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Anybody see this yet? Pretty good article with interviews from Borrego and Mitch on what the hell is going on: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/charlotte-hornets/article234979322.html

Pretty much what we've been saying on this board. Things self-evident:
- Hornets going young
- Hornets not signing high profile free agents
- Hornets going to let expensive contracts expire
- Hornets going to use cap space to gain draft picks in 2021
- Hornets focusing on player development

What's not self-evident but widely understood:
-Hornets tanking this season
-Hornets are in rebuilding mode
-Hornets will be not be all that interested in winning (they'll want to win, but it won't be a corporate goal)
-Hornets lost Kemba the second he made the All-NBA team
-Playing time will not equate to performance. There will be lots of eyes on Greensboro this upcoming season

There's no subtlety or genius overlord plan in Mitch Kupchak's approach. There's only room for one Pat Riley in this universe. So whatever we see or don't see or hear coming from the front office will be evidenced by plodding action, not rhetoric.

Rich4114 wrote:Anybody see this yet? Pretty good article with interviews from Borrego and Mitch on what the hell is going on: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/charlotte-hornets/article234979322.html

Only lottery protected picks offered for Kemba? Interesting.

I like that they realize they have to build something before they can attract free agents. Like the youth movement and player development.

LofJ wrote:What position do you guys think the team will finish in?

I can't decide if this team or the Wizards will finish with a better record. So I've got us as the 3rd or 4th worst team behind the Cavs, Knicks, and possibly the Wizards.

I think the Hornets are easily the worst team in the league. The reason I think that is they lack proven NBA talent on both sides of the ball. I do think they have some young talented players with potential, but potential doesn’t win in this league. I like Bridges a lot. He has tons of physical talent and I think will show great improvement, possibly our leading scorer.

Rozier appears to be a guy that can play well on both sides of the ball. His basketball IQ is my question for him. Still unproven, like the rest of our roster.

Bacon I also like. I thought he played really well to finish last season and has been working hard this offseason. He as a chip on his should that I like.

I still have high hopes for Monk, though they are fading fast. I saw a little Jamaal Crawford in him. Concerned about his work ethic.

As far as the other teams mentioned. The Cavs have K Love, the Knicks have Randle, and the Wizards have Beal, all better than anyone we have.

I love Garland with the Cavs. Still have Thompson and Clarkson. Knicks have lots of vets like Portis , Gibson, and Payton, which many around here wanted more than Rozier. I’m not so impressed with RJ, but Nash swears by him and says he has a great work ethic. The Wizards are screwed if Beal gets hurt. I probably like Thomas Bryant and Rui more than most.

I do look forward to seeing our youth develop. I see a lot of potential. I hope I’m not viewing through my teal colored glasses. We’ll soon find out.

That was a really good article. It is clear that Mitch and Borrego actually do have a realistic plan. Finally!
It's also clear that they intend to tank for 2 years and play the young guys primarily in the meantime. Realistically that should be plan.
We may well be the worst team for those years but hopefully we can get 2 top 3 picks and build a real winner.
I bet Kemba's value was a lot higher 2 years ago when he had a year and half of cheap team control left on his contract. No one should have wanted to give more then a lottery protected pick to acquire a short PG that you will have to pay big bucks to resign as a total free agent in 3 months.
That being the case getting Rozier out the signing isn't a bad outcome if he can play well in our system.

hotrod wrote:

LofJ wrote:What position do you guys think the team will finish in?

I can't decide if this team or the Wizards will finish with a better record. So I've got us as the 3rd or 4th worst team behind the Cavs, Knicks, and possibly the Wizards.

I think the Hornets are easily the worst team in the league. The reason I think that is they lack proven NBA talent on both sides of the ball. I do think they have some young talented players with potential, but potential doesn’t win in this league. I like Bridges a lot. He has tons of physical talent and I think will show great improvement, possibly our leading scorer.

Rozier appears to be a guy that can play well on both sides of the ball. His basketball IQ is my question for him. Still unproven, like the rest of our roster.

Bacon I also like. I thought he played really well to finish last season and has been working hard this offseason. He as a chip on his should that I like.

I still have high hopes for Monk, though they are fading fast. I saw a little Jamaal Crawford in him. Concerned about his work ethic.

As far as the other teams mentioned. The Cavs have K Love, the Knicks have Randle, and the Wizards have Beal, all better than anyone we have.

I love Garland with the Cavs. Still have Thompson and Clarkson. Knicks have lots of vets like Portis , Gibson, and Payton, which many around here wanted more than Rozier. I’m not so impressed with RJ, but Nash swears by him and says he has a great work ethic. The Wizards are screwed if Beal gets hurt. I probably like Thomas Bryant and Rui more than most.

I do look forward to seeing our youth develop. I see a lot of potential. I hope I’m not viewing through my teal colored glasses. We’ll soon find out.

Randle is all empty stats, Zeller (when healthy) is a better player than he is. And outside of Love and Thompson the Cavaliers are trash. Batum, Rozier, Marvin, MKG, and Biz aren't world beaters but they're better than the veterans on the rosters of the Cavs, Wizards, and Knicks. Unless we intentionally sit those guys we won't be the worst team in the league.

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Great podcast with Adam Morrison. Really open about his career. Great stories about LB and Kobe. Bickerstaff made the decision to draft him. Good stuff.

LofJ wrote:

hotrod wrote:

LofJ wrote:What position do you guys think the team will finish in?

I can't decide if this team or the Wizards will finish with a better record. So I've got us as the 3rd or 4th worst team behind the Cavs, Knicks, and possibly the Wizards.

I think the Hornets are easily the worst team in the league. The reason I think that is they lack proven NBA talent on both sides of the ball. I do think they have some young talented players with potential, but potential doesn’t win in this league. I like Bridges a lot. He has tons of physical talent and I think will show great improvement, possibly our leading scorer.

Rozier appears to be a guy that can play well on both sides of the ball. His basketball IQ is my question for him. Still unproven, like the rest of our roster.

Bacon I also like. I thought he played really well to finish last season and has been working hard this offseason. He as a chip on his should that I like.

I still have high hopes for Monk, though they are fading fast. I saw a little Jamaal Crawford in him. Concerned about his work ethic.

As far as the other teams mentioned. The Cavs have K Love, the Knicks have Randle, and the Wizards have Beal, all better than anyone we have.

I love Garland with the Cavs. Still have Thompson and Clarkson. Knicks have lots of vets like Portis , Gibson, and Payton, which many around here wanted more than Rozier. I’m not so impressed with RJ, but Nash swears by him and says he has a great work ethic. The Wizards are screwed if Beal gets hurt. I probably like Thomas Bryant and Rui more than most.

I do look forward to seeing our youth develop. I see a lot of potential. I hope I’m not viewing through my teal colored glasses. We’ll soon find out.

Randle is all empty stats, Zeller (when healthy) is a better player than he is. And outside of Love and Thompson the Cavaliers are trash. Batum, Rozier, Marvin, MKG, and Biz aren't world beaters but they're better than the veterans on the rosters of the Cavs, Wizards, and Knicks. Unless we intentionally sit those guys we won't be the worst team in the league.

I wish Zeller could stay healthy. He just can’t. If Randle has empty stats, so does everyone on the Hornets, Beal and Love. I like Marvin, but Batum, MKG and Biz don’t fit in the modern NBA. Batum could if he had any aggressiveness at all. Trust me, I hope I’m wrong. I’m a long time season ticket holder and have a lot invested in this team. Realistically being the worst team, though not as important as in the past, is our best path.

hotrod wrote:

Read on Twitter

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Great podcast with Adam Morrison. Really open about his career. Great stories about LB and Kobe. Bickerstaff made the decision to draft him. Good stuff.

this solves a very long debate, that it wasnt MJ. I never believed it was MJ given the evidence, and fact that MJ was only around for a few weeks prior. doesnt absolve him of picks 2007-2019 though.

Rich4114 wrote:Anybody see this yet? Pretty good article with interviews from Borrego and Mitch on what the hell is going on: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/charlotte-hornets/article234979322.html

Yes interesting article. I agree with the main premise (play young guys and develop them) but uncomfortable with their insistence on playing Bridges at the 4 and (evidently) PJ at the 5. We’ve been down this road before where we try to force fit players into roles they aren’t physically built for, nor with an ideal skill set. I want Bridges to get quicker, improve shooting and defend SF’s. If he’s not capable of that and is projected at the 4, why the hell draft PJ? A 6-7 center, even in today’s NBA, won’t cut it.

Bassman wrote:

Rich4114 wrote:Anybody see this yet? Pretty good article with interviews from Borrego and Mitch on what the hell is going on: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/charlotte-hornets/article234979322.html

Yes interesting article. I agree with the main premise (play young guys and develop them) but uncomfortable with their insistence on playing Bridges at the 4 and (evidently) PJ at the 5. We’ve been down this road before where we try to force fit players into roles they aren’t physically built for, nor with an ideal skill set. I want Bridges to get quicker, improve shooting and defend SF’s. If he’s not capable of that and is projected at the 4, why the hell draft PJ? A 6-7 center, even in today’s NBA, won’t cut it.

NBA does seem to reward playing small at times, so it makes sense to me to ensure that Miles can do that. Kind of like guys who are normally SGs playing PG at the start of a season to round out their skills.

The big reason I think that Miles will start at the 4 though is so that Nic can stay in the starting lineup. Terry & Dwayne are givens, so Miles either starts at 3 and Nic sits or Nic starts and Miles has to move to the 4.

Do I personally want Nic to start? NO. Do I think it's going to happen. Yes. Nic checks too many of those SAS boxes ... "knows how to play" ... "moves the ball" ... "can stretch the floor" ... "plays team defense." I think that most of it's an illusion at this point, but IN THEORY he's a great complement to the young guys.

It's the old Yogi Berra thing all over again, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice - in practice there is"

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If you're not 1st, you might as well be last!

I’m down with it. Our hope is worst to first...multiple top picks! Hopefully we don’t screw them up

I'm not too worried about the Future Power Rankings, they haven't exactly been an accurate metric for success through the years. They get the obvious ones but no one can really know the future.

A few years ago when the Clippers traded CP3 seemingly for scraps then gave Griffin a supermax they were considered a franchise who had doomed themselves to years of mediocrity. Three years later Griffin is gone, the 'scraps' they got for CP3 are arguably more valuable than CP3 at $40 million a year and they pulled off one of the most stunning offseason acquisitions of all time.

Charlotte is going to be bad this year, probably really really bad, but if the team has the ping pong balls bounce their way in 2 years they could have promising young stars and a totally clean cap. FPR is a fun diversion but it has no actual predictive value.