a fan base. Maintaining future cap flexibility is a worthy goal, but signing a few guys to 1-year contracts isn't going to hurt that. Instead, their marketing strategy seems to involve drafting college stars who are expected to be crowd favorites. This includes Tournament Most Outstanding Player Emeka Okafor in 2004, local products Raymond Felton and Sean May in 2005, and Co-Player of the Year Adam Morrison this year.