2025 General Draft Discussion 2

[JustBuzzin]

Miles of Kalk and Ball with Tiddy and Nipples

This guy.

[Diop]

We whitewashing the culture

[hoopsfan777]

Nice draft Hornets!

[driveandkick]

I know yall probably want to exile me from this forum at this point but it’s like… at least they have a vision for the types of guys they want to build this thing around. I doubt it will work because nothing works for us, but they’re clearly prioritizing getting high character players who are going to work.

[MasterIchiro]

Yeah I like both James and Kalkbrenner. Special K was my fav of the two center options. I also liked James as an outlier although there’s a reason he had limited use. But I guess we’ve got a crowded stable. How the heck do they manage all these youngins? Some carry overs are getting traded or fired.

They can slash Okogie without penalty + Jeffries and the roster count is:

LaMelo Ball
Brandon Miller
Kon Knueppel
Miles Bridges
Jusuf Nurkic
Tre Mann
Nick Smith Jr.
Josh Green
Grant Williams
Tidjane Salaün
Moussa Diabaté
Liam McNeeley
Sion James
Ryan Kalkbrenner

1 open roster spot for free agency, barring consolidation move.

Need a vet PG more than anything.

Don't we have Micic back now too?

Sent from my motorola edge (2021) using RealGM mobile app

He will be waived, but salary counted towards cap, allowing the org to cut Okogie & Jeffries yet remain above the cap for full MLE which I expect them to treat like a 14 M trade exception given the premium value of cap for 2nd apron teams like the Suns before losing Durant, and Celtics prior to trading Jrue & Porzingis.

I don't think it would compromise future upgrades if they attach 1 or 2 of the 4 outside 1st round picks for an addition that contributes more wins right now.

I'd really love to see Jeff dig back into his service with BKN and weigh Claxton as a culture setter.

At the deadline maybe we contemplate more of an all-in move for Derrick White. But so much has to go right. For now, at least give Lee a competitive center position.

Don't Plumlee him.

[driveandkick]

They can slash Okogie without penalty + Jeffries and the roster count is:

LaMelo Ball
Brandon Miller
Kon Knueppel
Miles Bridges
Jusuf Nurkic
Tre Mann
Nick Smith Jr.
Josh Green
Grant Williams
Tidjane Salaün
Moussa Diabaté
Liam McNeeley
Sion James
Ryan Kalkbrenner

1 open roster spot for free agency, barring consolidation move.

Need a vet PG more than anything.

Don't we have Micic back now too?

Sent from my motorola edge (2021) using RealGM mobile app

He will be waived, but salary counted towards cap, allowing the org to cut Okogie & Jeffries yet remain above the cap for full MLE which I expect them to treat like a 14 M trade exception given the premium value of cap for 2nd apron teams like the Suns before losing Durant, and Celtics prior to trading Jrue & Porzingis.

I don't think it would compromise future upgrades if they attach 1 or 2 of the 4 outside 1st round picks for an addition that starts contributes to more wins right now.

I'd really love to see Jeff dig back into his service with BKN and weigh Claxton as a culture setter.

At the deadline maybe we contemplate more of an all-in move for Derrick White. But so much has to go right. For now, at least give Lee a competitive center position.

Don't Plumlee him.

I’d love to get someone like Claxton

[Liver_Pooty]

I know yall probably want to exile me from this forum at this point but it’s like… at least they have a vision for the types of guys they want to build this thing around. I doubt it will work because nothing works for us, but they’re clearly prioritizing getting high character players who are going to work.

I completely agree with you.

[MasterIchiro]

Don't we have Micic back now too?

Sent from my motorola edge (2021) using RealGM mobile app

He will be waived, but salary counted towards cap, allowing the org to cut Okogie & Jeffries yet remain above the cap for full MLE which I expect them to treat like a 14 M trade exception given the premium value of cap for 2nd apron teams like the Suns before losing Durant, and Celtics prior to trading Jrue & Porzingis.

I don't think it would compromise future upgrades if they attach 1 or 2 of the 4 outside 1st round picks for an addition that starts contributes to more wins right now.

I'd really love to see Jeff dig back into his service with BKN and weigh Claxton as a culture setter.

At the deadline maybe we contemplate more of an all-in move for Derrick White. But so much has to go right. For now, at least give Lee a competitive center position.

Don't Plumlee him.

I’d love to get someone like Claxton

True story. We don't even need relevancy right away. We just need legitimacy.

The C position is deep with developmental pieces and a dead contract. It's unserious.

[JustBuzzin]

I'm just thinking with all this high character talk it would be hilarious if Peterson is preparing a godfather offer for Giannis.

Shams just tweeted Giannis is closely observing the Bucks draft and FA next week.

We have a bunch of picks and now added shooting to surround such move for Giannis.

LaMelo
Kon
Miller
Giannis
Kalk

One can dream!

[MasterIchiro]

I'm just thinking with all this high character talk it would be hilarious if Peterson is preparing a godfather offer for Giannis.

Shams just tweeted Giannis is closely observing the Bucks draft and FA next week.

We have a bunch of picks and now added shooting to surround such move for Giannis.

LaMelo
Kon
Miller
Giannis
Kalk

One can dream!

One can hallucinate too.

LaMelo goes down and you're stuck with Giannis on an island, with no means of improvement.

[Diop]

All 4 Aussies got picked up in the second round. Not sure how many will stick

[Liver_Pooty]

All 4 Aussies got picked up in the second round. Not sure how many will stick

Happy for Tyrese.

[Rays Pompadour]

Some undrafteds I like:

RJ Davis
Andrew Carr (didn't he play for Wake?)
Mark Sears
RJ Luis, Jr
Caleb Love (why not?)
Chucky Hepburn
Jaxson Robinson

[Snidely FC]

Undrafted I like: Charlotte native (Huntersville) Brice Williams

[Bassman]

Kevin Pelton at ESPN has posted his overall draft grades for all teams. Worth checking out. He gives the Hornets a B, and provides the following comments:

Cue the jokes about the Hornets' penchant for drafting players from the Research Triangle, but Knueppel was second in my projections and perfectly fits a void for Charlotte at shooting guard.

Although the same was true of Tre Johnson, Knueppel was a far more efficient scorer at Duke and rated better by my metrics than Johnson in a larger on-ball role in the Nike EYBL.

Since McNeeley fits a similar mold, that was likely a best-available pick after the UConn product dropped well below his expected range in the early 20s. I'm less enamored with the Hornets going back to the Blue Devils well for James high in the second round. Strictly a role player in five college seasons, James never had a usage rate higher than 17.1%.

After Charlotte traded starting center Mark Williams, there may be an opening for Kalkbrenner to contribute immediately if his pick-and-roll defense is up to speed.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45585239/2025-nba-draft-grades-winners-losers-sleepers-best-picks-value-reaches-all-30-teams-classes

[Diop]

not happy with Charlotte picking a pure role player in the 2nd round?

we all would like to find a Jokic, but that's a 1 in a million mate. If we got a Dort I would be ecstatic

[Braggins]

Its almost impressive how little talent they managed to add in the last two drafts with the picks they had.

[fatlever]

Right or wrong, I have always preferred to draft upper class proven dudes in the second round, or international, rather than trying to take additional swings on younger dudes.

[Bassman]

not happy with Charlotte picking a pure role player in the 2nd round?

we all would like to find a Jokic, but that's a 1 in a million mate. If we got a Dort I would be ecstatic

James is a role player, or certainly will be if he hits his highest potential in the NBA. I like him, he’s got a lot of tools, with size, physicality, good vision. His weak areas won’t translate as well at the next level. Shooting appears good but his shot form is slow and starts down low. But I like his defensive effort. James could be the guy they wanted NSJ to become.

I was surprised by the pick. But Jeffie had no desire to trade up and get a quality PF prospect in Fleming. He also didn’t bite on drafting Thiero, who many mocked going to CLT. He wasn’t going to draft a competitor to his French baby Tiddy.

[fatlever]

I was definitely wrong about the Hornets desire to have three or 4 rookies next season. Seems pretty obviously plan on keeping all four even though I'm sure three of the four will probably spend at least some time in Greensboro.