Hive Mentality: A New Day in Charlotte

[Rich4114]

If Brooklyn wants to give us a 1st or two to take on Simmons, I’m for it

Then Ben and mark can sit around and complain about their bad backs like the grumpy old men in the muppets

Idk if I am really looking to pay 60 million over the next year and half for 15 games of Ben Simmons regardless if that is for a first round pick. That is a lot of cash.

I would rather just try signing a few guys in FA and hope that they surprise, potentially you can flip them for firsts later and avoid the headache.

That makes sense, which is why Mitch won't do it. Another reason he won't do it is it requires him to work in June, July and part of August, which is in the middle of when he usually takes his 20-week vacation from all things Hornets.

[JMAC3]

Roster Construction is a real thing more than ever in the NBA with the tax restrictions we are seeing being put in place in the NBA.

It feels like there is a few ways to build your team right now, here are the most common structures I see and I tried to sort each team into a category.

The one that seems to have the best success is 2 stars (top 25 guys).
Teams= Celtics, Bucks, Nuggets, 76ers, Mavs, Kings. Pacers, Lakers

All these teams have 2 studs, but the distinguishing factor is the players around them. Boston has better support pieces around Brown and Tatum then Mavs do with Luka and Kyrie.

Next structure is 3 Stars, this is 3 top 25 guys and very hard to do.
Teams= Clippers, Suns.
Very hard to fill out the roster around them, but still title contenders.

Most common way to build. 1 star, and then 2 guys that are top 50 convo.
Teams= Cavs (Mitchell+Mobley/Garland) Thunder (SGA+Chet/Jdub) Warriors (Steph +Klay/Wiggins) Grizzlies (Morant+ JJJ/Bane) Pelicans (Zion+ Ingram/CJ) Knicks (Brunson + Randle/OG) Magic (Paolo+Franz/Suggs) Heat (Jimmy+Bam/Herro) Wolves (Ant+ Gobert/Towns)

Then you have the outcasts who really just have a bunch of guys without a real star leading the way several guys that are like 40-100 range and win by shear depth of talent from the whole roster.
Teams= Nets, Rockets, Bulls, Jazz

Then you have the bad teams without real direction right now
Hornets, Hawks, Wiz, Spurs, Blazers, Pistons, Raptors.

Hawks are a good example of having a borderline top 25 guy but then not really having the two sidekicks Murray was 1 but they really needed a 3rd top 50 type of guy to find success it seems. Same with Hornets who have LaMelo but to this point haven't had 2 other top 50 guys with him. So they fail to meet any of the categories above.

[JMAC3]

So relating the above to the Hornets.

Can LaMelo and Miller take the leap into both being top 25 guys to the point where we really don't need another top 50 guy to be successful. Or do we have 1 top 25 guy who needs 2 really good sidekicks.

I would say this year we tried to approach it with volume of having a bunch of solid guys like Melo, Terry, Miles, Hayward, Miller, Mark... all guys that have cases to be inside the top 80 players but none of them really have solidified themself as a lock as true #1 option.

Putting us in the Bulls, Nets, Jazz, Rockets type of team on paper. Which I think is a bad spot to be in if you are trying to consistently be good.

[Rays Pompadour]

So relating the above to the Hornets.

Can LaMelo and Miller take the leap into both being top 25 guys to the point where we really don't need another top 50 guy to be successful. Or do we have 1 top 25 guy who needs 2 really good sidekicks.

I would say this year we tried to approach it with volume of having a bunch of solid guys like Melo, Terry, Miles, Hayward, Miller, Mark... all guys that have cases to be inside the top 80 players but none of them really have solidified themself as a lock as true #1 option.

Putting us in the Bulls, Nets, Jazz, Rockets type of team on paper. Which I think is a bad spot to be in if you are trying to consistently be good.

Charlotte is beginning to collect talent, but needs a top 25 guy who can get buckets at will. A top 10 guy would be even better. The Hornets don't have the storage to trade for one, nor the capacity to lure one without a crippling overpay. Best route is to draft one. Takes time, but that's the way.

[Rich4114]

What we have now are 7 guys who could fit in the top 100-150 players and 8 who shouldn't be on an NBA roster

[JMAC3]

Most common way to build. 1 star, and then 2 guys that are top 50 convo.
Teams= Cavs (Mitchell+Mobley/Garland) Thunder (SGA+Chet/Jdub) Warriors (Steph +Klay/Wiggins) Grizzlies (Morant+ JJJ/Bane) Pelicans (Zion+ Ingram/CJ) Knicks (Brunson + Randle/OG) Magic (Paolo+Franz/Suggs) Heat (Jimmy+Bam/Herro) Wolves (Ant+ Gobert/Towns)

Also would say that when you compare this group to the group with 2 or 3 stars it feels like it really does lack the championship chances those other have.

As a Hornets fan, I would love this level of success regardless.

[Liver_Pooty]

****, I just want to make the playoffs.

[Diop]

I don’t see Charlotte getting a “star” added to this team, I think they need to go out and get decent strong vets around miller, ball and mark to give them
a chance to become great. Ball and miller have shown signs of it being possible

[SWedd523]

None of this matters if Melo can't play more than half a season

[JMAC3]

I don’t see Charlotte getting a “star” added to this team, I think they need to go out and get decent strong vets around miller, ball and mark to give them
a chance to become great. Ball and miller have shown signs of it being possible

That is just not good enough though. Mark would need to be a Gobert level defender in order to really be a difference maker a top 3 guy. I love Mark as a solid starting center, but in order to compete vs the teams that are winning right now we need more top tier talent.

In the future if Miller is the 20th best guy in the league and Lamelo is 25th, yeah we can probably be a common playoff team but we need another really good top 50 player or we need one of those guys to probably be a top 10 guy to be a real playoff team.

[JustBuzzin]

I think people sleeping on the potential of Brandon Miller. Not only has he shown he has the offensive skillset to get buckets, but he has shown emotion. The guy is mad when we are losing. They laughing, but this kid is not smiling while we are getting blown out.

It's all about putting winning pieces around him now. I think when it's all said and done Miller will be our best player. I just hope Melo doesn't get jealous, because he seems to like the spotlight.

[wilson115]

I know LaMelo takes some of the heat for this ongoing travesty, but imagine if things had broken differently after we drafted him.

2020:
Drafted Vernon Carey aka Jahlil Okafor 2.0 over Xavier Tillman.
FO drafts our Luka, our lead ballhandler for the next decade. Proceeds to draft a kid whose game depends on taking the ball away from his point guard and eating up the clock in the post. So since you've set the tone for the offense with Melo, shouldn't you have done the same for the defense with a known quantity on that end like Tillman? Seeing you've scouted Melo and would've/should've known about his commitment (or lack thereof) to putting in work on D?

Signed Gordon Hayward. See 2021.

2021:
Drafted at #11 when FO could've picked in the Top 5 if they'd gone all-in on improving their odds in a stacked draft instead of going for the quick fix and rolling the dice with Hayward and his injury history.

Proceeds to catch the falling knife and "luck" into a "Top 10 talent" at #11 anyway and then trades for another project big on top of the pair they already have on the roster.

Passes up the opportunity to pick Alperen Sengun, a player able to bring the same inside scoring they found so compelling in Vernon Carey the year before, AND the secondary playmaking ability they signed Gordon Hayward for...

Passes up the chance to get Jalen Johnson, a player with just as much hyped-up athleticism/measurables as the actual pick at #19, only younger and with arguably more demonstrated aptitude at knowing his role on a team comparing their resumes...

2022:
After picking four project bigs (and one project combo guard) in the space of two drafts, finally decides they have too many young players and trades away the chance to pick one more in the lottery. Proceeds to pass up the chance to draft a young big who could one day lead the NBA in rebounding, AND THEN a young wing who could just as realistically make an All-Defensive Team...

So imagine trotting out this roster if the FO's moves had made more sense:

LaMelo Ball, back-up point guard they signed after trading away Terry and/or Miles and his off-court crap
Brandon Miller, Cody Martin
Jalen Johnson (or Franz Wagner), Tari Eason
Alperen Sengun (or Evan Mobley), PJ Washington
Mark Williams (and/or Jalen Duren), Xavier Tillman, Nick Richards

So how good would LaMelo have been next to actual NBA players on the same timeline... FO wasted four years of his development, that's the worst part of this ...

[Liver_Pooty]

If anyone is wasting Lamelos development its him. Dude must think the weight room is the ebola virus.

[JMAC3]

I think people sleeping on the potential of Brandon Miller. Not only has he shown he has the offensive skillset to get buckets, but he has shown emotion. The guy is mad when we are losing. They laughing, but this kid is not smiling while we are getting blown out.

It's all about putting winning pieces around him now. I think when it's all said and done Miller will be our best player. I just hope Melo doesn't get jealous, because he seems to like the spotlight.

I don't think we are, we are already giving him credit to become a top 50 guy in the league eventually. Ideally, he gets closer to the top 25, but do you realize how good of a player you have to be in order to be a top 25 guy?

I sped through this, so these aren't in order nor perfect but just to show like how hard it is to be a top 20ish/40ish guy is.

Tier 1: Embiid, Jokic, SGA, Luka, Giannis, Tatum
Tier 2: LeBron, KD, Booker, Kawhi, Curry, Anthony Davis, Butler
Tier 3: Paul George, Mitchell, Haliburton, Fox, Lillard, Edwards, Brunson, Morant
Tier 4: Bam, Murray, Sabonis, Brown

That is 26, meaning Maxey, Paolo, Harden, LaMelo, Trae, Barnes, Ingram, Zion, KAT, Markannen, Siakam, Chet, Bane, Kyrie, Gobert

Make up the top 40 in some order. still leaving out Garland, Mikal, Wemby, JJJ.

Hell even Thunder fans would be mad but JDub and Chet aren't locks to be top 50 and they are catalysts on a top 3 seed in West.

I would say Miller and Jaime have entered the top 100 conversation as rookies. A big jump next year they are just on the outside of top 50 looking in. Miles was getting some love in the 50/60 range before the incident when he was garnering Allstar consideration, but right now he is on the witching list so it is tough to really even give him the top 80 nod without taking flack.

[fatlever]

No sleep on miller. I think he has a better shot at becoming this team's leader and number one alpha player than lamelo.

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

[NCHeels2008]

Roster Construction is a real thing more than ever in the NBA with the tax restrictions we are seeing being put in place in the NBA.

It feels like there is a few ways to build your team right now, here are the most common structures I see and I tried to sort each team into a category.

The one that seems to have the best success is 2 stars (top 25 guys).
Teams= Celtics, Bucks, Nuggets, 76ers, Mavs, Kings. Pacers, Lakers

All these teams have 2 studs, but the distinguishing factor is the players around them. Boston has better support pieces around Brown and Tatum then Mavs do with Luka and Kyrie.

Next structure is 3 Stars, this is 3 top 25 guys and very hard to do.
Teams= Clippers, Suns.
Very hard to fill out the roster around them, but still title contenders.

Most common way to build. 1 star, and then 2 guys that are top 50 convo.
Teams= Cavs (Mitchell+Mobley/Garland) Thunder (SGA+Chet/Jdub) Warriors (Steph +Klay/Wiggins) Grizzlies (Morant+ JJJ/Bane) Pelicans (Zion+ Ingram/CJ) Knicks (Brunson + Randle/OG) Magic (Paolo+Franz/Suggs) Heat (Jimmy+Bam/Herro) Wolves (Ant+ Gobert/Towns)

Then you have the outcasts who really just have a bunch of guys without a real star leading the way several guys that are like 40-100 range and win by shear depth of talent from the whole roster.
Teams= Nets, Rockets, Bulls, Jazz

Then you have the bad teams without real direction right now
Hornets, Hawks, Wiz, Spurs, Blazers, Pistons, Raptors.

Hawks are a good example of having a borderline top 25 guy but then not really having the two sidekicks Murray was 1 but they really needed a 3rd top 50 type of guy to find success it seems. Same with Hornets who have LaMelo but to this point haven't had 2 other top 50 guys with him. So they fail to meet any of the categories above.

I would say say at this point Lauri Markkanen is a real star and Bridges is arguably one for the Nets

[JMAC3]

Roster Construction is a real thing more than ever in the NBA with the tax restrictions we are seeing being put in place in the NBA.

It feels like there is a few ways to build your team right now, here are the most common structures I see and I tried to sort each team into a category.

The one that seems to have the best success is 2 stars (top 25 guys).
Teams= Celtics, Bucks, Nuggets, 76ers, Mavs, Kings. Pacers, Lakers

All these teams have 2 studs, but the distinguishing factor is the players around them. Boston has better support pieces around Brown and Tatum then Mavs do with Luka and Kyrie.

Next structure is 3 Stars, this is 3 top 25 guys and very hard to do.
Teams= Clippers, Suns.
Very hard to fill out the roster around them, but still title contenders.

Most common way to build. 1 star, and then 2 guys that are top 50 convo.
Teams= Cavs (Mitchell+Mobley/Garland) Thunder (SGA+Chet/Jdub) Warriors (Steph +Klay/Wiggins) Grizzlies (Morant+ JJJ/Bane) Pelicans (Zion+ Ingram/CJ) Knicks (Brunson + Randle/OG) Magic (Paolo+Franz/Suggs) Heat (Jimmy+Bam/Herro) Wolves (Ant+ Gobert/Towns)

Then you have the outcasts who really just have a bunch of guys without a real star leading the way several guys that are like 40-100 range and win by shear depth of talent from the whole roster.
Teams= Nets, Rockets, Bulls, Jazz

Then you have the bad teams without real direction right now
Hornets, Hawks, Wiz, Spurs, Blazers, Pistons, Raptors.

Hawks are a good example of having a borderline top 25 guy but then not really having the two sidekicks Murray was 1 but they really needed a 3rd top 50 type of guy to find success it seems. Same with Hornets who have LaMelo but to this point haven't had 2 other top 50 guys with him. So they fail to meet any of the categories above.

I would say say at this point Lauri Markkanen is a real star and Bridges is arguably one for the Nets

Mikal Bridges is at best like the 40th best player in the league. You aren't winning anything if that is your best player. Especially when you don't have another guy that is close to him.

Lauri is probably more of a convo, but gain they have no other top 75 player on their team.

[LofJ]

I'm looking forward to it.

Read on Twitter

[HornetJail]

throw Mark in that untouchable group, but I won't really miss any of the other 15 players if they were traded tonight

[KembaWalker]

It's easy to say "just have a firesale" and much more difficult to find people to take our trash. We already have what I would consider a post firesale roster. Bridges has 0 value, pj and Nick are young and on decent contracts which are what you want post firesale, Lowry and Hayward are obvious buyouts, we have little to no leverage. Everyone else is just equivalent to some guy you could sign out of the g league.

Hard to have a firesale when you have no product to sell