The Charlotte Bobcats are making it official today, naming Rod Higgins as their general manager.

Higgins will work with managing partner Michael Jordan and executive vice president Bernie Bickerstaff to run the basketball operation. Higgins comes from the Golden State Warriors, where he had the same title, working under executive vice president Chris Mullin.

The Bobcats could dangle both picks (8th and 22nd) as trade bait to move up in the draft.

"The one thing we've got, is maybe one team wants two players in a draft like this," Bernie Bickerstaff said. "So it's good to have those kind of options, because we bring something to the table in a very deep draft, when you talk about two picks."

According to a league source at the pre-draft camp, Charlotte part-owner Michael Jordan has targeted Golden State general manager Rod Higgins to replace Bernie Bickerstaff, who had been the GM and is now an executive vice president.

Bernie Bickerstaff accepted a new role with the Bobcats on Friday, a move that could lead part-owner Michael Jordan to hire a GM.

In a news conference to introduce Sam Vincent as coach, Jordan announced Bickerstaff, the team's coach and GM since its inception three years ago, will become an executive vice president.

"I felt the necessary need to keep Bernie involved," Jordan said. "He'll be my right-hand man. We've had a great relationship over the last year or so."

Jordan said they may hire a GM to help with personnel issues. Charlotte has yet to replace assistant GM Karl Hicks, who took a job this spring with the ACC.

"Have we entertained conversations about possibly having a GM? Yes," Jordan said.

The Charlotte Bobcats today named Sam Vincent as the franchise?s second head coach, replacing Bernie Bickerstaff who stepped down at the end of the 2006-07 season. The former seven-year NBA player was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks last season.

?We are extremely pleased to welcome Sam into our organization as our next head coach,? Charlotte Bobcats Majority Owner Bob Johnson said. ?He is one of the top, young coaching prospects in the NBA and we feel he is the perfect complement for our team.?

Mavericks assistant Sam Vincent will be named the new head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, a source confirmed Wednesday.

Minor details still are being worked out, but the Bobcats are expected to hold a news conference Friday to introduce Vincent.

Vincent, 44, will replace Bernie Bickerstaff, who is remaining with the team in a front-office position. Bickerstaff met with Vincent for a second time Saturday in Dallas.

With the lottery now over, the Charlotte Bobcats have turned their attention to hiring a new coach before the NBA pre-draft camp starts next week in Orlando.

"We'd like to get something done by Orlando," general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said Tuesday.

And on the same day Toronto coach Sam Mitchell signed a new deal with the Raptors, Sam Vincent seemed to be moving up on the long list of Bobcats' candidates, partially because of his connections to Jordan.

Asked Tuesday night if the Bobcats had begun negotiating with Vincent, Bickerstaff played coy.

"We're getting close to negotiating with a coach. We won't confirm it or deny," Bickerstaff said.

Raptors' GM Bryan Colangelo has turned down one National Basketball Association team interested in speaking with his head coach Sam Mitchell.

Mitchell's contract expires June 30 and Colangelo said yesterday talks are under way to sign the NBA coach of the year to an extension.

One team officially sought permission to speak to Mitchell, but was denied. Another team asked informally about a timeline that needed to be followed.

"The response was basically I'm not prepared to release Sam to speak to other teams at this stage," Colangelo remarked. "It's far too early in the process and we're not at that point yet."

Stan Van Gundy, who cited family reasons when he resigned as Heat coach in December 2005, said today that he's ready to get back into NBA coaching.

Van Gundy, whose contract as a Heat consultant runs through June 2008, said team president and coach Pat Riley has granted teams permission to interview him.

Van Gundy has interviewed for the Charlotte Bobcats' head-coaching vacancy. And The Indianapolis Star said Van Gundy spoke with the Pacers, who recently dismissed coach Rick Carlisle.

"Pat's been really good about giving people permission to talk to me, so I'll talk to whoever wants to talk and see what happens," Van Gundy said.

Knick assistant coach Herb Williams' friendship with Michael Jordan helped land him an interview in Charlotte with the Bobcats on Tuesday afternoon for the team's head-coaching vacancy, the New York Post is reporting.

Williams met with Jordan, the Bobcats' managing partner, and departing coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

Through buddy Patrick Ewing, Williams became friends with Jordan. If Williams gets the job, he'd either bring along Ewing, or Ewing would take Williams' Knick spot.

While Williams told a confidant the Charlotte interview "went great," he is not considered a front-runner, with the list of candidates at eight.

Williams, a former Pacer, also is close with Indiana owner Herb Simon and could get an interview there, too.