Around the NBA 11

Post #1221 » by **luciano-davidwesley** » Sat Apr 2, 2022 4:32 am

Lakers leading the Pelicans 87-86 with 11:00 to go in the fourth quarter. This game could have big ramifications on us getting the Pelican's pick. Go Pels!

Post #1222 » by **luciano-davidwesley** » Sat Apr 2, 2022 5:13 am

luciano-davidwesley wrote:Lakers leading the Pelicans 87-86 with 11:00 to go in the fourth quarter. This game could have big ramifications on us getting the Pelican's pick. Go Pels!

Pels win! Added bonus is it could be the end of the Laker's season

MasterIchiro · Post #1223 » by **MasterIchiro** » Sat Apr 2, 2022 12:12 pm

My dream scenario is:

Hornets make the playoffs and still get 2 first round draft picks just outside the lottery.

Pelicans now 3 games up on the Lakers. Spurs 2 games behind. I have confidence Pelicans can beat the Spurs in New Orleans. Then send a confident Pelicans team away to face the Wolves or Clippers. I prefer the Wolves.

Vanderbilt_Grad · Post #1224 » by **Vanderbilt_Grad** » Sun Apr 3, 2022 12:31 pm

MasterIchiro wrote:My dream scenario is:

Hornets make the playoffs and still get 2 first round draft picks just outside the lottery.

That would likely mean no pick in the summer of 2023 unless the Hornets are on the playoff bubble again, correct? I'm just not sure that 2 this summer is better than 1 this year & next.

I'm also unsure how many more young players they really want to add at this point.

Post #1225 » by **Diop** » Sun Apr 3, 2022 1:16 pm

Vanderbilt_Grad wrote:
MasterIchiro wrote:My dream scenario is:

Hornets make the playoffs and still get 2 first round draft picks just outside the lottery.

That would likely mean no pick in the summer of 2023 unless the Hornets are on the playoff bubble again, correct? I'm just not sure that 2 this summer is better than 1 this year & next.

I'm also unsure how many more young players they really want to add at this point.

if they get 2 first round picks this year, I'd be shopping them for an established centre

MasterIchiro · Post #1226 » by **MasterIchiro** » Sun Apr 3, 2022 4:14 pm

Diop wrote:
Vanderbilt_Grad wrote:
MasterIchiro wrote:My dream scenario is:

Hornets make the playoffs and still get 2 first round draft picks just outside the lottery.

That would likely mean no pick in the summer of 2023 unless the Hornets are on the playoff bubble again, correct? I'm just not sure that 2 this summer is better than 1 this year & next.

I'm also unsure how many more young players they really want to add at this point.

if they get 2 first round picks this year, I'd be shopping them for an established centre

Precisely. It looks like pick 14 (Hornets) and possibly 15 (Pelicans) is a possibility. Hornets could be the best team to miss the playoffs and the Pelicans the worst to make it. Those 2 rookies aren't cracking the rotation of a more serious playoff team than the one Bouknight and Kai Jones couldn't crack. Kupchak stocked the cupboard with youth and put the Hornets in position to send out draft capital for a win-now piece. All the teams ahead of the Hornets have mortgaged draft picks. And nearly all have higher payroll. I really look at our position and feel Kupchak hit the sweet spot. We're a young improving team with talent in the pipeline and money + draft capital to make additions that lift up the level of play to the upper tier teams.

Post #1227 » by **Diop** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:36 am

Read on Twitter

amcoolio · Post #1228 » by **amcoolio** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 4:42 am

No way do I trade the picks, our salary cap sheet will be a mess soon and we need all the cheap talent we can get. Take two chances to try to get a Cody Martin 3 and D replacement, won't be able to keep both him and PJ

Snidely FC · Post #1229 » by **Snidely FC** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 2:22 pm

We at Hornets Sports & Entertainment are deeply saddened by the passing of Rodney Richardson. Rodney was a great friend to our organization and worked closely with us on the Hornets brand identity, including our logo and uniform designs. Through his RARE Design firm, Rodney Richardson developed the brands for the Brewers, Hawks, Hornets, Texans, T-Wolves, and NBA All-Star Games (back when the logos were good!). RIP Rodney

MasterIchiro · Post #1230 » by **MasterIchiro** » Mon Apr 4, 2022 3:33 pm

amcoolio wrote:No way do I trade the picks, our salary cap sheet will be a mess soon and we need all the cheap talent we can get. Take two chances to try to get a Cody Martin 3 and D replacement, won't be able to keep both him and PJ

It will NOT. Plumlee + Oubre + Batum stretch will be off the books soon. That's 30.6 million. One year later Hayward will be off the books. That's 30. Within the next 2 years 60 million will come off the books. Hornets are 20 below the tax and can max Miles without passing it. Then there's 60 million to spread out from there. And if Bouknight is ready to be a starter after 2 more years, Rozier's contract is movable. Kai Jones will challenge for a starting spot. Money should not be the obstacle to trading 2 first round picks for a center, as long as that center doesn't make 40 million per like Gobert.

penquin11 · Post #1231 » by **penquin11** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:49 am

Ouch it is painful to learn that Bam Adebayo wanted to be drafted by the Hornets. We could have had him at 11 no problem.

Post #1232 » by **fatlever** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 4:20 am

both mitchell AND bam wanted to be drafted by the hornets, but we picked monk. bravo cho and mj.

Post #1233 » by **Diop** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 4:45 am

Rereading his draftexpress profile, I can get why Bam had some question marks, but Mitchell was absolutely a miss.

but full disclosure

Spoiler:

Post #1234 » by **fatlever** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:38 am

most of us never thought about monk because we were fooled by draft sites into thinking he was a top 7 pick. we caught the falling knife... as we love to do... vonleh, monk, bouknight.

Goodecharlotte · Post #1235 » by **Goodecharlotte** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:01 am

It's not fair to put Bouk's in the same category yet he's only had his rookie season and has shown flashes of his potential. He just needs more playing time. But reading Bam wanted to be a Hornet is gutting, he'd be player in this team the gell we need

Post #1236 » by **Diop** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:09 am

Goodecharlotte wrote:It's not fair to put Bouk's in the same category yet he's only had his rookie season and has shown flashes of his potential. He just needs more playing time. But reading Bam wanted to be a Hornet is gutting, he'd be player in this team the gell we need

he's one of those hindsight picks. there were plenty of reasons to pass on him as per below. Its a credit to him that he has developed into the great player he is.

his small hands and less than ideal reach do hamper him at times

(sounds like Kwame Brown, that alone would have had me running)

Adebayo's offensive game is unrefined,

struggling to finish in traffic at times due to his below average standing reach

there are question marks about how his bully ball style will translate versus better competition, when everyone is just as big, strong and athletic as he is.

(these make him sound like Biyombo)

When Adebayo is engaged defensively, he is an active and impactful defender who can protect the rim in small doses while also being able to step out and guard the perimeter. The key to translating that to the NBA level is learning how to play with a high level of energy and focus every defensive possession. That level of intensity wasn't always there for him during his freshman season, but is something he'll have to improve on to carve out a role and reach his full potential on that end of the floor.

There are several concerns about Adebayo's defensive profile, most notably in his rim protection and defensive rebounding.

Goodecharlotte · Post #1237 » by **Goodecharlotte** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:58 am

What was the last pure center we had that was really good defensively and offensively? My favourite was Zo but we've had Divac, Jefferson, Okefor maybe even Campbell. Slim pickings for 30 years of basketball

Post #1238 » by **BigSlam** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 10:39 am

Pelicans made the play in.

One step closer to us getting their first round pick?

Post #1239 » by **BigSlam** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:02 pm

Which Lakers team underperformed more:

The current James/Davis/Westbrook team

or

The previous Kobe/Payton/Malone/O'Neal team

Post #1240 » by **luciano-davidwesley** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:03 pm

Our first round pick this season is protected 1-18 so I think we are guaranteed to keep it now even if we make the play-offs as the 8th seed via the play-in. We finished tied 14th-15th in the standings with Atlanta so the worst the pick could go is to 15th or 16th if we qualify for the playoffs.

Hopefully the Pelicans make the play-offs now so we can have two mid-first round picks in this year's draft. That gives us some options. We can possibly trade up in the draft or get two cost-controlled players to take some pressure off the cap when we will have to pay decent money to Miles, LaMelo, Hayward, Rozier, PJ and even possibly Cody Martin.