May 8, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Ramon Sessions (7) passes the ball during game five of the 2012 Western Conference quarterfinals against the Denver Nuggets at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

The Charlotte Bobcats played their first summer league game Friday night and did something they hadn’t done in what seems like millennium; Win, and win big.

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer had some observations from that win, and says “If the Charlotte Bobcats can maintain anything like the fast tempo of Friday’s first half, this will get interesting. Likewise, if rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist can make threes like he did, it will be rough keeping him off the rim.”

Mike Prada, who writes for SB Nation, had this to say about Michael Kidd-Gilchrist after the game:

For the next two hours, Kidd-Gilchrist opened everyone’s eyes, showing any remaining skeptics that the clichés about his energy before the 2012 NBA Draft were far more than clichés. The final numbers — 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals — were impressive enough, but Kidd-Gilchrist’s breakout was about far more than that.

The money details for Ramon Sessions’ new contract with Charlotte have finally been released.

Guard Ramon Sessions will get $5 million a season in two-year deal with Bobcats, source tells Y! Sports.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 13, 2012

Finally, here’s this gem from YouTube:

June 28, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky) walks off the stage after being introduced as the number two overall pick to the Charlotte Bobcats during the 2012 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was as advertised and Jeffrey Taylor was as I advertised (an absolute steal) for at least one game. In the Las Vegas Summer League. For the first time in centuries, the Charlotte Bobcats won a game.

Kidd-Gilchrist dropped 18 points, dished out five assists and grabbed eight rebounds in his first ever NBA action.

Taylor scored 17 points and hit 75 percent of his threes.

Kemba Walker scored 16 points, almost exclusively at the free-throw line. He was awful from every other spot on the floor. Bismack Biyombo had six fouls in 16 minutes of play, Corey Higgins was average, and Byron Mullens shook off a poor start to score 20 points, and grab seven rebounds.

The defense was strong, and Charlotte did well in transition.

It was just one summer night in Las Vegas, but Bobcats fans finally had something to smile about as their team crushed the Kings 121-87.

Apr 14, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Nets power forward Kris Humphries (43) controls tip against Boston Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett (5) at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Aside from the players I listed yesterday, Charlotte will take Ralph Sampson III and Othello Hunter to Las Vegas to be on on its summer league roster.

The other players on the squad will be Kemba Walker, Bismack Biyombo, Byron Mullens, Corey Higgins, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeffrey Taylor.

Charlotte plays five games in Vegas, and you can watch any summer league game you want on NBA.com.

The more interesting news of the day comes out of Orlando/Brooklyn. With trade talks somewhat stalled between the Magic, Nets, Cavs and Clippers, Charlotte could sneak its way into a deal that would send Dwight Howard to Brookyn.

Cleveland has been reluctant to take on Chris Humphries in a sign-and-trade for more than one season, and Humphries wants a long term deal.

If the Bobcats are trying to work their way into this trade, they’re probably willing to give Humphries that longer-term contract.

But, who knows if he’ll agree to a contract that keeps him in Charlotte for the foreseeable future.

For a more in depth version of this story (and other NBA rumors) read the always great Rick Bonnell from the Charlotte Observer.

June 28, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky), right, is introduced as the number two overall pick to the Charlotte Bobcats by NBA commissioner David Stern during the 2012 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

The headline of this post might be a little misleading… You see, the Charlotte Bobcats announced their departure for Las Vegas to participate in the NBA summer league, but the team hasn’t issued a roster yet.

The best list I found came from a tweet @Bobcats sent out, but the only guys they mentioned were Kemba Walker, Bismack Biyombo, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Corey Higgins and Jeffrey Taylor. For what it’s worth I couldn’t find any of their names on NBA.com’s list of players taking part in the 2012 summer league.

So. According to that list, Charlotte has a pretty good group of young guys who will benefit from playing in Vegas this summer. I’m interested to see how much Walker has improved on finishing at the rim, if Biyombo will still bite on 95 percent of pump-fakes, and if Kidd-Gilchrist tries to prove his doubters wrong by taking ill-advised threes. One thing I know is this: Mike Dunlap’s high-tempo offense will benefit all of those guys, and the head coach will treat these games like mid-season contests.

What I’m most interested to see is how Jeffrey Taylor performs. I really believe he has a long future ahead of him in this league and he could be a 10 point, 4 rebound guy (not to mention the team’s first or second best defender) off the bench for Charlotte as soon as next season.