MillionDollarCam

Deal is almost done. Hopefully we get more than just Stankoven. In the $12M range.

If there’s an extension in place then we better be getting back Hintz or WyJo.

The return will depend on how many teams there are that Rantanen would extend with. If it’s a three team race then the return will be underwhelming. If he’s got a list of 10 plus teams then we can create a bidding war. As far as a pure rental I don’t see him getting much more than Guentzel got last year. Not because Rantanen isn’t better but because of his recent play. Teams are certainly going to try and take advantage of that. The problem is Rantanen doesn’t seem too inclined to sign a deal right now. If he would sign with someone like Toronto then I’d say ship him off for Knjes and a first. But at this point I’m preparing to be underwhelmed.

Canes fumbled hard on this one. Canes had a little term with Necas and traded him for a rental now we’re right back in the Guentzel situation. The thing with Guentzel is he made us better, Rantanen makes this team worse. Unload him for the best offer and move on.

I said compared to the rest of the NBA lol. Not you and me.

Don’t think this is accurate. Saw this posted on threads/IG and people ran with it. Whats more than likely happening as some Hornets podcasters have pointed out is that the Hornets are disputing the physical not to force the trade but for Williams’ benefit. The Lakers essentially killed Williams’ next contract so the Hornets are doing Williams a solid and getting an arbitrator to essentially figure out who isn’t telling the truth. I’m willing to bet Mark will be back after the dust settles. You just don’t buy out solid rookies when they are making penny’s compared to the rest of the NBA.

Seen one interesting idea regarding Rantanen. Obviously Rantanen is off to a slow start and we’re no where near closer to a new deal. Toronto is also struggling getting their superstar, Mitch Marner, to agree to a new deal. Should Carolina flip Rantanen for Marner before the deadline? Marner might be a better fit than Rantanen anyway.

If this keeps up Rantanen ain’t signing back here.

Why was Orlov looking back at the boards? Guy’s lost and tanking his future contract.

Love seeing Jarvis with Aho and Rantanen but I don’t know why RBA won’t put Blake with Staal and Martinook. He would fit perfectly on that line.

Next year I think the goal is to get one of those top 3 guys and give it one more go with the corp they have. If they go through all this injury crap again then I think they’ll blow it up and everyone not named Miller, Knecht, and their 2025 pick could be had. And I could see Bridges being moved regardless if they get one of Flagg or Bailey.

We say this every year but a healthy Hornets team could be fun next year. It probably won’t be but it could be. G - Ball, Mann, Simpson G - Miller, Green, Smith, Jeffries F - Knecht, Williams F - Bridges, Salaun, Okogie C - Nurkic, Diabate Add in one of Flagg, Harper, or Bailey and things could be looking up.

Chatfield has shown he can play his off side. Maybe they give Morrow a look with him. Slavin - Burns Chatfield - Morrow Ghost - Walker

Tulsky did the right thing hanging on to Necas. As some expected, Necas’ contract was designed to be traded and Necas’ huge year allowed the Canes to get an elite talent for him that they feel more comfortable extending. I have no problem going to $13M AAV for Rantanen. Especially with a lot of ELC guys ready to make the jump in Nadeau and Nikishin. It’ll also be interesting to see if the Canes try to upgrade the 2C position by the end of the year. A current healthy Canes team looks like this: Rantanen - Aho - Jarvis Hall - Kotkaniemi - Svechnikov Martinook - Staal - Carrier Robinson - Roslovic - Blake Jost/Jaaska/Suzuki Slavin - Burns Orlov - Chatfield Gostisbehere - Walker Stillman Kochetkov Andersen

Re-sign Rantanen and figure the rest out later.

Notre Dame ML let’s goooo!

Can confirm as a former defensive quality control intern at the college level. All we do is watch film, absolutely no impact on the game whatsoever. Gopher indeed.

8/10 on Canales Canales was brought in to change the culture and make it work with BY9. As of right now it looks like he’s done that. Is there room to grow, sure, head coaches should always be getting better as the game is multifaceted. 5/10 on Morgan Yeah he pulled Hunt and Lewis in free agency but we didn’t land any instant impact players in the draft and a lot of the depth pieces he signed were average at best. It’s too early to grade last years draft class but come next year if we don’t see any improvement from our 2024 class and we don’t land an instant impact player at 8 then it might be time to move on. Morgan needs to give Canales and his staff more to work with than he did this year.

Yeah that should be their focus in free agency as well as the draft. Honestly they need to take a page out of the Panthers book. Draft your tackles and sign your guards.

The Bears have one of the better setups in recent history for their incoming coach. Not often does an incoming coach walk into a situation where one of his position groups is already ranked in the top 10. The Bears already have a top 10 defense and really just need to iron out the offense. I’m not super high on Williams but an offense minded head coach might be able to get something out of him. The Bears also don’t have a lot to do in free agency, they just need to fix their OL.

This is the type of thinking that keeps teams in the basement. The Ravens were obliterated for taking Kyle Hamilton because who takes a safety in the top 15? Well the Ravens did and they got an elite playmaker and one of if not the best safety in the game. Not to mention, safety is a relative safe position to draft high. All the top safeties are first or second round picks. The Panthers can’t afford to keep striking out on first round picks and Starks would be an impact starter from day one, you can’t say that about any of the EDGE’s in this draft.

We are definitely watching different guys. As a sophomore he was the only P5 safety that graded as a top 5 pass defender and a top 5 run defender. And he’s definitely physical. The tape doesn’t lie. Any scouting report that says otherwise isn’t accurate. Also if we keep Evero which it looks like we are, the secondary needs to be elite. Evero’s defense is built on having an elite secondary. In 2022 the Broncos had a top 10 mark in expected points allowed per play. EPA loves long passes and the Broncos secondary was elite and kept everything in front of them which allows credence to the belief that Evero’s defense is truly a bend but don’t break defense that relies on elite secondary play. Additionally, in 2022 the Broncos had a 91.2 coverage grade which was the best in the NFL and they also were top 10 in completion percentage allowed and touchdowns allowed. The secondary needs more than Jaycee Horn to be successful. There’s all this talk of needing an elite front seven with Evero and that’s simply not true. Evero had Bradley Chubb and a bunch of average front seven players playing at a high level because the Broncos secondary was elite. If the Panthers defense doesn’t have an elite secondary then they will struggle again.

Easy… Starks.

Hard to see him falling past the Raiders considering their top two receivers are Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker. Pairing Bowers with McMillan would give them an actual passing attack with whoever ends up being their QB.

It’s very likely that all of Will Johnson, Mason Graham, and Tetairoa McMillan will be gone. A safety hasn’t gone in the top 10 since Jamal Adams in 2017. But if there’s a safety that deserves to go in the top 10 it’s Malaki Starks. He graded top 10 against the run and the pass at his position and his ball skills are insane.