How would you fix this team?

[yosemiteben]

He gets to go all iso all the time on the bench. Our bench desperately needs offense, so it makes sense to move him there.

[Eoghan]

Signing MCW to be a tall, defensive PG was worth a shot. Signing MCW coming off bad knees to play defense was probably a stupid move.

[catch20two]

"If Lamb doesn't start he can't shoot."

Ok

DO you do anything other than contradict everything anyone says? Honestly. You said he needs to maintain his hot start. So you think benching him is a good technique to keep a guy on a hot streak? Did I say "if he doesn't start he can't shoot"?..... when did I say that? Oh that's right i didn't but you literally put it in quotes like i said that. You just need to contradict everything anyone says and try to make yourself look like the king of all basketball knowledge. You said yourself we need him "desperately" to keep his hot start. Hmmmm then maybe we shouldnt bench him and reduce him to 22 minutes a game. Funny how that made perfect sense to everyone except you. Shocking...

I honestly think he’s a team mole doing damage control. He never has a negative stance against the decisions the organization make no matter how much we suck. He give me somebody to say “I told ya so” to a lot too tho so that’s why I like him. Ain’t no fun in debating if you can’t be right most of the time.

[Joest2003]

Haha tru. Good point Catch. LET'S GO HORNETS!

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

yosemiteben posting interesting stats, reminding folks to stay level-headed, and not getting caught up in some of the negativity that can go on here is super interesting to me. yosemiteben twisting what people say has honestly made me more angry than any other person on this board ever has.

But talking about any single person here isn't going to fix this team.

I feel like as long as Cho is here the likely course of action will involve tweak and mid-sized moves at best. Just like any GM he is committed to his guys and to some extent his evaluation as a GM is dependent on his draft picks turning into functional team members. I'm not sure that this core can be "fixed" but I would be willing to see an effort to do it.

Personally I would lean towards firing Cho and doing some major moves. I don't want to see a full tank mode rebuild. I'm OK with trading Kemba in this scenario. I suggested a teardown a while back that included trading Kemba to Phoenix before the Bledsoe trade, for a package back that included a good draft pick next year and Bledsoe to take his place. Those are the kinds of trades I would like to see. Getting guys back that can still play, even if they are downgrades, but getting more good draft picks too. I think that it would take a new GM to go down that road though.

[bravor]

I kinda agree with Yosemite. From eye test and from last years of watching this team. Lamb is what he is. he also had a pretty good start two years ago. Obviously, he improved, but it's not like he is anything special.
But feel free to make a poll about Lamb, i doubt you will necessary have an unbalanced result.

Batum or Lamb in the starting line up, for my part i don't really care. I care much more :
-for the line up that close the game (especially considering 4th 1/4 collapse)
-the balance between offense & defence (as some lines up manage to be bad on both ends...)
-improving this roster, especially at the wing (and above all, a fri**n tweener that can defend succesfully tough forward assignements (ala Giannais, lbj, Durant etc).

Both Batum and Lamb are not long term options for this franchise if they intend to win something. Knowing Batum will probably be tough to trade untill 2019 (the funny part being that his contract might suddenly turn into something special, as long as he can play at least at an average level on both ends).

Anyway since Cody is out for a while, they should try to get guys like Ed Davis for cheap (expiring contract) since he could remain a good fit from the bench when the frontcourt is playing like marshmallows.

[HoopsMalone]

Pretty disingenuous not to mention that Lamb is playing hurt right now during his "slump". We need to shut him down for a week or two or he's gonna end up out for awhile

[catch20two]

Both Batum and Lamb are not long term options for this franchise if they intend to win something.

Why shouldn’t Lamb be considered a long term option for the franchise? He outperforms his contract. He’s just about to enter his prime at 25 years old. He averages about 18pts on good percentages whenever he get at least 30 minutes consistently. The team performs well with him in the starting lineup. His PER as a Hornet is 17+. I don’t get it.

If Lamb isn’t considered a long term option for this team than they really do need to blow it up because if he’s not a long term option then neither should MKG, Cody, Frank, and whoever else be.

[yosemiteben]

Holy f guys sorry I had the audacity to suggest that we need Lamb to shoot well.

I'll bow out for a bit and let the echo chamber keep ringing.

[catch20two]

Holy f guys sorry I had the audacity to suggest that we need Lamb to shoot well.

I'll bow out for a bit and let the echo chamber keep ringing.

Because you should’ve been saying the $120 million dollar man Batum needs to shoot well. Hard to knock the guy getting paid like a average backup making $7 mil per when the near max contract guy is shooting and playing worse than him. That’s where the audacity came in at.

[yosemiteben]

You're right, every statement that is not active praise of Lamb (like "our team needs him to play well") should always have a criticism of other players included just so Lamb fans know you recognize that there are other players that might not be playing up to their potential.

[HoopsMalone]

The bottom line is that there is no easy fix. No one is going to take on Batum's lengthy, expensive deal when he's playing like crap and has existing health issues. We might be stuck with him for FOUR freaking seasons. That's seriously a problem. And we're eating that deal unless we want to get stuck with a Joakim Noah, Evan Turner, Luol Deng, etc type contract in a trade.

The summer of 2016 was a giant landmine and we stepped right on it. People kept paying absurd salaries saying it was the "new cap environment" when that obviously wasn't true. It was a one-time spike that created a supply/demand imbalance. General Managers didn't account for it correctly and it resulted in quite a few absurd deals.

That was the year to just sit back and not sign anyone so that you have cap space this offseason and next when everyone else is capped out/facing luxury tax issues.

[catch20two]

You're right, every statement that is not active praise of Lamb (like "our team needs him to play well") should always have a criticism of other players included just so Lamb fans know you recognize that there are other players that might not be playing up to their potential.

Joest gave you his solution and you tried to belittle him by putting words in his mouth. He said that Lamb played better with the starters and when he was getting consistent minutes instead of trying to press as much production as he can into his brief minutes on the floor.

Players play differently when they know they’re not looking over their shoulder. Lamb may very well take more bad shots when he’s coming off the bench not knowing when he’ll get back in the game instead of waiting for his offense to come to him within the flow. You’re smart enough to know these things but you like to play dumb in order to cater to your argument.

Either way however Lamb is shooting is still better than what we’re getting from Batum. Batum needs to get to Lamb’s floor.

[yosemiteben]

I tried to compliment Lamb dude. Sorry I didn't do it the right way.

Doesn't matter where he plays, who with, or where. We need him to score.

[Robot Rock]

I bet you MCW's NBA career is over once he leaves here.

[HoopsMalone]

I bet you MCW's NBA career is over once he leaves here.

Cho is pretty good at signing guys to their last NBA deal. Hibbert... MCW... Stone... reggie williams? We'll count Hawes since he stupidly traded for him on his last deal

[JDR720]

Need to dump Nic, MKG, Marvin and Dwight this offseason.
Dont keep MCW or Johnny and pick up Grahams option

Why? Older, expensive and bad fits.

draft a big (likely a PF)
Draft a backup PG (depth, the FA options suck butt)
Sign Tolliver (yep, he replaces Marvin for 1/5th the cost)

lineup so far

Kemba-Draftee
Lamb-Monk
Bacon-Graham
Draftee-Tolliver
Cody-Frank

Obviously we need some wings. thats where Nic/MKG trades come in (Dwight for a 2nd and Marvin for a late first)

Nic for Danny Green and a 2nd (makes 1/2 Nics contract)
MKG for Brandon Knight (same contract)

Kemba-Knight-Draftee
Lamb-Monk
Green-Bacon-Graham
Draftee-Tolliver
Cody-Frank

New reloaded team, obviously an offensive minded one. Get a new HC obviously. We can sign a better backup PF and starting SF with the added cap from Nic/Dwight deals. Sign some cheap 3rd center (JASON MAXIELL!!!!)

[HornetJail]

I bet you MCW's NBA career is over once he leaves here.

it probably would've been last year had Kemba not vouched for him. I love Kemba and hope he is here forever but he doesn't lobby the FO for good players

[arthy704]

Need to dump Nic, MKG, Marvin and Dwight this offseason.
Dont keep MCW or Johnny and pick up Grahams option

Why? Older, expensive and bad fits.

draft a big (likely a PF)
Draft a backup PG (depth, the FA options suck butt)
Sign Tolliver (yep, he replaces Marvin for 1/5th the cost)

lineup so far

Kemba-Draftee
Lamb-Monk
Bacon-Graham
Draftee-Tolliver
Cody-Frank

Obviously we need some wings. thats where Nic/MKG trades come in (Dwight for a 2nd and Marvin for a late first)

Nic for Danny Green and a 2nd (makes 1/2 Nics contract)
MKG for Brandon Knight (same contract)

Kemba-Knight-Draftee
Lamb-Monk
Green-Bacon-Graham
Draftee-Tolliver
Cody-Frank

New reloaded team, obviously an offensive minded one. Get a new HC obviously. We can sign a better backup PF and starting SF with the added cap from Nic/Dwight deals. Sign some cheap 3rd center (JASON MAXIELL!!!!)

This line up with cody starting looks like a lethal shootout and can run a full on drive kick sets.

[HornetJail]

Need to dump Nic, MKG, Marvin and Dwight this offseason.
Dont keep MCW or Johnny and pick up Grahams option

Why? Older, expensive and bad fits.

draft a big (likely a PF)
Draft a backup PG (depth, the FA options suck butt)
Sign Tolliver (yep, he replaces Marvin for 1/5th the cost)

lineup so far

Kemba-Draftee
Lamb-Monk
Bacon-Graham
Draftee-Tolliver
Cody-Frank

Obviously we need some wings. thats where Nic/MKG trades come in (Dwight for a 2nd and Marvin for a late first)

Nic for Danny Green and a 2nd (makes 1/2 Nics contract)
MKG for Brandon Knight (same contract)

Kemba-Knight-Draftee
Lamb-Monk
Green-Bacon-Graham
Draftee-Tolliver
Cody-Frank

New reloaded team, obviously an offensive minded one. Get a new HC obviously. We can sign a better backup PF and starting SF with the added cap from Nic/Dwight deals. Sign some cheap 3rd center (JASON MAXIELL!!!!)

that team is far far worse than that we currently have. Offensive minded or not that team sucks ass