Chuck Texas & PMOTT3's Early Off-Season Review: Charlotte Hornets

[Hawk Eye]

Chuck Texas Review

Losses:

Bismack Biyombo
Mo Williams
Lance Stephenson
Noah Vonleh
Gerald Henderson

Draft:

Frank the Tank
Juan Valet

I know nothing about Valet, but man they better be right on Frank considering the reports of what they turned down for that pick.   I like him, but probably not enough to turn down that many assets.  

Trades:

Hendo/Vonleh for Batum
Lance for Hawes/Barnes
Barnes for Ridnour
Ridnour for Lamb

So essentially Hendo/Lance/Vonleh for Batum/Hawes/Lamb.   I know opinions are mixed on these deals but I love them.   Vonleh is the only piece of value they gave up and I'm not sure he ever was beating out their other young bigs anyway.  Batum is really going to help and Hawes and Lamb have the potential to.

Free Agency:

Jeremy Lin -- bargain contract

How can you not like this?  They needed a better backup than Roberts and they got one for next to nothing.   Assume he and Frank form a nice little PNR combo off the bench for them.

Current Depth Chart:  (guessing on positions for several guys)

Al Jefferson/Spencer Hawes
Cody Zeller/Frank the Tank/
MKG/Marvin Williams
Nic Batum/Jeremy Lamb/PJ Hairston/Troy Daniels
Kemba Walker/Jeremy Lin/Brian Roberts

Needs:

A defensive minded big.  They have some talented offensive bigs, but when Zeller is your best defensive big that's a little scary.  I also still think they need a starting caliber PG to move Kemba to 6th man scoring machine.  

Added Thoughts:

I liked most of their moves this off-season, but I still don't love the end result.  Maybe there is an Al Jefferson deal to be made that makes some of this make a little more sense?   I do think this is a playoff team again.

Win/loss Prediction: 45-37

Overall Grade:  B

I'd give them an A or A- for their trades and free agency, but turning down a huge offer for the #9 didn't make a lot of sense to me.  

PMOTT3 Review


Key losses:

Noah Vonleh? - He was their best prospect. Even though he didnt do anything last season, their is no denying his potential.

Other Losses:

Bismack Biyombo
Mo Williams
Gerald Henderson
Lance Stephenson

Draft:

Frank Kamensky
Juan Valet

Yea i don't know anything about Valet either but i hated the Kamensky pick. I think hes a bust. If the reports are true about turning down all those offers and especially the package offer from Boston then i really hate this pick. Regardless of having MKG, im going BPA which was Winslow.

Trades:

.Lance Stephenson for Spencer Hawes & Matt Barnes
.Noah Vonleh & Gerald Henderson for Nic Batum
.Matt Barnes for Luke Ridinour
.Luke Ridinour and 16' 2nd for Jeremy Lamb

I was okay with the Stephenson deal because I felt like he was a legitimate knucklehead who was most likely causing issues in the locker room. I understand that he's talented but players like him are almost impossible to work with. And coming off the year he just had this was probably the top end of his current trade value. I would have preferred for them to keep Barnes though; I think he'll do good in Memphis this year.

I didnt like the Batum deal either. Hendo was one of their only guys who provided spacing in the offense and Vonleh still has another 3-4 years on his rookie salary. I like Batum a lot but im not giving up my best prospect when he's an expiring, coming off a down season, and will most likely leave for a contender in FA.

I liked the Lamb addition. low cost move and I expect him to get a lot more minutes in Charlotte and it will be cool to see the UCONN back court reunited.

Free Agency:

Jeremy Lin

Got him on a great contract and they were in need of a better PG to run the second unit. This was a great addition for them.

Current Depth Chart: (I think)

C: Al Jefferson/Spencer Hawes
PF: Cody Zeller/Frank Kamensky
SF: MKG/Marvin Williams/PJ Hairston
SG: Nic Batum/Jeremy Lamb/Troy Daniels
PG: Kemba Walker/Jeremy Lin/Brian Roberts

Needs:

The first thing that jumps out at me is a defensive big. With a big rotation of Jefferson-Hawes-Zeller and/or Kamensky they might give up close to 120 pts per game. Im not that big on Biyombo but when your front court literally plays no defense i think retaining him was a necessity.

Added Thoughts:

I didn't hate their off-season but i certainly didnt love it either. Wouldnt surprise me at all if Jordan gave Cho a "playoff or your fired" deadline for this season because then all of their moves would make more sense. The Vonleh/Batum deal has major potential to blow up in their face if he develops and reaches his own potential. Turning down the trade offers they recieved on draft night wasn't smart; neither was picking Kamensky. Trading Lance was a neutral move at best imo. I liked getting Lamb for essentially nothing and the Jeremy Lin signing. I just feel like Charlotte is in a position where they are looking for their true #1 guy. MKG is a very good glue guy and I agree that Kemba would be an ideal 6th man. It would have made much more sense to make that trade package on draft night and continue to collect assets imo.

Win/Loss Prediction: 38-44

This team will either be an 8th seed or miss the playoffs. Outside of MKG/Batum I just don't see enough defense on that roster.

Overall Grade: C-

I woukd have taken Winslow, Turner, Booker, Oubre, and Payne before i took Kamensky. I also wouldn't have given up my best prospect for an expiring Batum who could very likely leave after this season. They should have retained Biz (especially since Toronto signed him on the cheap) because that front court needs some defense. The Lamb and Lin additions are nice but not enough for me to get them in the B range.

[Hawk Eye]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one BizGilWalker

[HartfordWhalers]

Valet was traded to the Nets.

I gave Charlotte a 0, which on this scale meant "D or worse". I really like Vonleh as a prospect, am not sold on Kaminski, and don't see how they balanced their frontcourt. They pushed for win now, and the ultimate result isn't going to win now.

[loserX]

I'm very intrigued by what they did. They needed shooters all over the floor (*especially* if the plan was to stick with Kemba/MKG/Big Al another year, and it appears that it is), and they went and got a bunch.

Bigs who can shoot? Check.
Wings who can shoot? Check.
A backup PG who can shoot? Check.

On that front they did well. (And Lance definitely had to go. He may still excel somewhere but it wouldn't have been next to Kemba in Charlotte. So moving him is a plus as well.) I still don't know how they shake out as far as making the playoffs, but they're going to be a lot less of a drudge to watch and that counts for something too.

I'll be watching them with interest this year, especially since Al and Batum are free agents next year. Will this version of the Hornets experiment work? And how will the results (either way) shape what happens next summer?

[bondom34]

I went C- based on really not liking trading Vonleh so fast for an expiring Batum and the draft really not being to my liking personally. I forgot the Lin deal, but tbh it was somewhat minor (though a good bargain deal). They did well to buy low on Lamb who I don't know what to expect from but wish the kid well, and moved on from Lance but took back a lot of long term money. I think Frank looks good but the upside is not there, so I couldn't grade them much higher personally.

[HornetJail]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one BizGilWalker

I'll share my thoughts in more detail later but I am right there with you on the Vonleh trade, but but I think this is a 43 win team as constructed. It would be more with any semblance of an interior defense.

[stinger14]

Good,
Signing Lin as a backup PG on a good deal
Trading Lance for essentially Hawes and Lamb

Bad,
Keeping Coach Clifford (guy is an idiot)
Trading Vonleh (most potential on team)
Drafting Frank instead of Winslow
Keeping Big Al, he slows this young group down
Letting Biz walk, at age 22 was finally showing something, had become our best all around center

Did not mention Batum by name because I don't mind getting him, just not at the expense of Vonleh. Overall, I am very disappointed in our offseason. Though we may be a little better this year, we aren't good enough to make any real noise and set our future back several notches

[Hawk Eye]

Valet was traded to the Nets.

I gave Charlotte a 0, which on this scale meant "D or worse". I really like Vonleh as a prospect, am not sold on Kaminski, and don't see how they balanced their frontcourt. They pushed for win now, and the ultimate result isn't going to win now.

I don't think you could have said it better if you tried. Its okay when a team decides to make win now moves but if the end result isnt going to get you past the 1st round and perhaps not even into the playoffs then its a failed off-season. I wish we were allowed to have more than 10 options in the poll for threads like these because i think i would have gone D+. Imagine if Batum and Jefferson leave for nothing after this season AND Vonleh becomes an All-Star PF.

[brackdan70]

Their trades and Free Agency seemed to be a net negative to me, and I hated their draft. Batum and Kaminsky need to really shine for them to have had a positive offseason.

[Dukenukem23]

D.

Trading vonleh was a big mistake and he's going to make hornets look silly.

Drafting frank over Winslow was dumb.

Not re-signing Biyombo to bargain contract was dumb also.

Lance trade was meh.

The lamb trade was good, but I doubt he produces there.

Overall: gave up on the rebuild too early. The future was bright now it's bleak,sorry.

[JDR720]

the team is better than last season, but we really limited our ceiling as a team. i fully expect to be rebuilding again in a year or two, hopefully we stick to it this time.

[Texas Chuck]

Vonleh is a player that is obviously going to land in my eat crow pile in a couple years or in my told you so pile.

Because while I think he's a decent enough prospect, I don't feel like this was some can't miss future all-star like everyone else seems convinced about.

[RealityIsDemar]

I feel you either love Charlottes off-season or you hate it. I don't love it myself. C.

[Laimbeer]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one BizGilWalker

Let me paraphrase for Biz...

[Laimbeer]

It's a D for me, but with the scale set up like it is I'm D or worse.

The Lin bargain is really the only thing I liked. They should be a rebuilding team but they went win now. And they still won't really win now. I'm afraid they're positioned to be a low lottery treadmill team for a while.

[nykballa2k4]

I gave C+.
IMO they'd have gotten an A from me if they retained Biz instead of Jefferson, didn't make a move for Batum and kept Vonleh.
Biz/Hawes/Zeller
Kaminsky/Vonleh
MKG/Marvin
Henderson/Lamb
Kemba/Lin

gotta have balance.


They didn't do anything horrible, but trading a player with all-star upside for a guy who is nice, but not special to me is a flag. It reminds me a bit of when Battier was traded for Gay.

[HornetJail]

I gave this a C-, which in all honesty is slightly generous.

If we had just one GLARING issue, it was three point shooting. We obviously had other issues, but this was probably issue #1. If you look at three point shooting and nothing else, we had a good series of moves. (Out: Bismack Biyombo, Lance Stephenson, Noah Vonleh, Mo Willliams, Gerald Henderson. In: Nic Batum, Jeremy Lin, Jeremy Lamb, Frank Kaminsky, Spencer Hawes.) We're going to be a much better offensive team, because we will likely have a pair of three-point shooters out there at any given time spreading the floor for the others.

The problem is that we shipped away our future for the present. Biz and Vonleh are very good prospects with chances to take a team to the next level. There is now no frontcourt defense to speak of (outside of Zeller, who is quite good defensively, but shouldn't be your primary defensive big). There is less room for future development of the roster, and we appear to be in full-blast win-now mode with a team that will likely top out as a 4-5 seed in a couple years. This is a team that will probably make the playoffs, and maybe even win a round with the ideal matchups, but it probably won't ever sniff the ECFs as currently constructed.

I honestly think this front office just wants this team to remain competitive until 2017 when a certain hometown kid becomes a free agent.

[Hawk Eye]

the team is better than last season, but we really limited our ceiling as a team. i fully expect to be rebuilding again in a year or two, hopefully we stick to it this time.

Just out of curiosity, do you think Cho will get canned if after all these off-season moves you guys still miss the playoffs? Or do you think the blame will be passed down to Clifford? Perhaps both get fired in this scenario?

[HornetJail]

the team is better than last season, but we really limited our ceiling as a team. i fully expect to be rebuilding again in a year or two, hopefully we stick to it this time.

Just out of curiosity, do you think Cho will get canned if after all these off-season moves you guys still miss the playoffs? Or do you think the blame will be passed down to Clifford? Perhaps both get fired in this scenario?

If we're relatively healthy and Clifford can't even get this team to the playoffs, he's gone IMO.

[JDR720]

the team is better than last season, but we really limited our ceiling as a team. i fully expect to be rebuilding again in a year or two, hopefully we stick to it this time.

Just out of curiosity, do you think Cho will get canned if after all these off-season moves you guys still miss the playoffs? Or do you think the blame will be passed down to Clifford? Perhaps both get fired in this scenario?

I think both we be fired. Clifford is on his last year, so if we dont make the playoffs i definitely think he will be gone. not sure what Cho's contract is.