TheMostInterestingMan

55 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

Lol.  That's what should happen, but we just hired Steve back...  so, expect a Mason Plumlee and Bismack Biyimbo re-signing to start in the front court and eat up 32 minutes per game each.  But hey!  All you guys that wanted defense will get your wish as we slow the game down to limit possessions!

Well don’t include me in that. And I also made this post hours before the Clifford signing happened. Felt sure D’Antoni would be named our next HC. Vegas odds did as well. Very frustrating 

22 hours ago, top dawg said:

And Snopes is trash why? Oh, I know: because they actually put effort into telling the truth and nothing but the truth.

Yeah... top shelf integrity and nothing but facts. They have always worked super hard for it. Lolz

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/deansterlingjones/snopes-cofounder-plagiarism-mikkelson

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2016/12/22/the-daily-mail-snopes-story-and-fact-checking-the-fact-checkers/?sh=21378445227f

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/13/business/media/snopes-plagiarism-David-Mikkelson.html

2 hours ago, Shocker said:

LOL…seriously thinking Kia Jones or Mark Williams see mins under Clifford.   
 

A team like Miami or GS shoots this team out of the game in like 5 mins

Well I posted this before the Clifford hire and yeah I’m pretty bummed about him. However the point you make about Golden State is irrelevant. We weren’t going to be seriously competing with them this year no matter what we did this off-season. This team is young and still developing. If you thought we could compete with the Warriors this season at any point then you were fooling yourself.

Williams has to get minutes because we else do we even have? Kai could be a question mark for PT but I think he’ll see the court a lot more this year as well.

I understand that it’s pretty easy to feel negatively about this team right now. But the point I was making was this team is young and insanely tall and athletic and as they continue to develop we should have a solid squad. 

We have the pieces in place after drafting Mark Williams to have an unreal combination of size and athleticism on this roster. 
 

PG Ball 6’7

SG Rozier 6’1

SF Bridges 6’7

PF Kai Jones 6’10

C Mark Williams 7’1

Obviously Rozier is a smaller SG but the rest of this team is massive. Not only that but the young bigs can absolutely fly down the court for their size making our fast break game deadly. Kai Jones has been working on his outside game a lot this offseason. He’s been working on shoot threes and his catch and release since the season ended. With his size and defensive tenacity, combined with Mark Williams, I think we see a much improved defense this year. And I think we see ball feast on assisting this crazy athletic bigs in transition. 
 

I’ll be honest, I felt like we could have gotten more from the Duren trade last night and that has me a bit upset. I still feel the trade was underwhelming. But I love the construction of this team. If Kai Jones can take a step forward and get decent playtime this year, which I anticipate he will, then this team is going to be exciting. We’ve been undersized. That no longer looks like it will be the case. Williams and Jones are two really big and lengthy players that can both defend really well. That’s their biggest strength. Jones has more offensive potential than Williams but both are great around the rim and both are amazing defending the paint and running the floor.

Bridges has great size and athleticism and Ball is another freakishly big player for his position. Point being, we should have a roster that can create a ton of mismatches going forward. The team is very young and it could take another year or two before it really catches fire for this team but the vision is pretty clear. We have the foundation to be a mismatch no matter what teams throw our way. If you play small ball against us then we will hurt you with our size. And if you try to neutralize our size then we will kill you in transition with our athleticism.

For all the frustration I felt last night regarding the trade, I am VERY optimistic about this roster moving forward. Once we shed Hayward we can use that cap to keep this core moving forward and I really feel positive about where it will lead us. This team is going to be really tough to handle once it gets a little more experience under its belt. Don’t sleep on Kai Jones either. If he can start knocking down threes, oh boy. Watch out. 
 

We are in good shape. I understand the frustration after last night. I was frustrated too. But I do feel this is the best position this team has been in probably ever. A young core with elite size and athleticism is a good thing to have. We are going to be a headache moving forward in the very near future.

28 minutes ago, rippadonn said:

That's all that matters for now. So yay!

True. The most important thing currently is making sure he wants to stay in Charlotte. So if he’s happy then I can’t complain really 

Just now, rippadonn said:

Still trying to make sense of it all. It may be that someone in the front office got trade happy.

Why couldn't we just keep both and let three guys compete for the position.

I'm not mad about Williams though.

I agree. Williams is a 7’2 freak. If he can develop an offensive game then he has the tools to be an incredible player. Regarding the trade, I think Mitch tried to get cute and ended up laying an egg. Maybe we can at least package the two 1sts next year to get that missing piece. But as it stands right now, this trade was ugly. 
 

I am reasonably happy with Williams though. His size and length is incredible. He could be a great player if he can learn to score consistently.

Just now, App Panther said:

And another thing...

We could of had Duren and AJ Griffin... Ugh. 

 

The dream. How stupid this team is. I swear.

4 minutes ago, rippadonn said:

Ok, I get it, Kai Jones and Duren may be too similar. Williams comes in at 7'2" so he can play him at C and Kai at PF or C. That MAY be the rational.

Still an awful trade. Draft the best shooter in the draft in Griffin or trade for multiple 1sts in the future or to dump Hayward’s contract. Like I said, I can understand preferring Williams but I can’t understand the trade at all.

1 minute ago, Shocker said:

Protected top 4

Here’s to hoping for #5 all year and getting 22

Is Denver’s 1st that we got lottery protected? Not that I expect them to pick in the lottery next year but I guess anything is possible if they get plagued by injury. Anyone know? 

2 minutes ago, Shocker said:

Agree…I just don’t get it…glad to know you Lamelo.   I am really ready for him leaving.  I would 

Play our cards right and we might get three 2nds for him

Going from pure delight picking Duren to total devastation. I had to step away from the computer for a bit. Just turned on MLB for awhile. This team is painful. So close and I am fine with Mark Williams if that's who they liked. But this trade is a disaster. Giving up 13 for that and not dumping Haywards contract is a massive muppet move. Just terrible. 

Please. Please give us Duren. If not then take Griffin and give me whichever is left between Duren and Williams at 15. 

4 minutes ago, Shocker said:

As a freshman he also has some offense to his game and can run the floor.  Really like his IQ 

Well I liked him and wanted him in our range but perhaps 9 is higher than I would have taken him. Still has a ton of upside though. 

1 minute ago, Shocker said:

Sochan Gets under your skin which would be very welcome here defensively 

Couldn’t stand him at Baylor but would love to have him in Charlotte 

3 minutes ago, Shocker said:

Just my opinion but I watched Purdue play 3 times last season and he had like no impact…Ja Morant?  No

I kind of agree. He didn’t pass the eye test for me either. But he is a physical freak so I guess that upside is worth it. It’s why I want to see us get Sochan after securing a C even though I can’t stand him. He’s physically a monster and can guard essentially all 5 positions 

2 minutes ago, DamnItJake! said:

Gotcha I have no idea on money!! Saw other posts about getting rid of Hayward for him which I didn’t think about!! He’s been a disappointment.. could work.. I just know we aren’t lucky with ex big names!! I like Westbrook’s just his play suxs 

I loved vintage Westbrook but I absolutely would not want him on this team now either. But his deal is up at the end of the year and would allow us to have a ton of cap space. Still, I personally want us to just remain patient and keep both picks tonight. I get the logic behind Westbrook but I don't want to see us do it. It will essentially mean we can't upgrade our roster until next offseason which seems counter productive right now to me. 

9 minutes ago, DamnItJake! said:

Lol!! It’s like really!!?? Westbrook!!?? Really he’s garbage!! Hornets are notorious for bringing big names in at the end of their careers!! We need to stay young!! Get  a big center Williams..trade up for Duren.. Introduce Antoni to meet the draftee!!

Well I am with you 100% but the logic in trading for Westbrook isn't because hes good. Its because he has a big contract that you can let run out and give yourself a bunch of cap space afterwards to sign someone on a max deal.

2 hours ago, frankw said:

Yeah Myles Turner isn't the answer unless we get him for very little. The last thing this franchise needs is another guy who can't stay off the bench. Make a run at Ayton or just look to the draft.

Yeah it’s an unlikely possibility but I would be on board with taking both Duren and Williams if the opportunity presented itself if I’m being honest 

12 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

TBH, if we can't get Duren at 13, I hope that's all it takes to get Myles.  13th plus salary for Myles...  after that, I really don't care.  Although Williams' size is intriguing, he is much of the same dinosaur that we've had issues with forever now, and those guys tend to get exposed when running into the better run orgs in the league (i.e., the ones we aspire to be if we ever want to win)...  so, no thanks.

Williams type players are still valuable in this league and he would be an answer to a lot of our defensive deficiencies but I do agree that Duren or a trade for Turner would be better. But if we cannot and we have to settle fir Williams then that will be fine. We don’t have an issue scoring. We are one of the higher scoring teams in the league. We have to get some bodies capable of defending. 

1 minute ago, Carl Spackler said:

I like Dawn Staley a lot and wish we still had our WNBA team, but I still find this column to be geared toward driving clicks more than driving action.

Exactly this

4 minutes ago, Daddy_Uncle said:

Great feedback. Why no specifically? Because she's a female? That's pretty lame grandpa

I mean, I completely agree with him. It may not be the woke answer but the Hornets have only just become an exciting team to watch again with a bright future and young stars. 
 

Do you really want to risk losing these guys by making a signing like the first female HC in the league? 
 

I wouldn’t say no to her solely because she’s a female. But now seems like a pretty stupid time to take a chance like that and risk losing a budding star like Ball or perhaps Bridges if they don’t like the move and check out wanting to go somewhere else.

Who do you honestly think Ball would be more excited to play under? Her or Mike D’Antoni? Why risk losing this team? 

19 minutes ago, 33inNC said:

Let's draft Adam Morrison, let's draft Malik Monk instead of Donovan Mitchell, let's draft MKG...

MJ, your decisions are crap, let your GM do his damn job. Who in the hell are you going to hire now?  He better be head and shoulders better than Borrego since your emotions decided to can him. 

What a cluster this is. 

I mean, MJ has let Mitch pretty much take over and our drafts have been fantastic over the last couple of years lol

43 minutes ago, frankw said:

44 minutes ago, frankw said:

You can’t cherry pick what I said all you want but the point is neither Sam nor Baker are the long term answer. So why trade for someone you intend to replace in the next year or so? Might as well let Sam trot out there until Corral is ready because he could be the long term answer and we need to find out if he can be before next years draft. Baker makes no sense.

8 minutes ago, exactlyzack said:

He just Josh McDaniel’d us. 

That’s fine. I’m not a huge fan anyway really. I would rather have D’Antoni or Stotts who are both the other two choices at the top of our list so I feel we upgrade either way at this point