The Charlotte Bobcats were the hands-down winners of last night’s NBA draft. It may appear that I’m being a homer, but it’s the honest truth.

The picks of Bismack Biyombo of the Congo and Connecticut point guard Kemba Walker were signs that the Bobcats are finally serious about building a competitive franchise.

First, let me say what a relief it is to see this team make good draft-day decisions.

Michael Jordan doesn’t have a great personnel track record -- for example, the 2001 1st overall pick of Kwame Brown when Jordan was running the Washington Wizards. Brown is a descent role player now with the Bobcats, but he will always be a poster boy for bad draft decisions.

As for the Bobcats organization, since 2005 it has been one poor decision after another. They selected Sean May with their second pick in the first round. He was a great college player, but he clearly was not NBA ready physically or in terms of his skill set. He has since faded into oblivion.

The next year Charlotte drafted Adam Morrison ahead of Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay. How did that work out?

Morrison, who was a great college scorer but a subpar athlete, played two years in Charlotte before getting shipped out to L.A. He is not currently on any NBA team.

Roy and Gay were more athletic, more skilled, and were just as highly touted as Morrison. Roy is a three-time all-star. Gay is a member of the US National Team and won a world championship last summer in FIBA competition.

Others have followed, including the 2007 pick and subsequent trade of former UNC forward Brandon Wright to Golden State for Jason Richardson. Richardson gave little effort in Charlotte and was traded after a couple of seasons.

It was basically a wasted pick for Charlotte.

But last night—oh what a night.

I honestly think those were the two best individual picks of the draft -- a young guy with a bright future and a mature player with a proven past.

I don’t know a lot about Biyombo, as he doesn’t have a wealth of accomplishments. But his several nicknames, including “Master,” “Black Panther” and “Big Smack,” the latter alluding to his defensive abilities, all show what other people think about him.

From what I’ve seen, he is basically a shorter version of Tyson Chandler, who just anchored a Dallas Mavericks defense that shut down the Miami Heat and won the NBA championship.

He is long, athletic and defensive minded, and at 18 he has tons of room to grow.

As for Kemba Walker, he is a grown man, and then some. Walker was, based off of body of work, the best player in the draft.

Playing under Jim Calhoun at U Conn for three years, he went to two Final Fours and led his team this past year to the national championship.

Behind Walker’s dominant scoring and overflowing swagger, the Huskies won every tournament last season, including a grueling five-games-in-five-days Big East tournament.

I may be a little over excited, but Walker reminds me of cat named Allen Iverson. Anybody heard of him?

He’s small—6’0”, 185 pounds or so—but he has proven he can put a team on his back.

And on top of it all, he actually wants to be in Charlotte. He and Biyombo looked like the two happiest players at the draft last night.

So here’s what the future could look like for Charlotte: A young, athletic team anchored by a high-jumping post defender on one end and a high-scoring guard on the other.

With D.J. Augustine learning how to play point guard at a high level, this team has a good foundation for the future. Now they need to continue building.

Keep making good player acquisitions and personnel decisions, M.J. Last night you guys made your first legitimate step at, duh, winning.

Related Commentary: NBA draft promises more intrigue

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Michael Gentry is a regular contributor to Qcitymetro.com. He writes most frequently about Charlotte's faith community, but he's also an avid sports fan.

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