Lowe Piece on the Hornets

[catch20two]

We didn't jump the gun one year too soon. We had a poor offseason last year with a lot of assets and cap space only to end up with players that we no longer want or already traded from Lance, Vonleh, Hairston, Roberts, and Marv. It was just a wasted year.

[amcoolio]

Did you hear Jared Dudley on Lowe's podcast yesterday? He said that players around the league think what Philly is doing is an absolute joke and he would rather play for the Kings with everything thats going on there than go to Philly. That being in a situation where the front office isn't trying to win is the absolute worst. Dudley is a well liked, very smart NBA player and will be a coach some day.

He also said that the small market thing doesn't exist anymore. Milwaukee was once viewed as a bad location and no one wanted to go there but now players called him this offseason asking about Milwaukee and players were excited to go there.

We can't tank, man. Its a plague on the league And I think we did just fine this offseason. However, Polk needs to be canned because of this. And we need more shakeup in the front office while keeping Cho and Clifford for cohesion. Our front office can't seriously think "we'll we can't get anyone in Free Agency and we cant draft one and dones because we don't know what we are getting". We got Jeremy Lin for nothing, and he was pursued by as many as 10 teams. We have a **** of capspace in the next few seasons, and we need a winning culture and confidence that we can get the A-list stars, not some wussy "wah we are trying the best we can" attitude.

[Braggins]

We should have tanked in 2013-2014. We lost what would have been a top 10 pick by making the playoffs and got stuck building around Al for two seasons. We should have just developed our young guys that year and then started trying to sign free agents after that season. Making the playoffs didn't really help us in free agency anyways considering Hayward was matched and the other players we signed turned out awful, but we would have had another top 10 pick in the Vonleh draft to add to our core and we would have probably had a better chance at making the playoffs last season. Signing Al was actually the move that actually potentially destroyed our rebuild.

[Flip Murray]

lets be honest i'll boil this article down to one key point.

1. Anthony Davis Lottery

That's my summary.

[vorbis]

I do not care where Jordan's daughter stands in relation to the war room on draft night. if he wants his daughter to be in the room while professionals discuss impactful decisions in real time, then who am I to argue? if he has plans for her in the future in an executive type role, I can think of a lot less constructive things for her to be doing at this point in her career. I think that is not particularly relevant to the worrisome details in the Lowe article, which mostly relate to confusing and shifting power structure and a lack of vision.

[Snidely FC]

for years we've been beating the drum on this board: "Don't blame everything on Michael." "He's not making the player personnel decisions anymore, it's the GM." Well, now Lowe done fingered that festering sore and its itching to get us all again. Damn.

[JMAC3]

First off let me be the first person to say I see both sides of the argument.

I understand that anytime you can gain multiple assets for 1 asset it is a deal you should look into. However, it all depends on team fit and future plans.

In this scenario, Charlotte was offered a package that consisted of picks 15, 16, 28 and Brooklyn pick for 9th pick.

First off, lets say we did do our research and knew who we would of targets with those said picks.... however, in this scenario there were 5 picks between what would of been our next pick. That means we could walk away players we had little to no interest in. This would of been a different situation, if Boston wanted the same guy we did, we could of drafted Frank/Winslow and played the wait and see game and see who fell to 15 and 16 and then made the call. However, Boston wanted Winslow and we wanted Frank so we had to project who would be there....

Again all this in a matter of minutes....

We knew we had a bird in the hand. We liked Frank and he was a sure thing to take right then and there leave the draft happy with our situation. Or we could of made the deal and went into scramble mode, trying to figure out what teams were going to do after us and if anyone would be interested in another trade.

I think it is safe to say we would of taken RJ Hunter with either the 15th or 16th pick, because we were rumored to like him and with two picks I doubt we would of risked waiting until 28 to grab him. So lets assume we take him 15th.... then at 16th we would of had a tough decision. We had just traded Vonleh and really had little intention of bringing back Biz, so a big would more than likely be who we targeted, but no other bigs really were in that range other than Portis. We also, would of gave strong consideration to Oubre, Dekker, Grant and Tyus Jones (at this point PG was a big question).

Then at 28 we would of already had added 2 rookies and I would assume we would make a deal for 2 second round picks or trade it for cash. So pretty much a wasted asset.

Brooklyn pick is the wildcard, but again very well could of been a middling pick based on how weak the eastern conference is and no clue what Nets would do in free agency. More than likely gonna be in the 9-18 range than inside the top 5 given how bad several teams are currently and the lack of motivation Nets have to tank because it does nothing for them.

How good would we have felt trading the 9th pick.. not Frank, because we would not of known who we would of wanted... for RJ Hunter, Sam Dekker, Cash Considerations and the BK pick??? (so it could of been chance at Frank, Winslow, Booker, Turner, etc.)

Let alone adding 2-3 rookies would of reduced chances of signing Lin and hansbrough and picking up Aaron Harrison.

It is easy to be mad at not taking the trade, because the unknown is always sexy and its easy to copy paste your favorite players into those picks and look at who you would of taken, but again you have no clue. We might of taken Rozier, Portis and Looney or whoever else...

for instance last years picks 15,16, 28... Payne, Nurkic, and CJ Wilcox

2 years ago... Greek freak, Lucas Noguirra, and Livo jean Charles

3 years ago... Harkless, Royce White, and PJIII

Point it is a crapshoot and with our teams history of drafting I do not trust us to find gold with mid-late picks.

The jury is still out, but I think we like what we got in Frank and need to move on. He seems to be great fit for what we want to do and projects even better with the league transitioning to a spacing and shooting league where being able to keep a 7 footer on the floor is a luxury.

[Eoghan]

All that really needs to be said about the Hornets FO.

[therebirth]

If this team has a good season all praise will go to cho but if it doesn't do well all blame will go to mj. This is the media's narrative. Who did cho like in this past draft or are cho's people waiing to see if the pick works out or not before they start distancing themselves from it?

[therebirth]

If batum leaves, who do you blame?

[therebirth]

Anybody who thinks Polk is going anywhere is dreaming. This not Higgins. This is a man that has guided mj to build his massive fortune. He will be here as long as mj owns this team. This article seems to be very pro cho.

[countryboi]

everyone talks about MJ and his Daughter in the war room but maybe its a learning process and she is just sitting in....also all of Jerry Buss's kids have jobs with the Lakers and they have a long history of being great.

[DarkAzcura]

First off let me be the first person to say I see both sides of the argument.

I understand that anytime you can gain multiple assets for 1 asset it is a deal you should look into. However, it all depends on team fit and future plans.

In this scenario, Charlotte was offered a package that consisted of picks 15, 16, 28 and Brooklyn pick for 9th pick.

First off, lets say we did do our research and knew who we would of targets with those said picks.... however, in this scenario there were 5 picks between what would of been our next pick. That means we could walk away players we had little to no interest in. This would of been a different situation, if Boston wanted the same guy we did, we could of drafted Frank/Winslow and played the wait and see game and see who fell to 15 and 16 and then made the call. However, Boston wanted Winslow and we wanted Frank so we had to project who would be there....

Again all this in a matter of minutes....

We knew we had a bird in the hand. We liked Frank and he was a sure thing to take right then and there leave the draft happy with our situation. Or we could of made the deal and went into scramble mode, trying to figure out what teams were going to do after us and if anyone would be interested in another trade.

I think it is safe to say we would of taken RJ Hunter with either the 15th or 16th pick, because we were rumored to like him and with two picks I doubt we would of risked waiting until 28 to grab him. So lets assume we take him 15th.... then at 16th we would of had a tough decision. We had just traded Vonleh and really had little intention of bringing back Biz, so a big would more than likely be who we targeted, but no other bigs really were in that range other than Portis. We also, would of gave strong consideration to Oubre, Dekker, Grant and Tyus Jones (at this point PG was a big question).

Then at 28 we would of already had added 2 rookies and I would assume we would make a deal for 2 second round picks or trade it for cash. So pretty much a wasted asset.

Brooklyn pick is the wildcard, but again very well could of been a middling pick based on how weak the eastern conference is and no clue what Nets would do in free agency. More than likely gonna be in the 9-18 range than inside the top 5 given how bad several teams are currently and the lack of motivation Nets have to tank because it does nothing for them.

How good would we have felt trading the 9th pick.. not Frank, because we would not of known who we would of wanted... for RJ Hunter, Sam Dekker, Cash Considerations and the BK pick??? (so it could of been chance at Frank, Winslow, Booker, Turner, etc.)

Let alone adding 2-3 rookies would of reduced chances of signing Lin and hansbrough and picking up Aaron Harrison.

It is easy to be mad at not taking the trade, because the unknown is always sexy and its easy to copy paste your favorite players into those picks and look at who you would of taken, but again you have no clue. We might of taken Rozier, Portis and Looney or whoever else...

for instance last years picks 15,16, 28... Payne, Nurkic, and CJ Wilcox

2 years ago... Greek freak, Lucas Noguirra, and Livo jean Charles

3 years ago... Harkless, Royce White, and PJIII

Point it is a crapshoot and with our teams history of drafting I do not trust us to find gold with mid-late picks.

The jury is still out, but I think we like what we got in Frank and need to move on. He seems to be great fit for what we want to do and projects even better with the league transitioning to a spacing and shooting league where being able to keep a 7 footer on the floor is a luxury.

But who says you guys would draft at 15 and 16? If Winslow went to Boston and Turner to Miami, I think any team slotted between 11-13 would have traded down to allow you to take FK comfortably. Could have potentially left the draft with FK, 28 (?), and a BKN pick. Really depends on Indiana, though. If Turner wasn't available at 11, I think they would have definitely traded back for 15 and 16, but who knows. Maybe they loved FK too. I doubt it, though. I think Indiana would have moved back and took someone like Oubre and Portis if Turner wasn't available at their spot.

[therebirth]

Why the obsession with mj's family members in the FO? Every team owner has family members in their front office. And it's not like those two are making important decisions. I'm starting to wonder if them being black has anything to do with it.

[fatlever]

http://queencityhoops.com/blog/reflecting-on-the-hornets-summer-w-baseline-buzz-3-on-3/

some good discussion at QCH

[fatlever]

All the idiotic quotes in that article come from Polk. Is it safe to say that Polk is a mouthpiece for MJ? Am I wrong to assume that every idiotic quote in that article is really MJ talking?

[Benjamin Linus]

I'd rather have the upside of Vonleh and Winslow than all these non-lottery picks. Giving up / passing on those two guys is more frustrating to me than passing on the Boston trade. The Brooklyn pick is intriguing, but that could end up being another non-lottery pick or their 2018 pick. IDGAF about a bunch of mid-round picks.

[yosemiteben]

All the idiotic quotes in that article come from Polk. Is it safe to say that Polk is a mouthpiece for MJ? Am I wrong to assume that every idiotic quote in that article is really MJ talking?

It seemed like he became a lot more vocal after this season. I don't recall hearing from him at all in the past, but that sit down he did with Bonnell back in April (link) seemed to indicate that he's going to become a more visible part of the franchise.

[EwingSweatsALot]

everyone talks about MJ and his Daughter in the war room but maybe its a learning process and she is just sitting in....also all of Jerry Buss's kids have jobs with the Lakers and they have a long history of being great.

Ever since Jerry Buss' kids took over its been a **** dumpster fire.

[Cheeze]

All the idiotic quotes in that article come from Polk. Is it safe to say that Polk is a mouthpiece for MJ? Am I wrong to assume that every idiotic quote in that article is really MJ talking?

I really think the Lowe article has to be seen in light of its slant. Polk's statements were PLACED for strategic purposes to make a point. What's the point? Lowe frames the Hornets to illustrate his view of policies that create perpetual middling franchises (namely, trading away known assets for higher risk assets - Vonleh for Batum; drafting high but not high enough to get the superstar; trying to win but trying to build at the same time; trying to bring aboard assets through trade that produce right away and that you hope to keep, but that might not want to stay with a 'middling' franchise, pivoting strategies in the middle of a rebuild, etc,).

We can debate Lowe's viewpoint, which does have some valid points, but let's not be blind to the slant.