Hive Mentality: A New Day in Charlotte

MasterIchiro · Post #261 » by **MasterIchiro** » Sat Aug 3, 2024 5:53 pm

Anyways, I don't care that you can't apply my posts with greater flexibility, context and nuance.

MasterIchiro · Post #262 » by **MasterIchiro** » Sat Aug 3, 2024 5:58 pm

Anyways, there's no earthly reason to derail from the central question.

Did we get our top guy?

I **** doubt it.

Did we fully explore scenarios of getting our guy?

That's the question.

But you want yay yay pom poms, Salaun was our top guy? And a new GM is not subject to questioning.

Load of ****.

I am concerned about Peterson's comments about Salaun translating in a perimeter-oriented role.

How the hell can you work from the perimeter without ball skills in half court sets and without any playmaking to speak of? Peterson asserts it's all about the shot. Plenty of perimeter players have one and add secondary skills on top of it like shot creation off the dribble or playmaking.

MasterIchiro · Post #263 » by **MasterIchiro** » Sat Aug 3, 2024 6:02 pm

To put it all into a small bit of information anyone should understand - I rated this draft "questionable". It's going to take something from Salaun to change my mind, not ad hominen angles from you suggesting that with everything I say, I fall short on coherence.

It's tired.

Braggins · Post #264 » by **Braggins** » Sat Aug 3, 2024 6:37 pm

I didn't feel good about what I saw from Salaun in summer league, but it was the first ive seen of the dude so I'm not going to really judge too much until I see more. Its hard not to be a bit concerned that he didn't really show any offensive skill besides maybe kind of shooting and he had 0 blocks + steals. It was also a small sample size, even for summer league, so its hard to know what any of it means. I wish he would have played more and I'm hoping he gets some decent run in the preseason at least.

My worry is that he seems like hes a big project, but also his ceiling seems like it might be something closer to a PJ Washington level player, which doesn't sound like that valuable of a prospect. Low floor + mid ceiling isn't really what you are looking for at #6, even in a weaker draft.

SWedd523 · Post #265 » by **SWedd523** » Sat Aug 3, 2024 7:18 pm

A lot of words to say "I liked this other guy better than the one who got drafted"

In addition to "I'm going to create a universe in my head where my particular narrative is reality instead of the one we're actually all living in."

If they wanted Clingan, they would have taken him. Whether or not the Solong pick works out is completely separate from their strategy on the night of the draft. There was no 7D chess match being played where Portland punked them into passing on the guy they actually wanted.

Post #266 » by **yosemiteben** » Sun Aug 4, 2024 12:57 am

MasterIchiro wrote:Did we get our top guy?

I **** doubt it.

Did we fully explore scenarios of getting our guy?

That's the question.

But you want yay yay pom poms, Salaun was our top guy? And a new GM is not subject to questioning.

Load of ****.

I have no idea who you think you're talking to with this stuff, but I never said the stuff you're going on about so I hope you're doing a good job of convincing whoever your target audience is.

Liver_Pooty · Post #267 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sun Aug 4, 2024 2:39 am

They mentioned Clingan and taking the BPA regardless of position. Clingan was there. We didn't take him. Anyone can say they messed the pick up, but they got their guy. Unless Reed was there and they were very interested in him.

Liver_Pooty · Post #268 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sun Aug 4, 2024 2:50 am

I refuse to get into hypotheticals.

Bassman · Post #269 » by **Bassman** » Sun Aug 4, 2024 3:47 am

I enjoyed watching the production. More of a view into Hornets world than we’ve seen in…what…years certainly?

Impossible to absolutely discern their draft strategy from the behind scenes portions shown. I do think Sheppard was their #1 of possible picks, and perhaps they fielded an offer to trade up at 3. Seemed like something was up there. Maybe they’d have taken Castle if he’d been at 6 along with Salaun (I’d hope so), but weren’t seemingly making an effort to deal up for pick 4. But clearly Peterson suspected his pet project would be taken at 8 if they dealt back to 9, so here we are.

Ware may end up the best pick from the whole bunch. Did they even work him out? Oh, forgot, we have Mark Williams so no need to draft a center….

I DO like the direction, the energy and passion these guys are bringing to this organization. Will Peterson be able to make good picks? His first draft with us was a little bold, time will tell. I would have made different decisions in both rounds but I’ve been wrong before!

Robot Rock · Post #270 » by **Robot Rock** » Sun Aug 4, 2024 6:13 pm

Braggins wrote:I didn't feel good about what I saw from Salaun in summer league, but it was the first ive seen of the dude so I'm not going to really judge too much until I see more.

I actually felt better about it but I didn't watch the last game.

Bassman · Post #271 » by **Bassman** » Sun Aug 4, 2024 6:46 pm

Robot Rock wrote:
Braggins wrote:I didn't feel good about what I saw from Salaun in summer league, but it was the first ive seen of the dude so I'm not going to really judge too much until I see more.

I actually felt better about it but I didn't watch the last game.

In this video, the staff alluded to Salaun being more like a wing than a big (by potential or nature). Agree with previous post this is a warning flag as well. Salaun might be able to eventually hit shots consistently from 3 (I sure HOPE SO) but his true future success hinges on being a strong PF with range who can rumble in the paint, defend other bigs and rebound. Now he’s just 18, and hasn’t been in the deep end of the pool yet, so we shall see.

Chapelchilla · Post #272 » by **Chapelchilla** » Mon Aug 5, 2024 4:29 pm

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/behind-the-scenes-hornets-gm-sifts-through-options-in-nba-draft/ar-AA1odwrV?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=3a30f486e5c845b7b7c22701ea351b5d&ei=19

Interesting article. Not sure they ever seriously considered Castle. Maybe the shooting? Clearly, they wanted Reed but did not want to pay the price Houston needed. Hopefully they were right about what TJ can become.

Robot Rock · Post #273 » by **Robot Rock** » Mon Aug 5, 2024 6:28 pm

Bassman wrote:
Robot Rock wrote:
Braggins wrote:I didn't feel good about what I saw from Salaun in summer league, but it was the first ive seen of the dude so I'm not going to really judge too much until I see more.

I actually felt better about it but I didn't watch the last game.

In this video, the staff alluded to Salaun being more like a wing than a big (by potential or nature). Agree with previous post this is a warning flag as well. Salaun might be able to eventually hit shots consistently from 3 (I sure HOPE SO) but his true future success hinges on being a strong PF with range who can rumble in the paint, defend other bigs and rebound. Now he’s just 18, and hasn’t been in the deep end of the pool yet, so we shall see.

If they're being as patient with him as it appears, there's probably been no definitive decision on his true position yet. Besides, positions are becoming meaningless in the NBA.

Rich4114 · Post #274 » by **Rich4114** » Tue Aug 6, 2024 1:57 pm

If it were me, in a draft like this and Clingan was the one who slipped to #6 I would not have hesitated. I get why the took Salaun, he's got some promising potential based on his measurables, motor, etc. Peterson seems to believe the missing piece for him is just developing a better outside shot. Which will be hard to do if he's not getting clean releases and kicking his legs out unnecessarily. Or taking bad shots (which based on a small sample size, appears to be his bigger issue). It's fair that they think he's someone they can coach and mold given his age, size, etc. If you're going to take a huge swing with a lottery pick, this was a good one to do it in.

That said, when you're thin and questionable at C and have been bad at that position for a decade with a guy who is almost a sure thing C1/C2 on the board - why wouldn't you take him given the other choices? Like if we didn't have Nick Richards, would we have sprinted to the podium for Clingan then? Because there's no world where Clingan doesn't end up better than Nick and I can see him being better than Mark due to his elite blocking abilities.

Just not sure Jeff needed to try so hard for a home run in his first draft when we just need dependable talent on the roster not the next Kai Jones.

Post #275 » by **JDR720** » Tue Aug 6, 2024 2:29 pm

Salaun is a swing for the fences pick.

But I wonder how high that fence actually is. Because as of now, he doesn't seem to have many NBA skills. Maybe he's a Tobias Harris type if he reaches his ceiling?

Post #276 » by **yosemiteben** » Tue Aug 6, 2024 2:57 pm

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5646445/2024/08/06/charlotte-hornets-jeff-peterson-charles-lee-playoffs-nba/

Solid piece

Rich4114 · Post #277 » by **Rich4114** » Tue Aug 6, 2024 6:10 pm

JDR720 wrote:Salaun is a swing for the fences pick.

But I wonder how high that fence actually is. Because as of now, he doesn't seem to have many NBA skills. Maybe he's a Tobias Harris type if he reaches his ceiling?

Can't believe we took him over Clingan still. I hope I'm wrong but man...

Bassman · Post #278 » by **Bassman** » Tue Aug 6, 2024 6:57 pm

Rich4114 wrote:
JDR720 wrote:Salaun is a swing for the fences pick.

But I wonder how high that fence actually is. Because as of now, he doesn't seem to have many NBA skills. Maybe he's a Tobias Harris type if he reaches his ceiling?

Can't believe we took him over Clingan still. I hope I'm wrong but man...

I don’t believe Clingan will be an all-star, but he’s a solid vital piece of any future playoff team. HAD we taken Clingan, imagine what we might have been able to get by then dealing Richards? There has been interest in him by some teams. Yes we’d still need a third center but there have been some options out there better than Taj.

But Salaun may gain enough knowledge and maturity to refine his base potential into a good player. Just agree it was calculated reach by Peterson.

Post #279 » by **yosemiteben** » Tue Aug 6, 2024 8:08 pm

I think it is interesting that so much of what made our FO interested in Salaun ties in to the culture change they are pushing for. They specifically said they take comfort that he is going to push to maximize his talent and that he'll bring a worker mentality that's part of this new Hornets DNA they are pushing for.

I think that's great and all, but I am curious if they're going overboard on the culture stuff and maybe underemphasizing the raw talent stuff, at least with regard to this specific draft. I don't feel strongly one way or the other as to whether that's what they are doing, but I could see it being a possibility. At the same time, if that dedication to that culture change rubs off on the entire roster, I think it will have been worth it even if Salaun doesn't work out like we hope.

amcoolio · Post #280 » by **amcoolio** » Tue Aug 6, 2024 9:35 pm

I think the team (and most teams) thought this draft was balls and just took a chance on a wild card because they liked his work ethic. I mean the Spurs punted the 8th overall pick and they aren't exactly overflowing with talent. The only player I question passing is Buzelis, who is much more skilled than Salaun at the same position but probably doesn't have as high a ceiling if Salaun if he ever puts it together. Maybe they think Salaun can eventually play a Tristan Thompson/Al Horford type of center and Buzelis can't... that's the only possible reason that I can think of otherwise it makes no sense