Bobcats send Drobnjak to Hawks for 2005 pick

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Bobcats send Drobnjak to Hawks for 2005 pick

August 16, 2004

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The Charlotte Bobcats traded center Predrag Drobnjak to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday for a second round pick in the 2005 NBA draft.

The Bobcats agreed to select Drobnjak from the Los Angeles Clippers in the expansion draft as part of the deal for the Clippers' No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft. The Bobcats used that pick to draft Emeka Okafor.

The Bobcats never had an immense interest in Drobnjak, and after sending their 2005 second-round pick to the Clippers in July for Melvin Ely and Eddie House, they were looking to get another draft selection.

``This trade allows us to open up a roster spot and also gives us a second round pick next year that we lost last month,'' said general manager Bernie Bickerstaff. ``We had six players at the power forward and center positions and this will relieve some of the logjam and present more minutes for the guys on our roster.''

Drobnjak, a 6-foot-11 forward from Serbia-Montenegro, was drafted by Washington in the second round of the 1997 NBA draft but remained in Yugoslavia.

He spent the first two years of his NBA career with the Seattle SuperSonics before signing with the Clippers in 2003.