For Years People on here said...

[KembaWalker]

Using that logic it’s basically never justifiable to ever try to win ever, there’s always a draft there’s always a prospect coming up. Yall talk about no shortcuts but the real shortcut here is thinking the only two acceptable outcomes for a season are a top 5 pick or making the conference finals and acting like this team is gonna somehow transition instantly from one to the other without some playoff learning

Nobody said we'd be transitioning to the East finals next year with Flagg or Harper. Just that we now have a core of guys who can grow into something sustainable and it is time to start making moves towards that goal.

You know what would be even more sustainable than this team with Flagg or Harper? This team with Flagg or Harper and AJ Dybantsa

[Walt Cronkite]

You’re just using a random name generator now.

[luciano-davidwesley]

Tanking for the draft is the laziest shortcut a team can pursue to build a good team

Hmmm let me see...

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/6/23/12020444/kings-trade-marco-belinelli-to-hornets-for-no-22-pick-per-report

Who’d that pick turn into?

That is a bit like saying someone played a poker hand well just because they won that individual pot.

[luciano-davidwesley]

Tanking for the draft is the laziest shortcut a team can pursue to build a good team

Hmmm let me see...

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/6/23/12020444/kings-trade-marco-belinelli-to-hornets-for-no-22-pick-per-report

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/richama01.html

The guy taken with that pick lol

Players that could have been taken with that pick if the Kings and Hornets weren't involved - Siakam, Dejounte, Zubac, Brogdon

[SWedd523]

Hmmm let me see...

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/6/23/12020444/kings-trade-marco-belinelli-to-hornets-for-no-22-pick-per-report

Who’d that pick turn into?

That is a bit like saying someone played a poker hand well just because they won that individual pot.

You could also just pull up every draft pick by Charlotte since the Bobcats came back around two decades ago *shrug*


"Let's keep this pick and hope we get Flagg"........ when the overwhelming odds are that you get a Raymond Felton level player and we're back here December 2025 saying " No guys, seriously, this time, we're gonna wait for the draft and THEN get after it"

[SWedd523]

We're gonna tank for Anthony Davis


What's the worst that could happen

[KembaWalker]

If we’re regrading old trades just let it be known that we’re already back to a laughingstock again to the general public this season for trading PJ for Grant and god forbid we whiff on that protected pick which is the likely outcome, that will be etched in stone forever. I mean, we all know better, but it doesn’t matter because history is written by the victors. PJ is a born winner intangibles superstar now

[Walt Cronkite]

We're gonna tank for Anthony Davis


What's the worst that could happen

Grinds my gears he was a Hornet but not in Charlotte.

Rich Cho transactions were not the best during his tenure.

[wilson115]

Tanking for the draft is the laziest shortcut a team can pursue to build a good team

Hmmm let me see...

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/6/23/12020444/kings-trade-marco-belinelli-to-hornets-for-no-22-pick-per-report

Cho sucks. Too bad he wasn't the only one who went all-in on the quick fix and treated the draft like an afterthought because we had a team that could go 5th in the East. Or was it 4th?

Adebayo's final pre-draft workout came with the Charlotte Hornets, who held the No. 11 pick. He felt he performed well. He loved the idea of playing close to home -- close to Mom. "I wanted Charlotte," he says.

He was laying in bed at the Grand Hyatt in midtown Manhattan two nights before the draft, relaxing with his mother and Jabari Ashe, a Northside teammate and perhaps his closest friend, when Saratsis burst in with news: Charlotte had traded for Dwight Howard. The Hornets would not select Adebayo.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28678382/bam-adebayo-fiercest-best-nba-player-know

[Diop]

maybe I should go back to posting risque gifs.

those were the days, before Howard Mass gave me a lecture that it was inappropriate for a mod to post them

[Liver_Pooty]

I’ve skipped through a ton of post that I will read. But if we don’t make the playoffs next year the front office has some stuff to figure out. Lamelo and Miller aren’t going anywhere.

[Liver_Pooty]

Who’d that pick turn into?

That is a bit like saying someone played a poker hand well just because they won that individual pot.

You could also just pull up every draft pick by Charlotte since the Bobcats came back around two decades ago *shrug*


"Let's keep this pick and hope we get Flagg"........ when the overwhelming odds are that you get a Raymond Felton level player and we're back here December 2025 saying " No guys, seriously, this time, we're gonna wait for the draft and THEN get after it"

Could’ve had Chris Paul. But we wanted Felton and May. Lol

[JDR720]

I think that they COULD have competed for a first-round loss this season if that was the goal or smart play. These guys would not be sitting out so long, we would not have strict minutes restrictions, and we would have pulled a small deal earlier.
I think they are actually executing plan. Probably a smart one. And that it's not gonna be too long before we push the cards in and go for it. Realistically - make for the playoffs next year, and if needed, bring someone bigger in the following one with the extra picks if we can contend with that squad or use them to keep building with young dudes if not. I don't mind losses this year if the young guys are developing and there is a way forward for once.

But our record is where it is because we've been constantly injured and Lee hasn't been coaching well. I don't think either of those are on purpose. I think they planned on keeping our pick + being competitive at the same time, not being one of the worst teams in the league.

Lee may be having growing pains of being a new coach. But if the injury issues doesn't get fixed, we aren't competing for the playoffs any time soon. This is why I said in the last GT we should consider blowing it up if we don't land a top draft pick.

[Bassman]

Recounting all the absolute screwed up trades this team has made just adds to depression mode. Same with all the bungled draft picks. Cho was total garbage but hiring him was the bigger mistake. Bob Bass was the best we ever had. He wasn’t perfect, but he kept the team competitive, and turned some lemons into lemonade. This new regime certainly is TBD. Their plan?

“Development”….”set a culture”….”attitude”. All important, and none of which have anything to do with winning this year. Will they try to tank? No, and they really haven’t had to try doing that…it comes naturally to a cursed team. If injuries cease to be an issue, and the team starts to gel and produce wins, there’s no way they’d put artificial brakes on. It’s the regime’s first year. The kicker is going to be around trades. Does Peterson try to deal for a veteran difference maker before the deadline? Doing that likely wouldn’t save this season but could be good for the future. Or it could be a bungled deal that delivers a dud. Either way, at this point, the pick either stays with us or not. I doubt they stealth tank until much later in the year (or when more injuries make it inevitable).

[MasterIchiro]

Wait, am I allowed to talk about Richard Cho again? Is this a safe space?

[KembaWalker]

no organization with this profile is going to promise wins or playoffs or any tangible accomplishment that scrutiny can be applied against, when the alternative is vapid, hollow "set the culture, work hard every day" bs that we've been hearing every coach say forever. you could take Dunlaps hiring article and strike out and replace the current names and you'd think the article was run last summer.

this team exists simply as a vessel to funnel taxpayer money from Charlotteans to some rich guys, and float along aimlessly using California/NY/Boston revenue sharing and luxury tax penalties to pay the roster. the real teams just need some Generals to play against every once in a while to properly give their achievements some scaling

if you think the guy thats famous for shorting Gamestop or some random nepo baby from the Hawks org has some special insight in how to run a successful organization or basketball team you're in for a rough decade. what they are proven good at is funneling money from other people to themselves whilst producing nothing of value, so thats kind of what I expect going forward from this org

[Rich4114]

Out of curiosity, when Jeff and the owners said at their introductory press conferences that they weren't going to take short cuts and were going to build for long term success:

(1) Did folks at that point in time think that was a bad approach?

(2) Have you seen something that suggests a change in philosophy?

I'm candidly surprised anyone else is surprised at their approach, given how consistent their message was about what they're trying to do.

I think we know deep down that is the right approach but at the same time, we're tired of losing and never being relevant. The new owners just got here so doing this for 1.5 seasons isn't a big deal. For us fans it is a very big deal though.

Now what does "build for long term success" really mean? OK I guess it means retain your lottery pick in one of the best drafts in years. What about after that? As many have mentioned, adding Cooper Flagg / Harper / VJ / etc. won't give us a big contribution if we're going to be a winning NBA team in the 25-26 season. Our core group of LaMelo/Miller/Mark is too young to carry a team to playoff series wins just yet, though LaMelo looks like he'd be ready now. We've also got no chemistry built with that group since they literally have never played a full NBA game together.

All that being said, this trade deadline and summer will show us what the plan actually is. All those years Jordan made "win now" moves prematurely, we're kind of at that point now where we ought to be making win now moves around those 3 guys before we run out of time. It is going to take some calculated risks though. We need dependable vets who balance out the weaknesses of this roster. We need to move on from low IQ players and bring in vets who both contribute on the court and offer leadership in the locker room. We need guys who play hard and bring some kind of elite skillset even if one dimensional.

Guys who should not be on the roster by next training camp:

Micic
Nick
NSJ
Seth
Wong
One of Cody or Green
Jefferies
Taj

Saloon should not be playing big mins if any until he knows how to make a layup and dribble. Green should not be a starter. Mann should be SG2 and we need an actual backup PG.

I think we have some draft assets we could leverage to try and go make an impact trade or two + sign key role players in free agency. But we've now "tanked" for 3 straight seasons. Thankfully we got Miller out of it (too bad we just missed out on Wemby) and unthankfully we blew another high pick in Saloon. Be smart, pick BPA and fill out the roster with real free agents who have proven to be contributors in the NBA. Give this team a chance next season.

[KingCat]

I mean 4 years ago when we first picked up Gordon, we had a pretty competitve team that would have avoided the playin if Lamelo didn't get hurt towards the end of his rookie year.

The next year they had similar success but the East improved a significant amount so we came up short again.

Then the following offseason, one of our most key players, Miles Bridges, showed his true colors and that along with injury plague forced us into another rebuild.

I think it is bad faith to say we have been tanking since the end of the Kemba era.

[yosemiteben]

Wait, am I allowed to talk about Richard Cho again? Is this a safe space?

I'm not sure why you'd bring up a GM that was fired like 7 years ago, but go for it I guess.

[MasterIchiro]

Wait, am I allowed to talk about Richard Cho again? Is this a safe space?

I'm not sure why you'd bring up a GM that was fired like 7 years ago, but go for it I guess.

Uh, I did not bring up Cho first. Check the tape.