Summer of 2021 Transactions

[fatlever]

Looking back at all of the substantial transactions the Hornets made last summer, what are everyone's thoughts?

I was very vocal last summer at my disappointment of all the moves the Hornets made. Unfortunately, nothing has changed my opinion on the majority of these moves. And some of the moves that I thought were good moves at the time I now question as good moves.

Traded cap space for Mason and 2nd round pick. We absorbed Mason into some of our existing cap space. At best he has been mediocre, although the second half of his season has been better than the first. Our Center position is still a train wreck and we could have used some of that money to go after a better option. However, in hindsight perhaps passing on Holmes was the right move, considering the allegations against him.

At least we were able to get a second-round pick which was used on Thor.

Overall I give this move C.

Drafting James Bouknight. He's shown nothing this year to suggest he was worthy of the spot where he was drafted. There were better options that fit a roster need. James was very duplicative of what we already had in Terry.

Overall I give this move D

Trading a future first-round pick to draft Kai Jones. It was pretty obvious from the first moment we saw him in summer league that he is several seasons away from being close to a productive in be a player. I certainly understand the lore given his incredible athletic ability. However, for a team with few assets and too many young players already, adding another project Center, to go along with Nick Richards and Vernon Carey from the previous year didn't quite make sense. Hopefully when we trigger the protection on this pick it's not too painful. Towing a future first-round pick to the Knicks as also hamstrung our ability to trade future first-round picks, making it even more difficult to acquire a legitimate starting center.

Overall I give this move a D

Resigning Terry Rozier to a four-year extension. I'm not sure who we were betting against with this extension. Terry wants to be here which is always a huge positive for Charlotte. However, it may have been a bit premature to sign him to that contract knowing that he and lamelo are not a great fit next each other, especially defensively. It does not appear to be an albatross of a contract that will be impossible to move if we decide to change up the roster. I actually liked this move at the time but as the season drags on I am beginning to think this was a bad decision.

Overall I give this move a C

Signing James Borrego to a contract extension. It's never a good idea to have a coach on a lame duck contract. He has been good for developing some of the young players, but the on court performance in wins and losses has been underwhelming, even though we beat Las Vegas odds. I'm sure this contract is on the cheap end so it shouldn't be too much of a burden to buy out his contract if the team decides to move on from him this summer or next. It was probably a move that had to be done to provide some level of continuity, but I think in the end it will hurt MJ's wallet cuz I don't see him here Beyond next season. If we get blown out in the play-in game again I can definitely see the franchise making a move to go in a different direction.

Overall I give this move a C+

Using our cap space to sign Kelly oubre. I was skeptical of this move at first oh, since he did not address any of our primary concerns. I also mentioned any preseason thread that We might as well have just kept Caleb Martin if we needed another wing. In hindsight, Caleb probably would have been a better use of our money. Kelly has proven to be an inefficient chucker who is absolutely horrendous defensively. He seems to only play well as a starter yet he's not good enough to be a consistent starter on this team. The second half of his season has been downright awful. When he gets hot he is capable of carrying a team to Victory which he has shown on a few occasions this year. Otherwise, hes mostly a net negative.

Overall I give this move a D

Signing ish Smith with our remaining cap space to fill out our backup point guard spot. He did provide some veteran leadership but not much else. He did not address our biggest needs at backup point guard, which is size. defense and shooting. There were probably better options available, as evidenced by us picking up Thomas on the cheap later in the year.

Overall I give this move C-

Trading Devonte Graham to the Pelicans for a potential future first round pick or second round picks. There was no way we could afford to keep him, getting anything of value for him is a bonus. This is probably the only move we made last summer that has really been a plus.

The grade of this move is really contingent upon which pick we received from the Pelicans. If we get their first-round pick this is clearly an A+. If this conveys into multiple 2nd round picks I would still give it an A since we are getting something for nothing.

Drafting j.t. Thor in the second round. He has actually shown a little bit of defensive promise but little else.

Overall I give this move a B

Not finding a legitimate starting center Last Summer should get the overall front office an F.

Obviously some of these grades can change if our rookies pan out.

I'm not sure if the summer of 2021 is quite as bad as the summer of 2016 since we did not hand out any Albatross contracts, unless you consider Terry's contract an albatross. However, in hindsight it seems as though almost every move we made last summer was average at best. Better use of our draft picks, cap space Oh, and prioritizing finding a legitimate Center could have provided a roster capable of finishing in the top six, without compromising future assets.

Did I miss any transactions of note?

Your thoughts?

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[yosemiteben]

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[BigSlam]

This is just silly.

It’s farrrrrrrrrrr too early to be judging anything that happened as recently as 8 months ago.

[chabber]

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I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that tweet is bogus and we still get their pick if they make the playoffs.

[amcoolio]

Yeah, the tweet is wrong. If they make the playoffs they get pick 15, which would be ours. Pick order is decided by playoffs first and then record. It's likely we keep our pick at 13, having the 13 and 15 would be pretty cool. Again I wouldn't trade them, the middle/end of the lottery has some great defensive talent, someone like Ochai Agbaji or Sochan or Johnny Davis or Mathurin or Eason or the Duke center

Fats nailed it on the offseason, I had a lot of hope but ultimately it was really bad. I will say that I think Bouknight will be good, there's just no room in the rotation because of what we need (defense and shooting) which Bouknight lacks right now.

Plumlee would have been a fine backup, but we relied on him too much and made him a starter;

Rozier contract is a disaster, I really hope we can offload him while we can. He'd be a great 4th option on a defensive minded team like the Celtics or Jazz or Cavs, but doesn't work here. The team needs a Thybulle/Brunson/Mitchell type next to LaMelo. I wonder if we would have drafted Mitchell if he was there at our pick.

Borrego hasn't warranted an extension but I guess he is cheap. Finishing as the 10 seed in a likely playin blowout yet again is very disappointing. The team just doesn't respond to him or seem to care.

[BigSlam]

Hell, I wanted Moody in the draft - and he hasn't done anything this season.

A lot of people wanted Sengun and he's hardly been able to crack the crappiest of crappy Houston rotation.

[JDR720]

Replacing Rozier and Oubre with a couple solid 3&D players would make a big difference.

We have too many 1-way players, especially players who are all offense and no defense.

[fatlever]

Hell, I wanted Moody in the draft - and he hasn't done anything this season.

A lot of people wanted Sengun and he's hardly been able to crack the crappiest of crappy Houston rotation.

so sengun not starting over wood, their best player, or thies their big FA signing, as a rookie has you worried? he's been starting since thies trade fyi...12ppg, 9rpg, 3apg asa starter in last 11 games. he passes the eyes test.

moody only playing for top 3 team in west.

are you annoyed that i gave bouk a D or kai?
i would have been happier to draft kai at 11 and not give up a future 1st, killing any chance of trades using our future picks in trades for a center. i'd have graded that a C.

what about all the other moves i mentioned?

[MasterIchiro]

Replacing Rozier and Oubre with a couple solid 3&D players would make a big difference.

We have too many 1-way players, especially players who are all offense and no defense.

This is what needs to happen but it would take brass balls. LaMelo is raw and weak defensively. Playing Rozier with him is not sustainable. Rozier's contract extension was not a disaster and might even have positive value but it is not a winning move. Subtract Oubre, Rozier and get a stopper at center and you can carry a weak defender like LaMelo playing heavy minutes in crunch time.

[fatlever]

And not that I believe in g league stats, but moody in 4 g league games. We'd kill for another legit 3 d wing. I'd still gamble on him over bouk and be ok if I was wrong.

32/6/2
On 51/41/80 %s

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[JDR720]

We should keep trying to trade Gordon too. Yeah, he is impactful when he plays...but he doesn't play. He's 32, expensive and misses 30 games a year. You can't have an anchor like that if you want to win consistently.

We have a nice young core, but it's surrounded by dead weight and poor fits.

[luciano-davidwesley]

Looking back at all of the substantial transactions the Hornets made last summer, what are everyone's thoughts?

I was very vocal last summer at my disappointment of all the moves the Hornets made. Unfortunately, nothing has changed my opinion on the majority of these moves. And some of the moves that I thought were good moves at the time I now question as good moves.

Traded cap space for Mason and 2nd round pick. We absorbed Mason into some of our existing cap space. At best he has been mediocre, although the second half of his season has been better than the first. Our Center position is still a train wreck and we could have used some of that money to go after a better option. However, in hindsight perhaps passing on Holmes was the right move, considering the allegations against him.

At least we were able to get a second-round pick which was used on Thor.

Overall I give this move C.
Agreed

Drafting James Bouknight. He's shown nothing this year to suggest he was worthy of the spot where he was drafted. There were better options that fit a roster need. James was very duplicative of what we already had in Terry.

Overall I give this move D
Agreed. Dude needs an attitude adjustment in the worst way

Trading a future first-round pick to draft Kai Jones. It was pretty obvious from the first moment we saw him in summer league that he is several seasons away from being close to a productive in be a player. I certainly understand the lore given his incredible athletic ability. However, for a team with few assets and too many young players already, adding another project Center, to go along with Nick Richards and Vernon Carey from the previous year didn't quite make sense. Hopefully when we trigger the protection on this pick it's not too painful. Towing a future first-round pick to the Knicks as also hamstrung our ability to trade future first-round picks, making it even more difficult to acquire a legitimate starting center.

Overall I give this move a D
I was very skeptical at first of Kai Jones but he seems to be improving and doing well in the G League - I give it a B so far

Resigning Terry Rozier to a four-year extension. I'm not sure who we were betting against with this extension. Terry wants to be here which is always a huge positive for Charlotte. However, it may have been a bit premature to sign him to that contract knowing that he and lamelo are not a great fit next each other, especially defensively. It does not appear to be an albatross of a contract that will be impossible to move if we decide to change up the roster. I actually liked this move at the time but as the season drags on I am beginning to think this was a bad decision.

Overall I give this move a C
I hated having Rozier committed on our books this long. I also dislike his nonchalant attitude towards defense for a vet. I give it a C-

Signing James Borrego to a contract extension. It's never a good idea to have a coach on a lame duck contract. He has been good for developing some of the young players, but the on court performance in wins and losses has been underwhelming, even though we beat Las Vegas odds. I'm sure this contract is on the cheap end so it shouldn't be too much of a burden to buy out his contract if the team decides to move on from him this summer or next. It was probably a move that had to be done to provide some level of continuity, but I think in the end it will hurt MJ's wallet cuz I don't see him here Beyond next season. If we get blown out in the play-in game again I can definitely see the franchise making a move to go in a different direction.

Overall I give this move a C+
Agreed. We are very hot and cold as a team

Using our cap space to sign Kelly oubre. I was skeptical of this move at first oh, since he did not address any of our primary concerns. I also mentioned any preseason thread that We might as well have just kept Caleb Martin if we needed another wing. In hindsight, Caleb probably would have been a better use of our money. Kelly has proven to be an inefficient chucker who is absolutely horrendous defensively. He seems to only play well as a starter yet he's not good enough to be a consistent starter on this team. The second half of his season has been downright awful. When he gets hot he is capable of carrying a team to Victory which he has shown on a few occasions this year. Otherwise, hes mostly a net negative.

Overall I give this move a D
First half of the year B, second half of the year F-. So D is fair

Signing ish Smith with our remaining cap space to fill out our backup point guard spot. He did provide some veteran leadership but not much else. He did not address our biggest needs at backup point guard, which is size. defense and shooting. There were probably better options available, as evidenced by us picking up Thomas on the cheap later in the year.

Overall I give this move C-
Ish won us a few games and his contract wasn't terrible. I give it a B-

Trading Devonte Graham to the Pelicans for a potential future first round pick or second round picks. There was no way we could afford to keep him, getting anything of value for him is a bonus. This is probably the only move we made last summer that has really been a plus.

The grade of this move is really contingent upon which pick we received from the Pelicans. If we get their first-round pick this is clearly an A+. If this conveys into multiple 2nd round picks I would still give it an A since we are getting something for nothing.

Agreed

Drafting j.t. Thor in the second round. He has actually shown a little bit of defensive promise but little else.

Overall I give this move a B

Agreed

Not finding a legitimate starting center Last Summer should get the overall front office an F.

At least they they didn't bet the farm on someone mediocre at Center so I give them a C- here

Obviously some of these grades can change if our rookies pan out.

I'm not sure if the summer of 2021 is quite as bad as the summer of 2016 since we did not hand out any Albatross contracts, unless you consider Terry's contract an albatross. However, in hindsight it seems as though almost every move we made last summer was average at best. Better use of our draft picks, cap space Oh, and prioritizing finding a legitimate Center could have provided a roster capable of finishing in the top six, without compromising future assets.

Did I miss any transactions of note?

Your thoughts?

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[Bassman]

Fats I would say I agree with nearly everything in your fine assessment. I say that despite my excitement that we drafted Bouknight. I don’t think he’s a lost cause, but we need to see significant growth from him this off-season.

Terry is something when he’s on fire, but that represents the essence of this team…hot and cold, live and die by the jump shot, and low to no defense. His limitations are evident, yet his contract is just a bit too expensive for any teams other than wealthy contenders who might swap us dead money for a specialty player on a contending team.

Plum was a consolation prize. He should never have been asked to carry the middle for this team.

What you have described and graded so well is Exhibit A in the case titled “Mediocre Teams Make The Same Mistakes Over And Over”.

[Diop]

if they had drafted Sengun instead of Bouknight i would have been reasonably happy. Plumlee was a handy stop gap while waiting for our centre of the future. Both he and Oubre aren't fully guaranteed next season, so a team wanting to cut salary might be interested to have them.

I wasn't big on Kai, but I'm hoping he's going to prove me wrong

[BigSlam]

what about all the other moves i mentioned?

Real quick, because again, I think it's wayyyyyyy too early to make a call on some of these:

IMO Plumlee is an upgrade over Zeller, not by a lot, but still is.
We also got a 2nd round pick out of it.

Regarding Bouknight, as I have said, I was hoping for Moody.
I have been disappointed in Bouk but it's still way too early to tell. If we are having the same conversation this time next year, then sure, but not yet.

I'm obviously bullish on Kai and think he will be our starting PF of the future with some small ball 5. But we didn't draft him to play this year, he's a developmental project we took a flyer on, and so far it's working out really, really well. Guys like Richards and Carey showed nothing to suggest we shouldn't have looked to bring in another young big with upside.

The Terry re-signing was a head scratcher at the time for sure. I wasn't a fan of it. Not sure why it got done so quickly, but I assume the FO knows more than we do. The main thing I didn't like was the 4 year term. Doesn't bode well for Bouk - although Terry's contract "should" be moveable as he is in his prime.

I'm not too fussed about the JB re-sign. Like you said, I'm over the revolving door of coaches we have had over the past 18 years. I want some continuity and the young guys to come up with someone. They all seem to like him, so I'm cool with it.

Oubre was a bit of a head scratcher, although we did need some fire power off the bench - and he came super cheap. You get what you pay for. He's won us a few games, probably lost us more. I would have also preferred to keep the other Martin.

Young team needs solid vets. Smith played a great role for us. Not sure how you can say Smith didn't provide what we needed (which is size. defense and shooting) and then say there were better options available, as evidenced by us picking up Thomas on the cheap later in the year. How does Thomas address size and defence? And even shooting really?

Trading Graham was fantastic. We cashed in.

There were no starting C's to be had last summer. Holmes? That dude has been a train wreck, on and off the court.

[fatlever]

Mason is only an upgrade over Zeller and terms of games played. Otherwise I very strongly disagree. So I will agree that Plumlee is better than an injured Zeller.

We paid 5 million for Smith and vet minimum for Thomas... who is a much better shooter and Better fit for the locker room. And even Thomas should not be our backup point guard. We could have had more money to spend on a point guard had we not wasted it on Kelly oubre or using up cap space on Plumlee. All of these moves we made impacted the other moves down the line. So they can't all be reviewed independently.

Signing a center wasn't the only way for us to acquire a starting center last year. We could have created better options for trades had we not spent a future first-round pick to the Knicks. That's seriously hamstrung our ability to craft enticing offers.

As I mentioned, if we were in love with kai I would have preferred we just took him with our first pick and kept the future first-round pick to use in trades to improve the roster.



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