Over The Top: The James Borrego Thread

[yosemiteben]

Id be thrilled if he could bring Becky Hammon as his lead assistant. I doubt she will leave Pop, though.

Becky as an assistant would be awesome. Given the treatment of Stephanie Ready I wouldn't get my hopes up though. Our teams style has always been regressive on and off the court

The Hornets have a minority owner and coach. So I think using "regressive" as a descriptor for the organization is going a bit too far. We don't know why Stephanie Ready was demoted, it's foolish to jump to mysogony as an explanation without any evidence to support it.

Especially since, you know...she doesn't work for the Hornets.

[yosemiteben]

Someone needs to go listen to that presser and count the number of times that JB said the word "maximize." Easily thirty separate times.

[vorbis]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=273705

Spurs fans think highly of him. Its also odd to see the diehard spurs fans want Pop and Kawai gone

imagine being a Spurs fan and expending energy to complain about a team that won 50+ games for 19 consecutive years on a message board

[HornetJail]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=273705

Spurs fans think highly of him. Its also odd to see the diehard spurs fans want Pop and Kawai gone

imagine being a Spurs fan and expending energy to complain about a team that won 50+ games for 19 consecutive years on a message board

their superstar, a top 7 player in the league played 9 inconsequential games, going 5-4, their legendary PG is old as **** and recovering from a severe injury, and they still only missed out on a 20th consecutive 50-win season by three games.

That's a first-world problem if I've ever heard one

[BlackOutBuzz]

Some bored, baseless speculation below.

It probably means very little; but having listened to the press conference, the Hornets.com interview, and a WFNZ interview; I noticed JB talked glowingly about nearly every player without being prompted to. Sure, it's the right thing to say, but if it's actually genuine I could see that going a long way with Jordan and Kupchak. After all, since we're kinda stuck with the current group we might as well bring in a guy who likes them.

He seemed most excited about Kemba and Batum, with Monk not far behind leading the "young core" that he includes MKG, WHG, Kaminsky, and Bacon in. He mentioned those guys multiple times, and also talked up Marvin and Lamb a bit on the radio interview.

For who wasn't mentioned - we've already covered his non-endorsement when asked about Howard - it's not surprising we didn't hear anything on MCW, Stone, or Graham. However, no mention of Zeller surprised me. Sure, injuries are an issue; but if the goal is to build a modern, up-tempo offense I'd think he'd be the ideal candidate to start at center.

I'm probably getting ahead of myself here, but I think the team views him as the large contract that's most movable. We've heard Kupchak mention multiple times already that teams out of the playoffs can make trades at any point. Makes sense that they'd at least be having discussions, and perhaps they've already had enough bites on Zeller to know he won't factor into Borrego's team.

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[JDR720]

Im open to trading cody, but not if that means Dwight is part of the core.

[euphorbus]

However, no mention of Zeller surprised me. Sure, injuries are an issue; but if the goal is to build a modern, up-tempo offense I'd think he'd be the ideal candidate to start at center.

Zeller is twice times the player Batum is and has far more impact on the court. Even in a bad year, Zeller had a net rating of +7. Batum had -3, according to Basketball Reference. As I wrote a month or so ago, Cody is just getting to his late 20s, when men, especially big men, become physically mature. That could mean fewer injuries down the road.

It would help if officials called it every time he gets clunked on the head, too, which is just about every game. Opposing players do not like pesky guys like Zeller.

I am glad I do not have to make these headache-inducing decisions, though.

[LofJ]

Screw trading Cody before Dwight. Cody is a winning player on a contract that I think he's worth (when healthy). Trading him and keeping Dwight is straight up dumb.

[Liver_Pooty]

If we were to trade Zeller before Howard id legit get physically sick. Only thing keeping him back are those damn knees. He will never be an all star but watching him set those picks and roll to the rim is a thing of beauty

[Eoghan]

Zeller sucks, trade him yesterday.

[amcoolio]

Agree, over the Zeller experiment. Just can't stay healthy, and not worth relying on except as a backup

[Braggins]

I like Zeller and think hes easily the best big on the team right now when healthy, but of all the players that we have on large contracts that go past next season, he is possibly the only one that has positive trade value and our roster is heavily imbalanced due to having way too many centers, so I actually think it could make sense to move Zeller.

I would buy out or trade Howard even if we are also trading Zeller. Willy and Frank are both centers and we need to finally start playing MKG and Batum at PF a decent amount. I'm assuming Howard at best has no trade value outside of the value of his expiring salary, so I would either look to swap him for another big expiring (maybe give up a 2nd) that fits the team better, like Wesley Matthews or George Hill, or just simply buy him out and also maybe see if I could get a decent and not too old PF or wing upgrade for Zeller. I'd prefer a PF upgrade because I think the best prospects available with our pick are going to be 3&D guards/wings.

[JDR720]

I like Zeller and think hes easily the best big on the team right now when healthy, but of all the players that we have on large contracts that go past next season, he is possibly the only one that has positive trade value and our roster is heavily imbalanced due to having way too many centers, so I actually think it could make sense to move Zeller.

I would buy out or trade Howard even if we are also trading Zeller. Willy and Frank are both centers and we need to finally start playing MKG and Batum at PF a decent amount. I'm assuming Howard at best has no trade value outside of the value of his expiring salary, so I would either look to swap him for another big expiring (maybe give up a 2nd) that fits the team better, like Wesley Matthews or George Hill, or just simply buy him out and also maybe see if I could get a decent and not too old PF or wing upgrade for Zeller. I'd prefer a PF upgrade because I think the best prospects available with our pick are going to be 3&D guards/wings.

Cody for Thad Young (expiring) and 2nd round pick. Cody for Kieff Morris (expiring) + 2nd.

[Braggins]

I like Zeller and think hes easily the best big on the team right now when healthy, but of all the players that we have on large contracts that go past next season, he is possibly the only one that has positive trade value and our roster is heavily imbalanced due to having way too many centers, so I actually think it could make sense to move Zeller.

I would buy out or trade Howard even if we are also trading Zeller. Willy and Frank are both centers and we need to finally start playing MKG and Batum at PF a decent amount. I'm assuming Howard at best has no trade value outside of the value of his expiring salary, so I would either look to swap him for another big expiring (maybe give up a 2nd) that fits the team better, like Wesley Matthews or George Hill, or just simply buy him out and also maybe see if I could get a decent and not too old PF or wing upgrade for Zeller. I'd prefer a PF upgrade because I think the best prospects available with our pick are going to be 3&D guards/wings.

Cody for Thad Young (expiring) and 2nd round pick. Cody for Kieff Morris (expiring) + 2nd.

I like the Thad Young idea. Zeller is a bit of an awkward fit for the Pacers because they have Turner and Sabonis, but Cody could actually fit next to turner and I could see them wanting to go after their hometown guy. Thad would actually be a nice fit at backup PF for us. He has the athleticism and defense youd want next to Frank or Willy and can shoot some 3s here and there. We might need to be the team giving up the 2nd round pick, though.

Id do the Kieff deal, but I can't see Washington trading for Zeller when they have so much money tied up in Gortat and Mahimni

Kemba/Monk
Lamb/Matthews
MKG/Batum/Bacon
Marv/Thad
Frank/Willy
+ 11

[fatlever]

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[amcoolio]

Not bad if true

[yosemiteben]

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I know we all know who that is, but for the other folks that pass by...who is that?

[LofJ]

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I know we all know who that is, but for the other folks that pass by...who is that?

Triano was a former head coach of the Raptors and was also the interim head coach of the Suns last season. He's also the current head coach of the Canadian national team.

This is an interesting and seemingly good hire. Mayby the possibility of a trade with the Suns has opened up? Their players reportedly liked him a lot and wanted him to stay on staff. If they want to stealth tank another year Dwight is their guy.

[HornetJail]

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One of those guys who shouldn't be a head coach but is well-thought of as an assistant.

He was PHX's head coach after Earl Watson got fired, and while they certainly were not good, I could see his experience with Devin Booker could aid the development of Monk.

Also was the associate head coach in Portland the year CJ McCollum broke out. Worth noting?

[fatlever]

“There’s a personality about Jay that’s so positive, it makes you want to be at work, makes you want to do all the things that he asks from you,” DeRozan said. “(He’s) kind of a player’s coach. The things he was doing, it was so long ago and I was so young, I didn’t understand. I thought the whole league was like that. “Now looking back on it, Jay was definitely one of them guys.

https://www.thestar.com/sports/raptors/2017/12/05/triano-a-good-mentor-for-young-suns-stars.html