"I know that a lot of you like famous players. You want the Charlotte Bobcats to invest the ninth pick in tonight's NBA draft on somebody with celebrity. No offense, but you're like that.

But it's not what a player has done. It's what he can do.

The Bobcats desperately need a big man who can run, jump and block shots. They haven't had one since they traded Gerald Wallace four months ago, and as the season wound down, it showed.

Such a player was on the practice court at Time Warner Cable Arena Wednesday. His name is Bismack Biyombo, he's from the Republic of Congo, and if he is available, the Bobcats should take him.

Even in the age of the instant electronic gossip, Biyombo remains a mystery.

Had you heard of him six months ago? Two months ago? Last week?

Rumors persist that he is at least 20 and perhaps 23.

"I'm 18," Biyombo says when I ask after Wednesday's workout. "And I'm going to be 19 in August."

Biyombo's age might be accurate. His height isn't.

He's listed at 6 feet 9. He's not. When he stood next to Bobcats owner Michael Jordan, who is 6-6, he appeared no more than an inch taller.

Biyombo has been measured at 6-7 in socks. And in his defense, some men shrink in Jordan's presence.

I would like to see them compare wingspans. Biyombo's is a freakish 7-7. He looks as if he could pluck a dime off the floor without bending over.

The Bobcats have a drill in which a player dunks from a standing position. Biyombo dunked 75 times before he missed, and his feet often appeared only a few inches off the floor.

The oldest of seven children, Biyombo speaks four languages plus a little Arabic, and he loves to read. I asked him the name of the last book he read, and he told me. But I speak only one language and the title wasn't in one of mine.

Aside from the ability to converse in multiple languages, what does he offer?

"I can block shots, I can rebound, I play intense, I play hard," Biyombo says in an NBA-ready baritone.

Biyombo was 9 when he began to play basketball and 14 when he turned professional. He played in Yemen and Spain. But it was at April's Nike Hoop Summit in Portland that the NBA became curious."