Zack Lowe and Simmons debate Hornets

[PantherBrew]

Simmons poses a Henderson/Zeller swap for West...  Don't think him and Big Al compliment each other. But he would add some toughness and experiance.  Either way Simmons likes our roster. 

 

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-annual-nba-league-pass-rankings-part-1/ 

 

 

Simmons: They have to trade David West within the next three months, right? In the Bill and Jalen Preview for the Pacers (coming Wednesday!), Jalen smartly pushes for a West-to-Charlotte trade for former Hoosier Noah Vonleh or former Hoosier Cody Zeller. The Pacers should bottom out for a year and get a meaningful asset for West … right?

 

Lowe: Hmm … West has a $12.6 million option for the 2015-16 season, and it’s the rare option that presents an interesting choice for the player. As a 34-year-old on a semi-expiring deal, West just doesn’t have a lot of trade value. I don’t see the Hornets giving up a potential good young big for him, but they are the right sort of team for a trade like this — a longtime sad sack with some irrational exuberance and/or desperation to accelerate their rise.

 

Simmons: We disagree — it’s difficult enough to find a playoff-proven veteran/locker room leader that West’s value might be higher than you think. I would flip Zeller for him in 2.2 seconds. Imagine Charlotte becoming a genuine contender. And even better, imagine West and Lance improbably reuniting. If it happens, I hope someone takes a cell phone video of West rejoicing upon hearing that he got traded to a contender … and then realizing that he has to play with Lance again.

 

Lowe: West doesn’t make Charlotte a legitimate contender. But Zeller–Gerald Henderson is a workable trade package in terms of salary, and I could see Henderson becoming disgruntled as he loses minutes. I just don’t think West has much trade value as a rotation wing on another semi-expiring deal.

 

Simmons: Come on … Big Al, West, Lance, Kemba, Gary Neal, P.J. Hairston, Marvin “Veteran Leader” Williams and MKG Who Now Allegedly Shoots Correctly in the messy East? That’s not a contender? They couldn’t win two straight playoff series in the East? Careful, you’re gonna piss off the 2,500 Charlotte fans.

 

Lowe: Winning two series in the East means beating Chicago or Cleveland, and I don’t see your theoretical Hornets roster doing that if both of those teams are healthy.

 

Simmons: To be fair, I factored in the whole “Derrick Rose hasn’t played a healthy month of basketball since a week before my daughter’s seventh birthday” subplot into that projection. My daughter is now 9½.

 

Lowe: Well, that was depressing. That’s ultimately why you have to go for it sometimes, though. No one thought the Pacers would be a game from the Finals in 2013. I just don’t think the current Hornets core is as good as you do. As for other places, West would be a good triangle big if the Knicks had anything to trade, and Sacramento is leading the “irrational exuberance/desperation scale.” But West is hard to deal, and Indy really values his leadership. They seem to mean it when they say they’re not tanking this one random non-George season.

[bLACKpANTHER]

Yeah I dont like the mesh of Al and West down low, but I still think it would improve the squad somehow.. you can't add an allstar and get worse- you know

[ncrecordkeeper]

No way I trade Zeller or vonleh for west. Just not enough tread left. Nice that the hornets are being kicked around though.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[zaximus704]

I wouldn't trade Vonleh.  Zeller/Hendo I would.  I know Big Al and West wouldn't mix the best but Al is probably going to miss his share of games this year.  West would fill some of that offensive void when we plug in one of our "meh" centers.

[Dorian Gray]

Further down, they also talk about the Hornets in regards to trading for Al Horford.

 

Simmons: Would you consider Charlotte a 2015 contender if they flipped Noah Vonleh AND Cody Zeller for Al Horford? Who says no? Sorry … you know I have to do this every 1,200 words. It’s part of my contract.

 

Lowe: I think the precise wording is every 1,200 words and six podcast minutes. But with Horford instead of West, you’re getting somewhere. Horford is a better all-around player, and it’s not even close on defense. Horford could provide at least some rim protection for a team that really needs it, and when you get a dose of rim protection, it opens up new lines of attack defensively. This all assumes that Horford is healthy after two pectoral tears. He could be an interesting trade piece depending on how quickly the ownership situation resolves itself (and what the new bosses want to do). We’ve seen a few new owners tank to varying degrees — including the NBA when it owned New Orleans.

[SOJA]

Further down, they also talk about the Hornets in regards to trading for Al Horford.

 

Simmons: Would you consider Charlotte a 2015 contender if they flipped Noah Vonleh AND Cody Zeller for Al Horford? Who says no? Sorry … you know I have to do this every 1,200 words. It’s part of my contract.

 

Lowe: I think the precise wording is every 1,200 words and six podcast minutes. But with Horford instead of West, you’re getting somewhere. Horford is a better all-around player, and it’s not even close on defense. Horford could provide at least some rim protection for a team that really needs it, and when you get a dose of rim protection, it opens up new lines of attack defensively. This all assumes that Horford is healthy after two pectoral tears. He could be an interesting trade piece depending on how quickly the ownership situation resolves itself (and what the new bosses want to do). We’ve seen a few new owners tank to varying degrees — including the NBA when it owned New Orleans.

 

 

this is a much more interesting scenario imo

 

would NOT do it for David West, unless it was just for Hendo which isnt happening 

[Rise of The Hive]

Simmons always has to get a jab in on Charlotte fans.

[PantherBrew]

 

 

Charlotte Hornets

Simmons: “They could trade Bismack Biyombo straight up for David West and I still don’t think they’re a contender.” —Zach Lowe.

Lowe: Alert to sloppy news aggregators: I DID NOT SAY THIS!

Simmons: You thought it — it’s the same thing. These guys intrigue me because they can play defense, they have a crunch-time guy who needs to be double-teamed, and they just slapped together one of the NBA’s all-time irrational-confidence backcourts. Lance and Kemba?!?!?!? They even have an irrational-confidence owner! These guys won’t back down from anyone — especially naysayers like you, Zach Lowe.

Lowe: Charlotte jumped 12 spots over last year’s League Pass ranking, and it feels right. Professor Al is a joy, and Lance Stephenson upped their score in both individual appeal and unintentional-comedy potential. Toss in a solid announce team and arguably the league’s best court, and the Hornets have arrived.

Simmons: My four big questions that I hope to solve while watching a little too much of them: Can Kemba become the Eastern Conference’s version of Damian Lillard? Can the Vonleh-Zeller combo give them 30-35 minutes of young legs and athleticism? Can Lance be functionally crazy instead of dysfunctionally crazy? And can MKG make the leap into … I don’t know, an elite defender who can’t be left wide open offensively for 48 minutes a night?

Lowe: Kemba needs to shoot 3s well before we can put him in the same conversation with Lillard. MKG’s remade jumper looks nice, but we have to see if it’s real. I hope it is. Dude could be a better Tony Allen — an elite perimeter defender who can be hyper-aggressive and perfectly balanced at the same time. That’s a hard double to pull, and he won’t be able to pull it in big minutes if he’s a total zero shooting the ball.

Simmons: You’re souring me on Charlotte. Stop throwing facts and hard evidence at me. Just stop.

Lowe: Sorry.

 

[CarolinaNCSU]

Zeller, yes. Vonleh, no.

 

For Horford? I'd send both of them.

[TheMaulClaw]

I wouldn't trade Vonleh.  Zeller/Hendo I would.  I know Big Al and West wouldn't mix the best but Al is probably going to miss his share of games this year.  West would fill some of that offensive void when we plug in one of our "meh" centers.

 

West does have a nice 15-17 ft mid range game.  Zeller is inconsistent with that shot and would welcome a trade to Indiana since that's where he's from.  Zeller seems to be lacking confidence in his movements and looks to be playing with more rigidity.  We haven't seen Henderson on the floor for a while and with this line up it's hard to project where he would make more of a difference then our other SGs.  I know in a pinch Hendo can play sf but he's vastly undersized at that position and would only be a fill in body.  I wouldn't mind a trade for west, though we would be stuck with him for two years.

[Panther_Brotherhood]

I know a lot of people think Simmons is an arrogant, ignorant little twat, but damnit if he isn't entertaining. 

[bLACKpANTHER]

i like him and jalen

[carolina-chuck]

West would be a great addition, but he's too old.

Even tho, I'm uncertain of Zeller I wouldn't trade a young big for an old one.

Now, if we could send Hendo + 2nd? straight up I would do that trade in 1.2 seconds.

[Luck's neckbeard]

I love Simmons. Sports are supposed to be entertainment, and goddamnit that weird little man is fuging entertainment.