LaMelephant: The LaMelo Ball Thread (#2)

[JMAC3]

As a fan, what more do you expect him to say? I am not going to read too much into it.

[fatlever]

As a fan, what more do you expect him to say? I am not going to read too much into it.

nothing. i dont blame him. why should he trust that this franchise is serious about winning? i'd be looking to leave as well.

[JMAC3]

As a fan, what more do you expect him to say? I am not going to read too much into it.

nothing. i dont blame him. why should he trust that this franchise is serious about winning? i'd be looking to leave as well.

I don't think he said he wants to leave.
But it would be weird for him to say, "I want to be a Hornet for life, after never winning a playoff series."
He basically said he wants to win, which to me is the best thing he could have said.

[bubowskee]

I get being in a prove me wrong frame of mind when it comes to this team. But man the team is in a position to add a massive amount of talent to the roster this season. And if we get new ownership they aren't going to cheap out. These aren't the Kemba/Batum/Cho years where we're treading water to stay alive on a boat we can't stop from sinking. Now that **** was depressing, we aren't in a situation like that thankfully.

Counterpoint: Those Kemba teams had all their picks and could've easily made moves to drastically affect their future but didn't. They were hamstrung by a cheap owner who didn't care about winning more than 40 games a season so we stuck with the same group of underachieving coaches and vets for 3 seasons and it cost us a cheap Kemba contract. I don't think this team is any different since LaMelo was dirt cheap but won't sign anything less than a max deal so his number spikes.

Considering what Mitch and MJ have done post-Kemba, I am not sure what confidence we should have that they will make the right moves to help this team. Our big moves have been signing veterans, hiring a win at all cost, play the vets all the time, coach in Clifford again, and getting rid of lottery picks cause we can't have multiple young guys on the roster.

The team has blown LaMelo's first three years when they should've built around him. Instead its headed into year 4 where Ball has a bad injury and our young talent still just a couple of guys. It would be great to say we have a lot of talent and picks, but the reality is that unless we win the lottery, our options to improve drastically are limited. It is nice to have 4 picks from like 25-45 but we can't use them all and their value in trading up is marginal. The other big issue is we still have limited trading ability thanks to the Kai Jones pick. Sure the protections are heavy but as a result, we can't trade any future picks till 2027 at earliest.

[SWedd523]

I get being in a prove me wrong frame of mind when it comes to this team. But man the team is in a position to add a massive amount of talent to the roster this season. And if we get new ownership they aren't going to cheap out. These aren't the Kemba/Batum/Cho years where we're treading water to stay alive on a boat we can't stop from sinking. Now that **** was depressing, we aren't in a situation like that thankfully.

[LofJ]

I get being in a prove me wrong frame of mind when it comes to this team. But man the team is in a position to add a massive amount of talent to the roster this season. And if we get new ownership they aren't going to cheap out. These aren't the Kemba/Batum/Cho years where we're treading water to stay alive on a boat we can't stop from sinking. Now that **** was depressing, we aren't in a situation like that thankfully.

Counterpoint: Those Kemba teams had all their picks and could've easily made moves to drastically affect their future but didn't. They were hamstrung by a cheap owner who didn't care about winning more than 40 games a season so we stuck with the same group of underachieving coaches and vets for 3 seasons and it cost us a cheap Kemba contract. I don't think this team is any different since LaMelo was dirt cheap but won't sign anything less than a max deal so his number spikes.

Considering what Mitch and MJ have done post-Kemba, I am not sure what confidence we should have that they will make the right moves to help this team. Our big moves have been signing veterans, hiring a win at all cost, play the vets all the time, coach in Clifford again, and getting rid of lottery picks cause we can't have multiple young guys on the roster.

The team has blown LaMelo's first three years when they should've built around him. Instead its headed into year 4 where Ball has a bad injury and our young talent still just a couple of guys. It would be great to say we have a lot of talent and picks, but the reality is that unless we win the lottery, our options to improve drastically are limited. It is nice to have 4 picks from like 25-45 but we can't use them all and their value in trading up is marginal. The other big issue is we still have limited trading ability thanks to the Kai Jones pick. Sure the protections are heavy but as a result, we can't trade any future picks till 2027 at earliest.

MJ is a cheap owner, that's a fact I won't dispute. It's undoubtedly a big factor in why he's looking for a buyer. He knows that LaMelo is looking at a close to $200 million contract extension, PJ needs a new deal, and something needs to happen with Bridges. He wants to get out before he's on the hook for that money.

All that said in case anyone has forgotten this team was on an upwards trajectory before the disaster of last off-season. Clifford was never the plan before everything blew up. It isn't surprising how the season ended up going. The team definitely needs a course correction, I will reserve judgement if/when it happens to determine how committed the team is to winning.

I also disagree about our other 4 picks having marginal value. The new CBA is going to leave a lot of luxury tax teams looking to cut costs. There will be trade up options in this draft. We're in the position anyway where a consolidation trade is needed. I've said before that makes me nervous, but again I'm in wait and see mode (for now).

[LofJ]

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[JDR720]

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[LofJ]

LaMelo is in Italy living it up. He's about to sign his rookie max extension in less than a month so why not?

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[SWedd523]

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From the GD

LiAngelo's new watch

[Braggins]

Read on Twitter

Watch on YouTube

[Chapelchilla]

Looks like that watch used to be a nice Rolex Daytona, lol.

MJ is selling the team. Sometime in the next month or so from what I hear. Kind of shame to have him sell but if the new owners are prepared to spend more $ to build a winner, I guess it's fine. These watches aren't cheap and lot's of contracts are about to be due.

[countryboi]

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I still dont know what time it is, He should have just gotten an AP and called it a day

[SWedd523]

Looks like that watch used to be a nice Rolex Daytona, lol.

MJ is selling the team. Sometime in the next month or so from what I hear. Kind of shame to have him sell but if the new owners are prepared to spend more $ to build a winner, I guess it's fine. These watches aren't cheap and lot's of contracts are about to be due.

Daytona is a round dial. That looks like a Cartier of some sort completely torn down. It even has "Melo" where the brand name would be.

[LofJ]

Read on Twitter

Puma has some hilarious people working in their marketing department.

[SWedd523]

I dunno why I thought Puma was French

Turns out it's German and was formed by the brother of the Adidas founder. They had a joint company then fell out and each went their own way (Adidas and Puma).

The more you know

[Liver_Pooty]

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?t=4x9XnNC1newWfGXEhkcxqg&s=19

[yosemiteben]

Man it is crazy to me what Melo is able to do with those shot mechanics

[LofJ]

Man it is crazy to me what Melo is able to do with those shot mechanics

He has the quickest release of anyone, other than Steph Curry, in the league.

That said I hope he's spending more time in the weight room this summer. He needs to get stronger so he can absorb contact better and get to the line.

[yosemiteben]

For me it's his feet, he rarely if ever has a solid foundation going off two feet. Constantly leans