Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

It would probably not be totally fair to criticize Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for his performance this season, considering he’s playing for the 15-50 Charlotte Bobcats, who continue to struggle in a major way.

But Kidd-Gilchrist still has his whole career in front of him, and has to start showing that it matters.

His numbers are way too low for someone of his potential. Kidd-Gilchrist is at 9.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He’s not worthy of even being considered for NBA Rookie of the Year.

Last week, Kidd-Gilchrist seemed to be in the groove when he had a decent game against the Brooklyn Nets. In 32 minutes of action, he was 8-of-13 from the floor, and scored 17 points with five rebounds and two steals.

That was a good Michael Kidd-Gilchrist game. But in the next performance, he struggled in limited minutes. In fact, in his last two game, he’s only scored two points each time with a combined 2-of-9 in shooting, while averaging 20.5 minutes.

It would be ridiculous to blame Kidd-Gilchrist for the team’s 10-game losing streak, but he definitely deserves his share of the blame. He’s not performing to NBA standards. Of course, many of his teammates aren’t doing so either. Kidd-Gilchrist is only a rookie, and he obviously still has a remarkable amount of potential.

The Bobcats need to restructure their roster during the off-season so Kidd-Gilchrist has more leadership to guide him going forward. He needs some incentive to start playing better basketball.