ANALYST	PREDICTION
J.A. Adande ESPN.com	SOUTHEAST: 5 | EAST: 14  They added Jason Richardson, but they still don't have a go-to guy they can count on every night. Speaking of every night, how about a full 82 for Emeka Okafor?
Greg Anthony ESPN.com	SOUTHEAST: 4 | EAST: 10  Jason Richardson could pay big dividends paired with Gerald Wallace. Losing Sean May doesn't help, but a healthy Emeka Okafor could offset that.
Jon Barry ESPN.com	SOUTHEAST: 4 | EAST: 13  A team in need of that go-to guy, and it looks like Jason Richardson is that guy. Gerald Wallace can't single-handedly win games, though he's excellent in so many areas. Some good young talent here.
Chris Broussard ESPN Mag	SOUTHEAST: 5 | EAST: 12  Love the addition of Jason Richardson, and Gerald Wallace is one of the league's best energetic, jack-of-all-trades types. If Okafor can stay healthy and continue to improve, Bobcats could fight for a playoff spot.
Ric Bucher ESPN Mag	SOUTHEAST: 5 | EAST: 15  A rookie coach and a basketball IQ-challenged roster don't make for major jumps in the standings. JRich and Gerald Wallace are a wildly athletic swing combo, but Raymond Felton has to prove he's a legit starting point guard to harness it. .
Chad Ford ESPN.com	SOUTHEAST: 5 | EAST: 14  Richardson is a good player and Golden State is going to miss him. But unless he and Gerald Wallace have career years, Emeka Okafor plays 82 games and Raymond Felton steps it up a notch, I don't think the Bobcats have the talent to get it done.
Jemele Hill ESPN.com	SOUTHEAST: 5 | EAST: 13  The Bobcats have a nice, young roster. Jason Richardson was a nice get, but re-signing undervalued Gerald Wallace was even better. Adam Morrison won't be able to redeem himself this season, unfortunately.
John Hollinger ESPN.com	SOUTHEAST: 4 | EAST: 12  Looked like a playoff sleeper until Sean May's unfortunate microfracture surgery, dealing them a huge blow at a spot where they were already painfully thin. Talent is building, but wait 'til next year for these Cats to pounce.
Chris Sheridan ESPN.com	SOUTHEAST: 2 | EAST: 9  While Bob Johnson didn't exactly open his wallet Wyc Grousbeck-style, by acquiring Richardson he came through on his promise to spend after Year 3. Now they need to address is the front line, where the season-ending injury to Sean May has produced a need for another big body.
Marc Stein ESPN.com	SOUTHEAST: 4 | EAST: 12  They're getting deeper and closer. But the Bobs, even before the May and Morrison injuries, were still not big enough or experienced enough to convince me this will be their breakthrough season playoff-wise.
	TOTAL             SOUTHEAST: 4.3 | Standings             EAST: 12.4 | Standings

Team Strength: Starting Five

If everyone's healthy -- and I grant, that's a big if -- Charlotte's first five can hang with anybody. Raymond Felton is a rising force who should benefit from being asked to score less and pass more this season, as finishing is the one area that gives him trouble.

Jason Richardson is the type of athletic scorer this team has needed on the perimeter since inception, and allows Matt Carroll to transition into a more suitable bench role.

Gerald Wallace, of course is a human highlight film who should make the All-Star team one of these years, while Emeka Okafor is one of the game's elite defenders.

The starting five would have been even more imposing had Sean May not checked out for microfracture knee surgery, but don't sleep on Walter Herrmann. Though undersized, he and Wallace are capable of sharing the two forward spots -- much as they did during the Bobcats' impressive late-season run a year ago.

• John Hollinger's complete Bobcats forecast

STARTERS	ANALYSIS
Raymond Felton Point Guard 6-1 | 198	… but Ray, there's more to this game than alley-oops.
Jason Richardson Shooting Guard 6-6 | 225	Posttrade pouts fading with each Felton feed …
Gerald Wallace Small Forward 6-7 | 215	Crowd-pleasing drives offset by crowd-queasying floor crashes.
Emeka Okafor Power Forward 6-10 | 252	Finally had as many wins in NBA season as he did as UConn junior
Ryan Hollins Center 7-0 | 230	Quick on break but too thin to cut it in half-court.

ESPN The Magazine's NBA Preview hits newsstands October 24.

Matt Carroll Player efficiency rating projection: 13.96 vs. NBA avg.: -1.04 Charlotte profiles

Scouting report: Carroll shoots a high-arcing push shot off his right shoulder and is very accurate with it in catch-and-shoot situations, particularly from the corners. He's also very effective at using the threat of the shot to set up driving lanes, and when he goes to the basket he often finds his way to the line.

Defensively, Carroll is a liability, and that's likely to limit his role in coming seasons as expectations increase in Charlotte. While he's attentive and keeps up with the team concept, he doesn't have the size or leaping ability to affect opponents' shots, and his lateral quickness is poor.

2007-08 outlook: Carroll is a journeyman no longer -- he signed a six-year, $27 million deal with the Bobcats over the summer. From Charlotte's perspective, that was rather excessive on the years but values him fairly for his production in the short term.

However, it's not all roses for Carroll. His role is likely to decrease quite a bit this year thanks to the arrivals of Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley, returning him the bench-scoring role he filled in his first two years as a Bobcat. Don't expect his per-minute numbers to change much, but his per-game output will take a big dip.