2020 Off-season Discussion

[JMAC3]

Sigh...

So what's the deal with our cap space for this year now? Do we have a MLE that we can throw at a solid C? If we're going to try and win this year, I think we should go after one (Baynes would be ideal).

We came into free agency acting as a team under the salary cap so we have the Room Mid Level Exception which is 4.7 million that we can use once we have used all our cap space.

Think a center makes the most sense.

[Braggins]

There are some good role playing value guys at C available that would make a lot of sense here, but MJ is going to go for the name because hes an idiot. Its going to be Whiteside.

[James Gatz]

Yes. We had 23 wins last year. Bulls had 22, Knicks 21, DET 20, Hawks 20, MIN 19, GS 15.

Yeah on paper it looks close, but you have to remember that the regular season was cut short by 17 games. You have to think there would have been a great margin of separation in a regular 82 game season.

If you look at Net rating we were one of the worst 3 teams in the league. If we had played the remaining 17 games we would have likely been passed by teams like the Bulls, Knicks, and Pistons.

[JMAC3]

What is the best case scenario for this upcoming season?

Hayward is healthy and is our number 1 option on offense averaging 20/5/5.

Ball proves to be too good to bring off the bench, shows the skills to be a dominant offensive player and has some huge games (30 point games and a couple really good triple double games). Ultimately though he is a rookie and will have some stinkers and finishes averaging 15/7/6, but still wins rookie of the year.

PJ takes the next step and has a John Collins like leap in year two (Collins went from 10/7 to 20/10) and his 3 point shooting percentage proves to be real deal. PJ puts up 18/8 on efficient percentages.

Graham continues being one of the best three point shooters in the league, finishes the season top 5 in three pointers made and shows to be a great off ball shooter/passer playing next to Ball and Hayward.

Rozier continues his success from last year and becomes a 6th man of the year candidate as one of the highest scorers off the bench in the League averaging close to what he did this season (Schroeder and Harrell were both over 18ppg last year).

Monk continues his success from last year by playing a full 82 games and averaging 12 pgg off the bench next to Terry.

Bridges plays so well teams all over the league are calling about his availability because signing Hayward has pushed him to the bench but he improves his outside shooting and had multiple 20 point games off the bench.

Zeller stays healthy and puts 12/8 in 30 mins per game.

One of Richards/Carey shows signs they could be center of future and makes Zeller expendable in the offseason.


Hornets gel together win 50+ games and finish 3rd in the Eastern Conference. We win a playoff series in the first round before losing to Brooklyn in a hard fought second round series. Heading into next season we have one of youngest teams in playoffs and our young guys have playoff experience and an up and coming threat in the East.


Okay back to reality.... we probably don't hit these goals, but honestly I do not think any of these players is completely unrealistic. However I do think it is unlikely everyone hits these goals. Either way we have a lot to be excited about still-- think some are being far too negative considering everything.

[driveandkick]

I truly think that if he stays health (maybe a big if!) people are going to be looking back on this in 2-3 years and be embarrassed by how they reacted.

[JMAC3]

Yes. We had 23 wins last year. Bulls had 22, Knicks 21, DET 20, Hawks 20, MIN 19, GS 15.

Yeah on paper it looks close, but you have to remember that the regular season was cut short by 17 games. You have to think there would have been a great margin of separation in a regular 82 game season.

If you look at Net rating we were one of the worst 3 teams in the league. If we had played the remaining 17 games we would have likely been passed by teams like the Bulls, Knicks, and Pistons.

We also were playing one of the youngest teams in the league. It has been mentioned in this thread multiple times, but even in a scenario where we did not sign Hayward for us to finish with a bottom three team would mean that Graham, Bridges, PJ and Ball all were bad.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Read on Twitter

https://www.instagram.com/stories/gmb_elchum3/2447586846668855387/?hl=en

Taking this over here. So it seems like Terry might be traded. Straight up for Randle has been suggested tons of times in the past and could make sense now ... but I have my doubts. I think that Charlotte is going to try to trade with another team to prevent having to stretch Batum.

[James Gatz]

Even with Hayward we are not a playoff team. Even with huge jump from the young guys we are not a playoff team.

If all our guys have been jumps then we just moved from being the 13th seed to the 9th seed.

Definitely Better Than US
MIL - Giannis is there at least next year. They will be way better.
MIA - Same core as the finals team. They will be better.
TOR - May lose Ibaka but similar core as last year. They will be better.
BOS - Weaker without Hayward but still have Kemba, Tatum, Brown, Smart. They will be better.
PHI - Embiid/Simmons now with shooting. They will be better.
BKN - KD, Kyrie + role players. They will be better.
IND - 4 seed last year without Oladipo playing much at all. They will be better.

Likely Better
ATL - Year 3 Trae + Gallo + young guys getting better.

Toss Up
WAS - Beal + Wall + Bertans
CHI - Levine + new coaching staff
ORL - They're not bottom out/Clifford coaches teams to win 30ish games.

Worse
CLE
DET
NYK

[Braggins]

Read on Twitter

https://www.instagram.com/stories/gmb_elchum3/2447586846668855387/?hl=en

Taking this over here. So it seems like Terry might be traded. Straight up for Randle has been suggested tons of times in the past and could make sense now ... but I have my doubts. I think that Charlotte is going to try to trade with another team to prevent having to stretch Batum.

Id love if we somehow found a deal for Rozier that allowed us to avoid stretching Batum, while also bringing back a decent center or 3&D SG. Then we could use the room exception to fill whichever position between C/SG that wasn't addressed with the Rozier trade. That is probably wishful thinking, but at least accomplishing any one of those goals would be nice at this point.

This is how I think our ideal roster setup would be with Hayward added and Rozier gone. If we can't find another wing then you can just start Hayward at SG with Miles at SF and try to find a cheap backup PF.

Graham/Monk/Riller
3&D/LaMelo
Hayward/Martin
PJ/Miles
?/Zeller/Carey

[316Hornets]

Even with Hayward we are not a playoff team. Even with huge jump from the young guys we are not a playoff team.

If all our guys have been jumps then we just moved from being the 13th seed to the 9th seed.

Definitely Better Than US
MIL - Giannis is there at least next year. They will be way better.
MIA - Same core as the finals team. They will be better.
TOR - May lose Ibaka but similar core as last year. They will be better.
BOS - Weaker without Hayward but still have Kemba, Tatum, Brown, Smart. They will be better.
PHI - Embiid/Simmons now with shooting. They will be better.
BKN - KD, Kyrie + role players. They will be better.
IND - 4 seed last year without Oladipo playing much at all. They will be better.

Likely Better
ATL - Year 3 Trae + Gallo + young guys getting better.

Toss Up
WAS - Beal + Wall + Bertans
CHI - Levine + new coaching staff
ORL - They're not bottom out/Clifford coaches teams to win 30ish games.

Worse
CLE
DET
NYK

A lot of these teams rely on superstars, many of them aging with injury history.

We have a team that can compete every night. Only team we have no shot at beating: Lakers, Clippers, Bucks

[James Gatz]

Even with Hayward we are not a playoff team. Even with huge jump from the young guys we are not a playoff team.

If all our guys have been jumps then we just moved from being the 13th seed to the 9th seed.

Definitely Better Than US
MIL - Giannis is there at least next year. They will be way better.
MIA - Same core as the finals team. They will be better.
TOR - May lose Ibaka but similar core as last year. They will be better.
BOS - Weaker without Hayward but still have Kemba, Tatum, Brown, Smart. They will be better.
PHI - Embiid/Simmons now with shooting. They will be better.
BKN - KD, Kyrie + role players. They will be better.
IND - 4 seed last year without Oladipo playing much at all. They will be better.

Likely Better
ATL - Year 3 Trae + Gallo + young guys getting better.

Toss Up
WAS - Beal + Wall + Bertans
CHI - Levine + new coaching staff
ORL - They're not bottom out/Clifford coaches teams to win 30ish games.

Worse
CLE
DET
NYK

A lot of these teams rely on superstars, many of them aging with injury history.

We have a team that can compete every night. Only team we have no shot at beating: Lakers, Clippers, Bucks

Which teams do you think we will be better than next year? The only team who I could see being worse than us without multiple injuries is BK.

Also what prevents Hayward, an aging guy with injury history, from being immune to injury?

[Braggins]

inb4 the Rozier trade possibility is a reality, but its a s&t for Hassan Whiteside on a 4/60 deal

[JMAC3]

Even with Hayward we are not a playoff team. Even with huge jump from the young guys we are not a playoff team.

If all our guys have been jumps then we just moved from being the 13th seed to the 9th seed.

Definitely Better Than US
MIL - Giannis is there at least next year. They will be way better. Yeah we won't be better than them
MIA - Same core as the finals team. They will be better. Finished as 5 seed, Dragic older but should be good
TOR - May lose Ibaka but similar core as last year. They will be better. First one I disagree with, losing Ibaka and Gasol probably. Paying FVV 13 millon more, Lowry older- think they take a step backwards
BOS - Weaker without Hayward but still have Kemba, Tatum, Brown, Smart. They will be better. Losing Hayward and Kanter- think they are worse especially as other teams improve
PHI - Embiid/Simmons now with shooting. They will be better. They improved cap situation, but on the court they traded out Horford and Richardson for Green and Curry, at best they are the same
BKN - KD, Kyrie + role players. They will be better. Obviously will be better
IND - 4 seed last year without Oladipo playing much at all. They will be better. They might be better, but they don't scare me

Likely Better
ATL - Year 3 Trae + Gallo + young guys getting better. Why are they any better than us? Adding Gallo and Hayward are same if not better for us, our young guys should improve too

Toss Up
WAS - Beal + Wall + Bertans
CHI - Levine + new coaching staff
ORL - They're not bottom out/Clifford coaches teams to win 30ish games.

Worse
CLE
DET
NYK

This whole what is the rest of the league doing is a dumb way to operate, Nobody thought adding Jimmy Butler to Miami was going to improve them to a finals team, but hey it did. OKC was supposed to be trash last year and they were the 5 seed. If you want to always be scared to try and compete with the Philly, Boston, Milwaukee of the world then maybe you should pick a new team because they are always going to be there.

[JDR720]

Read on Twitter

[JMAC3]

Read on Twitter

They needed this badly, assuming this for full MLE 9 million or so annually.

[Liver_Pooty]

I'm stoked for the season to start.

[316Hornets]

Definitely Better Than US
MIL - Giannis is there at least next year. They will be way better. agree
MIA - Same core as the finals team. They will be better. We can compete with a decent big
TOR - May lose Ibaka but similar core as last year. They will be better. Siakim looked bad in playoffs. They are beatable
BOS - Weaker without Hayward but still have Kemba, Tatum, Brown, Smart. They will be better. Hayward was their glue guy. Kemba is another year older. One injury away from being worse
PHI - Embiid/Simmons now with shooting. They will be better. Embiid always hurt, don't like his ability to play 72 games in shortened season
BKN - KD, Kyrie + role players. They will be better. Nobody knows where KD is at. Kyrie has lingering knee issues
IND - 4 seed last year without Oladipo playing much at all. They will be better. They have more depth, will depend how much our rooks develop

Likely Better
ATL - Year 3 Trae + Gallo + young guys getting better. agree



Which teams do you think we will be better than next year? The only team who I could see being worse than us without multiple injuries is BK.

Also what prevents Hayward, an aging guy with injury history, from being immune to injury?

I'm just saying all these teams aren't true knockdown contenders except for Bucks and possibly Heat. We probably won't be better start of year but lets give our guys half of season playing together before saying we can't compete.

[LofJ]

I'm stoked for the season to start.

Same here, it's only a month away. The Lakers and Heat aren't happy about it, but screw them. We haven't seen this team play since March.

[BigSlam]

Read on Twitter

Ooooooooookkkkkkkkkkk........

So maybe NOT a S&T of Hayward for Zeller and Terry then?

I'm having a hard time keeping up! No more 3 day, 14 hour driving road trips ever again!!

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Not even on a road trip and I can't keep up.