A realistic offseason scenario for the Charlotte Hornets

SeanBobcats · Post #1 » by **SeanBobcats** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 7:57 pm

This season's lineup when healthy:

Kemba/Sessions (expiring)
Henderson/Jeff Taylor/Gordon(expiring
MKG/Tolliver
Mcroberts(expiring)/Zeller
Jefferson/Bismack

Biggest needs include:

Better playmakers, outside shooters

Draft:

Charlotte owns their own pick this year but it's only top 10 protected. They also own the pick of the Pistons. If Charlotte were to miss the playoffs and get the 10th pick, and detroit gets 15th, they could potentially trade those two picks with a second rounder for the 5th pick and select Julius Randle, a quality scoring/rebounding big man who is nba ready and has potential. They also own the Blazers' pick which will probably be around 24 in the draft order. With that pick, they could possibly select PJ Hairson, a quality SG without a true weakness and who is most known for his three point shooting. The only reason he may go this late is because of his off the court problems.

Free Agency:

Charlotte has a few directions they could go in, but they could use an improvement at the 2 guard position because of Gerald Henderson's inconsistencies. So it would be smart to trade Henderson for basically just free cap space. Lance Stephenson is on the market as a restricted free agent. Kemba and Lance are friends, both played high school basketball in Brooklyn, which could give him some reason to come to Charlotte. But the cap room available is really what could pull him in. Lance would really fit in well with Charlotte considering that the system is somewhat similar to Indy and him and Kemba could both take a lot of the ball handling duties. The Hornets could offer him 9-10 million a year which the Pacers would likely not match unless they move one of the larger contracts on their roster. There's also still a hole at the backup PG spot. Since the starting lineup lacks outside shooters, they sign a PG who can do that pretty well. Maybe a guy like Steve Blake.

2014-2015 Charlotte Hornets Lineup:

PG- Kemba/Steve Blake
SG- Stephenson/PJ Hairston
SF- MKG/Taylor/Tolliver
PF- Randle/Zeller/Tolliver
C- Al Jefferson/Bismack

BeesWax · Post #2 » by **BeesWax** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:30 pm

Not sure how realistic your draft is. I am not sure we can trade to 5 from 10 and 15 and I really doubt that PJ Hairston lasts to 24.

At 10 and 15 we could nab a good combo of players. Hood, Hairston, Payne, and McDermott should all be around those picks. Some combination of the group would work well for us.

SeanBobcats · Post #3 » by **SeanBobcats** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:35 pm

jdm3 wrote:Not sure how realistic your draft is. I am not sure we can trade to 5 from 10 and 15 and I really doubt that PJ Hairston lasts to 24.

At 10 and 15 we could nab a good combo of players. Hood, Hairston, Payne, and McDermott should all be around those picks. Some combination of the group would work well for us.

I think getting the 5th pick with 10th, 15th, and a future second rounder or two is possible. You gotta remember that this draft headlines its top 3 (Embiid, Wiggins, Parker) and there's supposedly a slight drop after that, but it's also a very deep draft. I honestly think Hairston is easily talented enough to go top 20, maybe even late lottery, but just taking a look at mock drafts (even though they don't mean much) and keeping in mind his off the court troubles he's had, it's very possible for him to still be available at 24.

Radu_Hornets · Post #4 » by **Radu_Hornets** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:50 pm

I'm sorry Sean, but I'll go like jdm because I really doubt #10 + #15 + Second rounder would get the #5 ...

jakenc · Post #5 » by **jakenc** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:03 pm

Yeah nobody is trading a shot at Randle or Exum for picks 10 and 15.

gehenherzog · Post #6 » by **gehenherzog** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:18 pm

Hairston is not a good pick no matter where he falls to. He'll be available into the 2nd round, fwiw

SeanBobcats · Post #7 » by **SeanBobcats** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:21 pm

Radu_Bobcats wrote:I'm sorry Sean, but I'll go like jdm because I really doubt #10 + #15 + Second rounder would get the #5 ...

Yeah you might be right. Just an idea though. Well then lets change up the scenario just a bit. Lets say we get 9th and 10th picks, trade those two for number 5 (come on that's gotta be possible lol). That's an offer that a team would strongly consider. We could maybe even get them to add just like a small piece. I personally think Randle could be a better NBA player than college player. He gets double teamed and even triple teamed a lot, but teams couldn't do that to him in the NBA considering the offensive talent around him. What do you think of a lineup of:

Kemba
Lance
MKG
Randle
Jefferson

I personally love this as well as the bench I mentioned in the OP. Lance and MKG bring that defensive identity that Clifford promotes and this team's offense wouldn't be too shabby at all either. I think a roster like this could be the third seed in the east next season.

BeesWax · Post #8 » by **BeesWax** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:37 pm

gehenherzog wrote:Hairston is not a good pick no matter where he falls to. He'll be available into the 2nd round, fwiw

Unless something crazy happens to him between now and the draft this statement is way wrong or a lot of teams are going to look extremely stupid.

BeesWax · Post #9 » by **BeesWax** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:42 pm

SeanBobcats wrote:
Radu_Bobcats wrote:I'm sorry Sean, but I'll go like jdm because I really doubt #10 + #15 + Second rounder would get the #5 ...

Yeah you might be right. Just an idea though. Well then lets change up the scenario just a bit. Lets say we get 9th and 10th picks, trade those two for number 5 (come on that's gotta be possible lol). That's an offer that a team would strongly consider. We could maybe even get them to add just like a small piece. I personally think Randle could be a better NBA player than college player. He gets double teamed and even triple teamed a lot, but teams couldn't do that to him in the NBA considering the offensive talent around him. What do you think of a lineup of:

Kemba
Lance
MKG
Randle
Jefferson

I personally love this as well as the bench I mentioned in the OP. Lance and MKG bring that defensive identity that Clifford promotes and this team's offense wouldn't be too shabby at all either. I think a roster like this could be the third seed in the east next season.

Not sure Randle is a great fit here. Worried about his fit long term. I actually think fit wise, not better player wise, Vonaleh is a better player for us. He is a better defender and has good range on his shot. Plus he has a little more length.

DY_nasty · Post #10 » by **DY_nasty** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:47 pm

McDermott doesn't look like he'd translate at all to the NBA level...

SeanBobcats · Post #11 » by **SeanBobcats** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:56 pm

jdm3 wrote:
SeanBobcats wrote:
Radu_Bobcats wrote:I'm sorry Sean, but I'll go like jdm because I really doubt #10 + #15 + Second rounder would get the #5 ...

Yeah you might be right. Just an idea though. Well then lets change up the scenario just a bit. Lets say we get 9th and 10th picks, trade those two for number 5 (come on that's gotta be possible lol). That's an offer that a team would strongly consider. We could maybe even get them to add just like a small piece. I personally think Randle could be a better NBA player than college player. He gets double teamed and even triple teamed a lot, but teams couldn't do that to him in the NBA considering the offensive talent around him. What do you think of a lineup of:

Kemba
Lance
MKG
Randle
Jefferson

I personally love this as well as the bench I mentioned in the OP. Lance and MKG bring that defensive identity that Clifford promotes and this team's offense wouldn't be too shabby at all either. I think a roster like this could be the third seed in the east next season.

Not sure Randle is a great fit here. Worried about his fit long term. I actually think fit wise, not better player wise, Vonaleh is a better player for us. He is a better defender and has good range on his shot. Plus he has a little more length.

I'd agree than Vonleh is a better fit, he's just a really raw talent as of now, and a lot less nba ready. I'd rather not see a project type guy as our pick because next season will be at least our second best season in franchise history. I think Randle is less of a risk honestly too. People bag on Randle for a lotta things, but they don't realize how much of a focus college defenses make him. They make it their goal on defense to just go out there and stop Randle. I think this will actually serve him well on the NBA level, the experience of being played so toughly on will serve him well. He'l never be much of a shot blocker, but his post defense could become pretty good. He's kinda lacking a jumpshot right now as well, but his stroke aint too bad and he could develop a good enough mid range game.

DY_nasty · Post #12 » by **DY_nasty** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:51 pm

Randle's block/steal rate is horrible. That's why people are down on him. His entire game is bullying - and its not going to work in the NBA because he doesn't have matching speed or form to pair with it. He's not quick enough and he's not tall enough. Tweeners like him are not the future. We've seen it time and time again.

SeanBobcats · Post #13 » by **SeanBobcats** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:11 pm

DY_nasty wrote:Randle's block/steal rate is horrible. That's why people are down on him. His entire game is bullying - and its not going to work in the NBA because he doesn't have matching speed or form to pair with it. He's not quick enough and he's not tall enough. Tweeners like him are not the future. We've seen it time and time again.

I don't at all agree, I don't think people realize how important he is to his Kentucky team and how good he would be if he didnt get double/triple teamed. His height is 6'9 which isn't at all a tweener, and people bag on his 6'11 wingspan which is very unreasonable to me. I don't take his block/steal rate seriously. He might not be a great defender, but I don't think it's something that will really make him slip. His ability to finish inside is tremendous.

BeesWax · Post #14 » by **BeesWax** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:29 pm

SeanBobcats wrote:
DY_nasty wrote:Randle's block/steal rate is horrible. That's why people are down on him. His entire game is bullying - and its not going to work in the NBA because he doesn't have matching speed or form to pair with it. He's not quick enough and he's not tall enough. Tweeners like him are not the future. We've seen it time and time again.

I don't at all agree, I don't think people realize how important he is to his Kentucky team and how good he would be if he didnt get double/triple teamed. His height is 6'9 which isn't at all a tweener, and people bag on his 6'11 wingspan which is very unreasonable to me. I don't take his block/steal rate seriously. He might not be a great defender, but I don't think it's something that will really make him slip. His ability to finish inside is tremendous.

He does not get doubled as much as you would think. Against teams with NBA talent he goes one on one a lot and is only average. Go watch games like UNC and Florida where they matched up one on one a lot and he failed to really take over. He tries to bully ball it all the time and he won't do that well in the NBA.

SeanBobcats · Post #15 » by **SeanBobcats** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:38 pm

jdm3 wrote:
SeanBobcats wrote:
DY_nasty wrote:Randle's block/steal rate is horrible. That's why people are down on him. His entire game is bullying - and its not going to work in the NBA because he doesn't have matching speed or form to pair with it. He's not quick enough and he's not tall enough. Tweeners like him are not the future. We've seen it time and time again.

I don't at all agree, I don't think people realize how important he is to his Kentucky team and how good he would be if he didnt get double/triple teamed. His height is 6'9 which isn't at all a tweener, and people bag on his 6'11 wingspan which is very unreasonable to me. I don't take his block/steal rate seriously. He might not be a great defender, but I don't think it's something that will really make him slip. His ability to finish inside is tremendous.

He does not get doubled as much as you would think. Against teams with NBA talent he goes one on one a lot and is only average. Go watch games like UNC and Florida where they matched up one on one a lot and he failed to really take over. He tries to bully ball it all the time and he won't do that well in the NBA.

It still does happen to him plenty. I saw the game against UNC and yeah he just didn't really manage to take over. I didn't see the florida one. But anyways I'm still high on him because I think big men who score inside as well as him is a rare thing to see. Would you rather have Vonleh or Randle? Just wondering.

BeesWax · Post #16 » by **BeesWax** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:33 am

SeanBobcats wrote:
jdm3 wrote:
SeanBobcats wrote:I don't at all agree, I don't think people realize how important he is to his Kentucky team and how good he would be if he didnt get double/triple teamed. His height is 6'9 which isn't at all a tweener, and people bag on his 6'11 wingspan which is very unreasonable to me. I don't take his block/steal rate seriously. He might not be a great defender, but I don't think it's something that will really make him slip. His ability to finish inside is tremendous.

He does not get doubled as much as you would think. Against teams with NBA talent he goes one on one a lot and is only average. Go watch games like UNC and Florida where they matched up one on one a lot and he failed to really take over. He tries to bully ball it all the time and he won't do that well in the NBA.

It still does happen to him plenty. I saw the game against UNC and yeah he just didn't really manage to take over. I didn't see the florida one. But anyways I'm still high on him because I think big men who score inside as well as him is a rare thing to see. Would you rather have Vonleh or Randle? Just wondering.

Between the two Vonleh would be my pick. It worries me that Randle had so much trouble against McAdoo who is likely a tweener. I am not sure either would be my pick but if I went after a PF it would be Vonleh there.

Post #17 » by **JDR720** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:57 am

jdm3 wrote:
SeanBobcats wrote:
jdm3 wrote:He does not get doubled as much as you would think. Against teams with NBA talent he goes one on one a lot and is only average. Go watch games like UNC and Florida where they matched up one on one a lot and he failed to really take over. He tries to bully ball it all the time and he won't do that well in the NBA.

It still does happen to him plenty. I saw the game against UNC and yeah he just didn't really manage to take over. I didn't see the florida one. But anyways I'm still high on him because I think big men who score inside as well as him is a rare thing to see. Would you rather have Vonleh or Randle? Just wondering.

Between the two Vonleh would be my pick. It worries me that Randle had so much trouble against McAdoo who is likely a tweener. I am not sure either would be my pick but if I went after a PF it would be Vonleh there.

McAdoo is definitely a tweener and not just that he is a bad defender and finesse tweener which makes Randle look even worse that he struggled against him