Offseason Thread

[JDR720]

I don't have a problem with making the playoffs as a goal. That's better than what we've been doing. But to think we can make the playoffs with this roster isn't sensible. We've gotten blown out twice in the playin and were terrible this season.

The roster, at least the vets, are poor fits.
The roster, including Melo, are injury prone.

Just swap out some key pieces and we'll likely make it if Melo is healthy. But if we keep the same roster + add a non-Wemb rookie, we're probably a fringe playin team again.

[JDR720]

Well, I'm not on the Clifford hate train that everybody else is. The league is star player driven, not coach-centric. Even some of the best coaches are subject to inferior talent. Not apologizing for Clifford anymore than I apologize for Popovich this year, but your best guys have to play.

What the Hornets really need - besides shooting, shooting, shooting - is an enforcer, a dude that has a physical presence and the will to break bones and bloody noses. An Anthony Mason type. Bridges? He's dead to me, so find somebody else.

That big goon from UT comes to mind. What's his name? Looked him up. Uros Plavsic. Threw Kyle Filipowski around like a dirty dish rag. That guy - go get him. Or that big dude from UCONN. I'd draft Jordan Hawkins (on a trade-up) and grab Adama Sonogo at 39. Love that guy's defensive balance and instincts. And I think he can develop a reliable jumper.

Dylan Brooks is a free agent, he is probably my top target. A natural Oubre replacement too.

[Bassman]

Mitch demonstrates again the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.

Off topic soapbox time: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/in-therapy/200907/the-definition-insanity

…indeed, that is just an old phrase, not a true definition of “insanity”.

In this case, with Mitch, let’s just call it pathetic

[Bassman]

What the Hornets really need - besides shooting, shooting, shooting - is an enforcer, a dude that has a physical presence and the will to break bones and bloody noses. An Anthony Mason type. Bridges? He's dead to me, so find somebody else.

That big goon from UT comes to mind. What's his name? Looked him up. Uros Plavsic. Threw Kyle Filipowski around like a dirty dish rag. That guy - go get him. Or that big dude from UCONN. I'd draft Jordan Hawkins (on a trade-up) and grab Adama Sonogo at 39. Love that guy's defensive balance and instincts. And I think he can develop a reliable jumper.

Agree with the key needs…SHOOTERS and PHYSICAL ENFORCERS.

[Chapelchilla]

[quote="JMAC3"]Lol at the run it back comments and the pure negativity. The team will look drastically different even if we do not do a massive "shakeup".

LaMelo played 36 games, Mark started 17 games, Miles played zero, a top 5 pick will likely start for us... That is basically 4 new starters. Plus Martin, plus 4 other picks in the draft. There is no way in my mind that is even close to "running it back".


This is the key paragraph

I think the future is the brightest it has been in Charlotte since they returned to being the Hornets. We have a stud young center, star PG, good depth at most positions, a real chance at the #1 (or at least another high pick), a second 1st rounder, several high seconds to work with AND the possible<probable return of our second and 7th best players next year.

We needed to tank for another high end piece and actually did it for a change, the past salary cap issues are clearing up over the next 2 seasons and they are loaded with young dudes who will be coming into their still early career primes over the 3 seasons.

They are on track to win more then they lose regularly for the foreseeable future and if the draft cards break right could even contend in a couple years as the older teams crumble and our youth develops.

But - the SKY IS FALLING, lol

[JMAC3]

I don't have a problem with making the playoffs as a goal. That's better than what we've been doing. But to think we can make the playoffs with this roster isn't sensible. We've gotten blown out twice in the playin and were terrible this season.

The roster, at least the vets, are poor fits.
The roster, including Melo, are injury prone.

Just swap out some key pieces and we'll likely make it if Melo is healthy. But if we keep the same roster + add a non-Wemb rookie, we're probably a fringe playin team again.

Half the board...

"Saying we want to make the playoffs is embarrassing, we should be saying we want to win the title!"

Other half the of the board....

"Pathetic they said this team could make the playoffs, they are delusional."

[SWedd523]

And the last contingent:

[JMAC3]

And the last contingent:

Nah, I knew we would be bad. Best thing for us was to tank, we did that. Now let's move forward with our much-needed top 5 talent.

Crazy thing is we have a real shot to put the most talented team we have ever had on the floor next season and people are still crying about not getting Kenny Atkinson still.

[LofJ]

We're so demoralized as a fan base. We desperately need to win the lottery.

[Bassman]

No doubt we did well by lurching to the ditch this year. I think the Mitch comments expose a test of “why” we effectively tanked. Was it because we have really good players but suffered so many injuries, loss of Miles and new coaching scheme held us back? Or, can this squad when all healthy and on board propel the Hornets into a strong playoff position?

Mitch comments suggest the former. Some of us suspect the latter is still not possible with current squad.

I do share optimism for what this team could become, especially if our drafting is superb. Still believe we need trades to move Terry for a good defender/reliable shooter with size.

[LofJ]

The Miles situation still hanging over the head of the organization is ridiculous. We're at the point where the Player's Association needs to get involved. The league front office needs to make a decision, so everyone can move on.

Then the team can either take the image hit and sign him or trade him to the Mavericks for the 10th pick who have proven that they don't care about domestic abuse.

[fatlever]

Agreed it's pretty ridiculous that we are still no closer to having any resolution on miles. I don't understand what the league is still trying to evaluate. Are they waiting to see miles complete all of the counseling?

This is most likely going to handcuff us for the second straight offseason. How can you do anything in free agency without knowing if you're about to commit 25 million a season for the next 4 to 5 years?

And there's still no Clarity on any type of pending suspensions. Even if he is reinstated in July and we resign him, will he still have to serve a lengthy suspension? Or will the league office consider missing all of last year sufficient for time served? Obviously if miles has to sit out a significant portion of next year, that once again puts us in a situation of trying to tread water.

I'm not sure how much longer the franchise can stay in the state of limbo. They may need to just make the decision to move forward under the assumption that miles will never return to the team.

I don't want to hear Mitch at the end of next season when we win 35 games talk about how the team performed well in the face of adversity etc etc.

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[fatlever]

I sometimes feel like the front office has resigned itself to the fact that they will never be able to build a winning franchise here in a small Market. I almost get the feeling that Jordan and the front office excuse their incompetence and inability to put a consistent winning product on the floor, due to us being a small market. I think that's easier for the big egos to accept compared to just simply being bad at building a winning franchise.

In reality, it all stems from the incomprehensible amount of missed lottery picks over the past 18 years and some bad luck. And there's no one to blame other than themselves for that failure. That has nothing to do with the size of the market. Even as a small Market if you have a superstar that wants to leave for a bigger market, you can usually flip that into a lot of valuable assets. The Pelicans trading Anthony Davis has propped up that franchise probably for the next decade. Same goes for some of the trades that OKC made with their superstars.

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[LofJ]

I sometimes feel like the front office has resigned itself to the fact that they will never be able to build a winning franchise here in a small Market. I almost get the feeling that Jordan and the front office excuse their incompetence and inability to put a consistent winning product on the floor, due to us being a small market. I think that's easier for the big egos to accept compared to just simply being bad at building a winning franchise.

In reality, it all stems from the incomprehensible amount of missed lottery picks over the past 18 years and some bad luck. And there's no one to blame other than themselves for that failure. That has nothing to do with the size of the market. Even as a small Market if you have a superstar that wants to leave for a bigger market, you can usually flip that into a lot of valuable assets. The Pelicans trading Anthony Davis has propped up that franchise probably for the next decade. Same goes for some of the trades that OKC made with their superstars.

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This might be what Jordan and Buzz tell themselves, but it's hard to believe people like Mitch, Clifford, etc. are that clueless about the rest of the league. You can't look at other small market teams like the Jazz, Pacers, Nuggets, Bucks, etc. who manage to be consistently successful without getting lucky in the lottery and then turn around and blame bad luck and the city you're located in for your failures. Hell, if they believe that the city of Charlotte is to blame they only have to look back 20 years to the same damn city to see how that's complete nonsense.

At the end of the day it all comes down to Michael Jordan. I sincerely hope he finds a buyer for the team. He's given up on building a winning organization and needs to sell the team.

[powerforward1]

fats I tend to agree, I am fearful that ownership change will still leave mj in charge ( I love MJ but we need a change with management- we need to send on coaches, gm, upper level scouting, etc)

but I dont mind if we bring back clifford but we need major changes unless we get lucky in lotto

We need a resolution to the miles situation (dont understand why we cant get an answer of what is going to happen)
sign pj to a decent deal or sign/trade if he gets big money
replace terry, oubre, boucknight with slight upgrades- prefer bigger secondary ballhandlers that can switch and shoot- easier said than done I know)

if we dont hit on lotto luck I would look to see if there is a star that can be acquired in big package deal example jaylen brown (not a true superstar but allstar) #4, nuggets pick, gordon and multiple future first round picks/swaps

[SWedd523]

I sometimes feel like the front office has resigned itself to the fact that they will never be able to build a winning franchise here in a small Market. I almost get the feeling that Jordan and the front office excuse their incompetence and inability to put a consistent winning product on the floor, due to us being a small market. I think that's easier for the big egos to accept compared to just simply being bad at building a winning franchise.

This is where I'm at.

I think MJ has been so put off by the team being bad that he's moved on and views the franchise as another part of his portfolio while his attention has shifted to more interesting projects like his racing teams and whatnot. He has his family and friends in most leadership positions, so everyone can sit back, relax, and watch the paychecks roll in with minimal effort.

Imagine the FO of the Warriors, Lakers, Celtics, Heat, whomever stating "We're pleased with the season, we think we could've been a playoff team, we're going to run it back, we aren't going to make any big moves" After the season we just had. The fans and media would be lambasting them.

Hornet leadership is so resigned to mediocrity that they aren't even going to try. No "we're going to explore every option available to improve the team", no "we're going to do everything we can to bring a championship to Charlotte". Just "It wasn't our year... we're gonna try it again..."

[LofJ]

It's great news that he's thinking about selling, hopefully someone will come along that wants majority ownership and full say in staffing decisions. As a fan base we shouldn't have to suffer perpetual mediocrity just so the league can keep Michael Jordan involved. I was grateful for a while when he stepped in to buy from Bob Johnson and did a masterful job with the rebrand back into the Hornets. It's been a decade since then though and something needs to change. The city and the fans deserve something better.

Edit: Some of the same people rumored to be interested in buying the Commanders were also interested in buying the Hornets. Now that the Commanders have been sold I hope whoever lost out will turn their attention to the Hornets.

[JMAC3]

Yeah, I really don't care about ownership that much and Michael leaving doesn't really change my view on team at all.
The fact that we at least entertained trading for Mitchell last year was a positive sign. Have we ever traded multiple first round picks for a player? Ever?
Mitch has talked about Miles, I still think he is in the plan. He has hinted how much losing him hurt this team this year along with injuries.

The issues on the court IMO are a mix of contracts signed, bad luck in draft and of course some bad picks. We really haven't made a horrible trade or mismanaged a player that blew up somewhere else.

A successful season next year would be feeling like we hit on our lottery pick, resigning Miles, getting LaMelo happy and continue to see Mark develop. If all that happens I feel like we are playoff bound with an extremely young core and a 1 year setback might have been the best thing for us in terms of landing another elite talent next to LaMelo. If we had Miles this year and were the 7 seed, we probably get spanked in playoffs by Boston or Bucks and we pick in the middle of the first again. We need to add top tier talent via the draft in order to set ourselves us for the long term.

[Braggins]

The Miles situation still hanging over the head of the organization is ridiculous. We're at the point where the Player's Association needs to get involved. The league front office needs to make a decision, so everyone can move on.

Then the team can either take the image hit and sign him or trade him to the Mavericks for the 10th pick who have proven that they don't care about domestic abuse.

I like this idea.

[NCHeels2008]

The Miles situation still hanging over the head of the organization is ridiculous. We're at the point where the Player's Association needs to get involved. The league front office needs to make a decision, so everyone can move on.

Then the team can either take the image hit and sign him or trade him to the Mavericks for the 10th pick who have proven that they don't care about domestic abuse.

I like this idea.

love this idea