Brandon Jennings Situation = Proof Tanking Wouldn't Work Here

[gmonjimbo]

Nba is a star driven league, you need a tier 1 player to compete for championships. The max this Hornets team will go with this lineup and additional FA is the conference semifinals. As long as LeBron James is still a top 5 player, the Cavaliers will continue to come out of the East. During this time the Hornets should be accumulating draft picks so by the time LeBron is done, they have players to compete. The Celtics and Sixers (if Joel and Simmons stay healty) have set themselves up nicely to be serious contenders in the future.

[bLACKpANTHER]

1 hour ago, gmonjimbo said:

Nba is a star driven league, you need a tier 1 player to compete for championships. The max this Hornets team will go with this lineup and additional FA is the conference semifinals. As long as LeBron James is still a top 5 player, the Cavaliers will continue to come out of the East. During this time the Hornets should be accumulating draft picks so by the time LeBron is done, they have players to compete. The Celtics and Sixers (if Joel and Simmons stay healty) have set themselves up nicely to be serious contenders in the future.

I disagree on your first point.. a single star alone won't get you to compete for championships.. Kemba is a star - matter fact, he is now an Allstar.. to compete for championships - you need 3 Allstar caliber players to even start thinking about it.. (tier 1) 1 star gets you competing for playoffs.. (tier 2) 2 stars gets you an automatic bid usually but truly only competing for a chance for a seat at your conference championship.. (tier 3) 3 stars gets you in the conference championship usually but competing for a title is still not a given..

(tier 1)
Everyone, basically.. i mean look at Denver in the 8th spot of the West currently.. unless you are tanking - you have a shot at the playoffs in today's NBA..

(tier 2)
Raptors - DeRozen, Lowry
Wiz - Wall, Beal
OKC - Westbrook, Westbrook's jock
Celtics - Thomas, Horford
Rockets - Harden, Gordon

(tier 3) -
Cavs - LeBron, Kyrie, Love
Warrios - Curry, Klay, Green, KD
Clippers - CP3, Blake, Jordan
Spurs - Kawhi, Aldridge, Pop (he counts, lol)

When you think about it - there is a ton of talent in the NBA, not just star talent.. The mid level players - Batums, Kanters, Korvers, Livingstons, Morris twins, Ibakas and so on - are everywhere.. you need the Allstars to compete, and the mid level players to step in.. but if you just have a single star and 2-3 mid level players like we do - you can't compete night in and night out.. if you have a bunch of no-names filling out your roster, you might as well pack it up..

[gmonjimbo]

51 minutes ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

I disagree on your first point.. a single star alone won't get you to compete for championships.. 

When I mention a tier 1 player I mean an MVP caliber player that you build your team around. I am well aware that you need more than one "star" player to win but you must first have an MVP caliber player. I say there are about 9 or 10  players that are MVP caliber or I think will be- LeBron, Kwahi, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Steph, Karl Towns, Anthony Davis, Giannis. Then you start building players around them. 

[Carl Spackler]

On 3/3/2017 at 0:06 AM, Proudiddy said:

I greatly respect your basketball acumen and know you are a real fan @Carl Spackler...  that being said, I felt like Jennings signified a last ditch effort at actually making an effort lol.  Us giving him the okie doke and backing out of what appeared to be a done deal in favor of signing a scrub dleaguer was the declaration of purpose for this season.  I have no problem at this point now, in tanking...  it was just disappointing to see is feign interest, like effort, and then shamefully wave the white flag like, "you know, nevermind...  we don't really want to win anyway."  It seemed like further insult to injury after the atrocity this past offseason was and the subsequent three-steps back move in trying to correct it by trading for Plumlee and eating up any remaining cap space we had to lure a star here (hello Curry) this offseason.

Sure, we could find a way to make a deal to clear that space if we genuinely have a shot at anyone this offseason, but probably not without giving up a ton of assets to do so.  So, no matter how you slice it, this past offseason, this season, the entire culture of our franchise is disappointing.  Middling team, don't draft well, makes horrible FA acquisitions, no cap space, trades set us back further than of we just stood pat...  i don't know that there has been a more disappointing turnaround in less than a year.  I mean, even when we were the bobcats, everyone knew and expected us to suck.  We had no reason to fall off like we did from last year to now, other than horrible personnel decisions.

Thanks bro, much respect ... I must disagree on your first point though, because I could never find any proof we'd shown interest in Jennings. I saw rumors we were signing him but they came from SVG and folks who were basically offering up a guess as to where he'd sign. The big hubbub came from David Aldridge putting on his Chris Broussard hat and throwing something at the wall. If I missed a genuine report of it probably happening, then I retract this but I couldn't come across one.