LofJ wrote:JDR720 wrote:Gave it a B.
Miller is fine.
Not that impressed with the rest. I doubt any of them are better than what we already have, but there is some merit in quantity over quality.
Mitch had a sit-down talk about the draft with Hornets Hive Cast and he specifically mentioned this (linked below).
He said that not everyone you draft is going to become an NBA player, but there's value in taking as many swings as possible. He talked about a lot of things. That Miller was the best player on their board, scouting in Europe, watching Nnaji play, roster management, etc. It's a good listen, Mitch is much better in this type of setting as opposed to standing at a podium.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6N2O9cYak0uKaAS8VSiUg8?si=zeV4CKidR7uabxkFiobhfw
"In the game today wings they're just so valuable. A wing typically could be a guy that plays a small forward, the 3 position, but, over the years, it's kind of transformed into a player that, if able, can guard and play several positions. A big wing who's athletic, who has multi-level skills, and can move his feet, can defend, has great quickness, can be really valuable. A guy that can bring the ball up the court, a guy that can defend the 2, that can play the 3 and outquicken other players, and, when you switch, which is what everybody does in our game ... in our game today, almost everything's a switch, it makes it that much more valuable to have a wing with that kind of diversity ... the shooting skill, could really improve our percentages, can playmake, grab a rebound, bring the ball down the court, attack the rim or make a left-handed pass into the right corner or a left-handed pass into the left quarter. When you're around him he's kind of quiet and doesn't say a whole lot, but a lot of that's being 19 but on the court the kid competes. There's a lot of good players in the draft, we felt that he had the best chance to grow and have the best career out of everybody else we considered. It's very possible there are 2 or 3, 4 players that are equally impactful on the NBA 8-10 years from now, and that would be great. But, right now, that's the guy we wanted."
"A big part of his upside is being able to improve his strength, I was talking to him today, y'know, you'll have to guard Lebron James. And Lebron James is about 6'8" but he weighs about 260 pounds. Okay, heh, and you're about 6'8" and you weigh 190 pounds, right, so, this is a totally different league. But there's a lot of upside there. If he can put on 10-15 pounds in the next 6-8 months and get that much stronger, that's where we'll see upside. Now of course, just by repetition alone he should become a better shooter, by playing in the game, getting coached, maturing, his skill level will continue to improve. He competes, I'm not worried about him not competing, that's a key component. But one of the biggest upside components really is letting his body naturally get stronger ... by getting in the weight room and working with our strength and conditioning people."
"We didn't draft Brandon because of fit, but it's hard to ignore when you're trying to build a team, whether it's a free agent, or a trade, drafting a player, how is this player gonna fit into what we already have. I don't wanna sit here and say it wasn't a factor, but it wasn't the factor and it wasn't why we drafted him. We feel over time, once he matures and gets stronger, puts on some weight, he has the most upside considering his position in the NBA and his natural instincts on the court. He just has a feel, put a ball in his hands and you can just see he knows what he's doing."
