Ely dealt, doesn't harbor any ill will
Bobcats get Eric Williams, pick, cash from Spurs
RICK BONNELL
Melvin Ely won't miss sitting. But he'll sure miss the place he called home the past 2 1/2 years.
"This year was kind of disappointing because I didn't get to show all the things I worked on," Ely told the Observer, after Tuesday's trade to the San Antonio Spurs. "But I still feel good about everyone in the (Bobcats) organization -- from the head coach to the janitor, I made a lot of friends here."
Ely went to the Spurs for a 2009 second-round pick, some cash and forward Eric Williams' expiring contract. He asked for a trade in mid-December, after it became clear he'd slipped out of the rotation.
Ely had a rare skill --
a variety of ways to score in the low post. But coach-general manager
Bernie Bickerstaff often mentioned Ely's poor rebounding as a reason he slipped behind Emeka Okafor and Sean May at the power forward position.
Ely never griped about the demotion. Instead, he expressed a deep loyalty to Bickerstaff for rescuing him from the end of the bench with the Los Angeles Clippers.
That kind nature was a factor in Bickerstaff searching for a trade that would give Ely a fresh start on a playoff team.
"That's why we went out of our way to find a deal; because of the quality of the human being," Bickerstaff said of Ely. "He's a terrific guy and a terrific teammate."
With Ely gone, the Bobcats are down to four of the original 15 players from November 2004 -- Okafor, Gerald Wallace, Primoz Brezec and Brevin Knight.
The 2009 second-round pick replaces the pick the team sent to the Clippers for Ely the summer before the Bobcats' first season. Bickerstaff said allowing Ely to become a free agent in July would have likely resulted in the Bobcats getting nothing for losing him.
Williams, 33, comes to the Bobcats primarily to balance the salaries. He makes $4.3 million this season, the last on his contract. Ely makes $3.3 million, and the Spurs will compensate the Bobcats for the difference, according to an informed source.
It's questionable how much Williams will play here. He's 6-foot-8 and can play some at small or power forward. In his prime, he was known as a superior defender with a decent outside shot. That was when he played for Boston and New Jersey, before being dealt to Toronto and San Antonio.
Funny, but not nice. You should just tell him he spells it wrong. 
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