CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Picture the NBA free agency period beginning and Michael Jordan is on the phone making a recruiting pitch to LeBron James.

It’s one the perks for the Charlotte Bobcats now that the Hall of Famer owns the team. Only being a big player in free agency isn’t on Jordan’s agenda — or even possible.

Unlike the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets and Chicago Bulls, the Bobcats have no salary-cap space to participate in the summer free agency bonanza that could include James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire.

And Jordan doesn’t mind. In moving from a minority investor with the final say on personnel decisions to the first former player be a majority owner of an NBA team, Jordan is preaching patience with his roster.

He is vowing not to get into luxury tax territory with his payroll and showing distaste for what he feels is overblown hype for free agency this summer.

“That doesn’t guarantee that New York is going to be in the playoffs,” Jordan said shortly after his $275 million purchase of the team was approved last week.

Jordan acknowledged he has “little wiggle room right now” with the salary cap.

He indicated they have committed between $57-59 million in payroll for next season, and that doesn’t include impending free agents Raymond Felton and Tyrus Thomas.

Jordan said the league office has told teams the luxury tax threshold — where teams will have to pay a dollar for dollar tax for going over — could be as low as $61 million next season.

“If it’s around $65 (million), we still have roughly $8 million to play with to stay underneath the luxury tax,” Jordan said.

“I don’t see a need to go over the luxury tax unless we go deep (in the playoffs) and we’re a player away or we’re close.”

At the urging of coach Larry Brown, the Bobcats have made seven trades involving 21 players since the start of last season.

It’s Jordan’s preferred way to improve the roster instead of through free agency and the draft, with the Bobcats owing future first-round picks to Minnesota and Chicago because of past deals.

Those trades, including Stephen Jackson’s acquisition in November, have put the six-year-old Bobcats (35-34) one win shy of a franchise season record and in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Jordan said he wasn’t going to “box myself into” saying if he felt the current core of players that includes Jackson, All-Star Gerald Wallace, Felton, Thomas and Tyson Chandler could develop into a contending team.

“To say what’s the clear cut ingredient to win a championship, I don’t know,” Jordan said. “I really, really don’t know. I think we have the ingredients to compete and surpass a lot of expectations.”

• Mike Cranston