Grade our offseason

[Eoghan]

So far, D. We don't have any flexibility next summer to improve, and taking on Marco complicated matters. The front office is relying heavily on MKG's health and Cody and Frank's growth, and if it doesn't happen, then 1st round fodder yet again.

Yeah, it's a really lateral offseason. Got to cross our fingers that our guys stay healthy/improve and other teams' additions suck and we get a boost by addition by subtracting Big Al. All we really did was resign two of our starters to fairly nice deals. Grant it, the sky would've been falling if Batum walked so glass half full but in the big scheme of things, this offseason wasn't anything to crow about.

[Bassman]

Moving target until everything is done. BUT, dealing Troy for a trade exception feels like we slid into negative territory.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Cliff pretty much never played him. I honestly never expected Troy to be back.

[JMAC3]

I am pretty happy with this offseason... I will give us a B+

Getting both Batum and Marvin back at discounts was a great start. I know people are struggling to see the benefit, but we would not have had money to sign Sessions or Hibbert and we would be looking at Roberts and Hawes as main players on the second unit.

Speaking of Sessions and Hibbert, both were good value signings and we were smart to not get overly invested in either one as they both essentially have 1 year deals. Sessions is a downgrade from Lin, but at the same time he is going to bring a lot of what we lost with Lin leaving..getting in the paint, draws fouls at a high rate, and has experience as a starter.

Hibbert on a 1 year is a good risk, he brings us what we were lacking up front which was size, physicality, and shot blocking. Is he going to be the old Hibbert? prolly not, but if he is somewhere between that and Lakers Hibbert then we got a great value especially in this market. He is a good alternative to Cody as far as his size and rim protection, also Roy has a decent offensive game that includes a midrange catch and shot and a decent post hook.

Not overpaying Al, was a good move. I would not touch a 3/30 for him. Lin was not coming back here because he wanted to start too badly and with MKG and Belly his role would of been smaller this year. Courtney Lee was overpaid for a guy, who cannot create his own shot and he would of been a bench player for us.

This brings to me the most hated move on the board this offseason... Trading 22 for Belly. I think the main three reasons we all hated this move was...
1. The timing. Making this deal before the draft started didn't seem to make much sense, but who knows somebody may have been offering a better pick for him and the only way they would take our offer was to do so right then and there.
2. The Research. We all spent time to research who we wanted and spent a good amount of thought on who we thought would be a good fit.
3. The Upside. Trading the pick for a known commodity is just not as sexy as drafting an unknown player who could be the next Rodney Hood. A 19 year old player is always considered to have more upside then a 30 year old coming off their worst statistical season of recent years.

... but after spending time to think about this... I am okay with this deal. For one, we needed to replace Lins production after knowing he wasnt coming back. Belinelli is a guy who we clearly liked for his skill set and he comes with Championship experience, tons of National team experience playing for Italy, and he has proven he is a capable double digit scorer throughout his career.

This will be a move that will always be the wrong move in many peoples eye, because they will play Hindsight. Whoever the best player drafted after 22 will be the guy we compare to Belinelli for the next 5 years. Which honestly is stupid... because at that point it is all just taking a shot and hoping they pan out. If you are complaining about this deal, you should have to pick 1 guy right now drafted after 22 to say that is who you would of picked. That way there is no "I knew we should of taken player X, instead of trading for Marco", pick 1 guy and if he ends up better props, but most of you will be too scared to stick to your guns and pick 1 guy to commit to.

Last point about Belly Trade. He is making just 6 million this season, which is a steal on this market. If he were a FA this offseason he would of been offered twice that much by someone. Belly is a better player than CLee in my mind, because he makes others better and he can create his own shot. Plus he is under control next season as well, which makes this an even better deal.

Trading Daniels to the Grizzlies for TPE, was pretty insignificant. Daniels was a fun player to watch, but he is what he is. I think his roster spot would be better used to sign a defensive wing or flex a young guy to the DLeague like Brandon Paul or Robert Carter.

Last thing, that nobody is really talking about. MKG coming back will be a huge addition, but its not just that he is coming back. He also signed a new contract essentially because his 4/52 start this season. Which was another 7 million addition in cap space reduction because he was only making 6+ last year. And signing him prior to this offseason saved us a ton of money. Just look at what Beal got, MKG would of been given a 4 for 80 by someone... Great Job Cho!

We lost Lin, Lee, Al, and Daniels... but essentially brought in MKG, Sessions, Hibbert, and Belly. Most importantly we didnt give away any Solomon Hill or Mozgov type deals that hurt our future. We have a lot of cap flexibility heading into next season including enough money to sign a MAX FA and we have our core all locked up except Cody for the foreseable future on good value deals (Kemba, MKG, Batum, Marv, Frank) for at least the next 3 years. Will have roughly 27 million in cap space if we renounce everyone next offseason and Cody Cap hold is only 7 million... meaning we will have 20 of true cap space if we let Sessions and Hibbert walk.

[Braggins]

We went into the offseason with...

Kemba/Lin
Batum/Lamb/Daniels
MKG/Lee
Marv/Frank
Cody/Al/Hawes
+pick 22

Now we have...

Kemba/Sessions
Batum/Marco
MKG/Lamb
Marv/Frank
Cody/Roy/Hawes

Im not sure how this offseason is getting such overwhelmingly positive reviews. We pretty clearly downgraded our roster. MKG returning from injury doesnt count as an offseason acquisition.

[HornetJail]

We started the offseason with...

Kemba/Lin
Batum/Lamb/Daniels
MKG/Lee
Marv/Frank
Cody/Al/Hawes
+pick 22

Now we have...

Kemba/Sessions
Batum/Marco
MKG/Lamb
Marv/Frank
Cody/Roy/Hawes

Im not sure how this offseason is getting such overwhelmingly positive reviews. We pretty clearly downgraded our roster. MKG returning from injury doesnt count as an offseason acquisition.

I think it was pretty evident we were not going to keep everyone. We kept the important pieces, and did it without annihilating our future, unlike so many other teams this offseason. Lee got overpaid and Lin wasn't coming back anyway because we had no bird rights. None of us wanted Jefferson back. I would've given a C if Nic+Marvin took up all of our cap space and we had little to no money for a backup center and backup point guard. Instead we had $12M left over to use on no-risk contracts to a defensive center (which we've sorely needed) and a rim-attacking point guard very similar to the one we just let go. Given what we had to work with, I think we did just fine. The deep end of the bench sucked then and still sucks now, and while I don't love the Bellinelli acquisition and the fact we're probably going to have to look at Spencer Hawes' ugly **** face for another year, those are pretty minor issues compared to what could've gone down.

I can't give Cho a C or worse rating for sticking to his guns and not giving role players $12M a year. The $6M contracts we owe Hawes, Bellinelli, and Lamb are at least moveable and two of them could pan out for us (Hawes is a lost cause).

Keep in mind that Nic and Marvin had way bigger offers on the table and chose to come back. We could be stuck paying Ryan Anderson or Evan Turner $18M a year to be mediocre to crappy basketball players.

[euphorbus]

The deep end of the bench sucked then and still sucks now, and while I don't love the Bellinelli acquisition and the fact we're probably going to have to look at Spencer Hawes' ugly **** face for another year, those are pretty minor issues compared to what could've gone down.

I can't give Cho a C or worse rating for sticking to his guns and not giving role players $12M a year. The $6M contracts we owe Hawes, Bellinelli, and Lamb are at least moveable and two of them could pan out for us (Hawes is a lost cause).

I think you are mistaken about Hawes. I was not a fan of his during the season, at all, but during the playoffs, he led the team by far in some important advanced categories:

Net Rating: Hawes 21.7 Lin 1.1
Defensive Rating: Hawes 71.2 Zeller 96.9

He was second in RB%: Lamb 18.2% Hawes 15.7%

He was third in TS%: Zeller 62.4% Lamb 61.1% Hawes 57.5%

I mention this because not all the Hornets stood up to the test of the playoffs, but Hawes did. Moving him now would be shortsighted.

[HornetJail]

The deep end of the bench sucked then and still sucks now, and while I don't love the Bellinelli acquisition and the fact we're probably going to have to look at Spencer Hawes' ugly **** face for another year, those are pretty minor issues compared to what could've gone down.

I can't give Cho a C or worse rating for sticking to his guns and not giving role players $12M a year. The $6M contracts we owe Hawes, Bellinelli, and Lamb are at least moveable and two of them could pan out for us (Hawes is a lost cause).

I think you are mistaken about Hawes. I was not a fan of his during the season, at all, but during the playoffs, he led the team by far in some important advanced categories:

Net Rating: Hawes 21.7 Lin 1.1
Defensive Rating: Hawes 71.2 Zeller 96.9

He was second in RB%: Lamb 18.2% Hawes 15.7%

He was third in TS%: Zeller 62.4% Lamb 61.1% Hawes 57.5%

I mention this because not all the Hornets stood up to the test of the playoffs, but Hawes did. Moving him now would be shortsighted.

bro... sample size... he played more than 8 minutes in just three of the games. He played alright (way above his usual level), but sample size really throws off advanced stats. He was a liability on both ends for nearly the entire season.

[euphorbus]

Bro... sample size...He played more than 8 minutes in just three of the games. He played all right (way above his usual level), but sample size really throws off advanced stats. He was a liability on both ends for nearly the entire season.

Yeah, it was only 53 minutes total. I thought Hawes was subpar for most of the season, too. I did not explain myself well: To my eye, Hawes seemed to hit another level in the playoffs, so I looked at the stats to see if I was mistaken, but I was not.

I complained in the game threads about how Coach Clifford was not using his personnel very well. But that is a different argument, not related to the thread.

So far, I give management a C+ for the offseason. It would have been a B if Daniels had not been traded.

[_tijo_]

4. Then don't make the trade.

5. A lot of great players have been drafted post 22. And they'll be a couple this year as well.

6. Marco will be better for us next year than any rookie will be for their team outside of Simmons, next year. Marco will probably be better than Brandon Ingram next year. Let's call up the Lakers and see if they'll trade Marco for Ingram. Think they'll go for it? Marco being better than a rookie doesn't make it a good trade. You have the rookie 10+ years. That rookie could turn into an all-pro, or an all star, or a regular starter, or a rotation player, or an end of the bencher, or be caught with three hookers and enough crack to get the entire city high. We don't know. And I wanted to find out.

I hope I don't come off too combative. I actually think Marco will be good for us as a player next year. Just not good enough to justify the trade.

I think it's hard to blame Cho for making a trade for a known commodity. Yes there have been great players drafted post 22. But you can't play that game here... unless you say I would have taken X player with the pick on draft night, and that player actually turns into your all-pro, then you really can't say that Cho is an idiot and you know better. You don't get to have hindsight when you're the GM, you actually have to pick a player, not get picks 22-60 and pick the best one later.

Not combative. Civil. Which is why I like *most* of the posters here at hornets realgm.

[uballer]

"C" is the best I can say. We are much worse in defense and in bench depth.

[Mystical Apples]

Bro... sample size...He played more than 8 minutes in just three of the games. He played all right (way above his usual level), but sample size really throws off advanced stats. He was a liability on both ends for nearly the entire season.

Yeah, it was only 53 minutes total. I thought Hawes was subpar for most of the season, too. I did not explain myself well: To my eye, Hawes seemed to hit another level in the playoffs, so I looked at the stats to see if I was mistaken, but I was not.

I complained in the game threads about how Coach Clifford was not using his personnel very well. But that is a different argument, not related to the thread.

So far, I give management a C+ for the offseason. It would have been a B if Daniels had not been traded.

Playoff +/- across the board was directly correlated with % of minutes vs. Miami's bench.

[antique0o0]

I'm not sure about defense, because MKG will play next season and Hornets signed Hilbert.
But Hornets may need more fire power from the new this new roster. Hornets lose some versatility this season offensively.

[gafun]

B. Hornets keeps what it wanted the most - top 2 of the off season priority list. With MKG coming back，If Lamb's confidence can be restored and getting better, it could be a good season.

[Snidely FC]

The Good:
I am very happy the team kept Nicolas Batum. I love how he unlocks the offense and makes other guys like Kemba and Cody better. I like his creativity and suave demeanor. And I am thankful he left a little on the table for mgmt to work with. However, this doesn't feel like we signed some sort of Superstar. His contract is a reminder that we need to overpay for Tier 2 players since we aren't considered a destination by the tier 1 stars. He definitely has flaws. Nic makes way too many turnovers and is rendered unplayable when he has any little injury, a worry since he has 10 yrs of pro + national wear on his body. Nic's disastrous 8 min stint when he tried to play hurt in the first half of Game 5 vs MIA completely changed the momentum of that series. It's just kind of unfortunate we had to resign him in a year when the cap jumped. The contract makes me a little nervous, but given the circumstances and how much I like Nic Batum (I feel like he is our Grant Hill), I still give resigning him an A.

Pretty much same story with Marv. He's flawed but I will take it. I was worried Marv would command $15M+. He's older, and we've got guys like Frank who will grow into his rotation spot before his contract ends, but I also think he will be worth the tail end of his contract based on locker room value and leadership intangibles. Another A.

The Okay:
I thought Courtney Lee was extremely important to the team's playoff success and wished the contract scenario allowed him back, but I knew Lee wasn't coming back as soon as I learned his cap hold would be twice his '15-'16 salary. Part of my disappointment with CLee's departure is that I thought a rookie scale replacement, Malcom Brogdon, was readily available via the draft and would have loved to see the team buy a 2nd or trade a future 2nd to nab him. As it stands, CLee's real replacement is MKG, and the team added Belinelli, so while I think Lee was a perfect fit, replacing him with MKG + Belinelli works for me. A-

Speaking of Belinelli, like others I hoped the team would trade pick #22 for two 2nd rders to grab rookie scale replacements at guard and center. Seemed like a wise way to go in an offseason where every dollar is at a premium. When the trade happened I also hoped a 2nd rd pick was coming back. One detail that has gone undiscussed though, is that SAC's 2nd rd pick was #59, so while it would have been nice to pick a guy for Greensboro, I can see why Cho wouldn't fight for that pick to be added. I like what Belinelli will bring to the team in terms of another creative playmaker. B+

The Meh:
Sessions? His style of play did not fit Cliff's new offensive system. Look at his thread title, passing is for starters. People say he added a 3 pt shot and modernized his game at WAS. I will believe it when I see it. C

Brian Roberts? 3rd string PG, so I'm not going to make too much of it. Just seems like PG3 is a good spot to add size or develop a youngster. As with replacing CLee, would have loved to have seen a rookie here, preferably someone like Gary Payton II who has size and can defend. C-

The Ugly:
I am not a fan of Hibbert. I think he is as much an NBA dinosaur, albeit one-sided on defense instead of offense, as Al jeff. Today's NBA calls for a lot of screen & rolls and switching on defense. I don't think Hibbert is quick or nimble enough to do either. I hope he's a 3rd string C, who plays only against the Eastern Conference's murderer's row of huge Centers. But who does that leave to set screens when Coby needs a break? Not a fan. Grade: D

I know it's not really the team's fault that Jeremy Lin left. I mean, CHA probably could have offered him twice what BKN did (hypothetically if we had the cap space) and he still would have chosen BKN. He obviously wants to start and prove to everyone that he can carry a team in the NBA (reuniting with his former coach helped), and boy with that BKN roster he will get the opportunity. Look for Lin to avg 30 ppg on that awful team. But here's the rub: for one whole season Jeremy Lin MADE CHA RELEVANT WORLDWIDE. Yeah, the team won some more games last year and made the playoffs. But Lin brought the Buzz. If I were in Michael Jordan's shoes and I had my hands on Jeremy Lin I would have done absolutely everything in my power to keep Lin here. Would Lin have been convinced to stay if the team announced they were prioritizing him over Batum - remember this team beat MIA in the playoffs a couple times in a row with Batum sidelined - and if CHA threw a big contract at him? Probably not. It sucks that in a league where Golden State can add Kevin Durant, we can't retain a player of such importance to the franchise. Lin's numbers on the court might be replaceable, but his charisma and worldwide star power won't be seen again in CHA for quite some time. F

Overall:
Some great and some ugly. Adding Christian Wood salved the sting of trading the draft pick a little. But I can't help but feel that Cho is working furiously to turn Lamb and/or Hawes into something. I'm pretty confident Cho won't do anything desperate, but until the curtain goes down on the offseason, I still expect a trade. If it was over now, I would give the offseason a B. But I am looking for more dominoes to fall, so, for now . . .

Overall Grade = Incomplete

[el13adnino]

I mean the hornets are pretty much a lock to make the playoffs. And are probably right below the cavs,raps, celtics tier.

Id much rather have zeller than noah at this stage of their careers. Zeller is an excellent defender and he became a decent offensive player when we moved him to center. Kaminsky will be our backup center in the playoffs. don't expect hibbert to play because he's awful. Hes just there to save wear and tear on zeller/kaminsky during the regular season.

I hate hibbert but I'd much prefer him on 1/ $5 to Noah on his last legs at 4/ $72. I don't think people realize how worthless he is offensively.

Kemba had a breakout year if you didn't notice. Rose is a bottom 5 starting pg and kemba is top ten. Lin and Sessions are pretty comparable actually. Lin cant shoot or handle the ball he's a one trick Pony driving to try to pick up fouls.

No, I don't expect Gilchrist to play 82 games. I'd bet he plays about as many as Rose, more than jennings, and more than noah though.

Most of your criticisms of the hornets were made about guys who don't expect to factor much in our rotation.

Kemba/batum/marv are our stars. Mkg is probably our best player if he can stay healthy. And then we have zeller/kaminsky/lamb for depth.

That's a 45-50 win team without any "what ifs".


Noah and Rose are absolutely terrible on offense. Kp is average. Lee is average. Carmelo is above average. You're a middling team on both ends of the court with a depth problem and red flags up and down the lineup for health risks.

I'd take nyk to win 35-39 games. With a capped upside of like 43 wins if everything breaks right

how many people agree with this assessment of your team ?

[Flip Murray]

I mean the hornets are pretty much a lock to make the playoffs. And are probably right below the cavs,raps, celtics tier.

Id much rather have zeller than noah at this stage of their careers. Zeller is an excellent defender and he became a decent offensive player when we moved him to center. Kaminsky will be our backup center in the playoffs. don't expect hibbert to play because he's awful. Hes just there to save wear and tear on zeller/kaminsky during the regular season.

I hate hibbert but I'd much prefer him on 1/ $5 to Noah on his last legs at 4/ $72. I don't think people realize how worthless he is offensively.

Kemba had a breakout year if you didn't notice. Rose is a bottom 5 starting pg and kemba is top ten. Lin and Sessions are pretty comparable actually. Lin cant shoot or handle the ball he's a one trick Pony driving to try to pick up fouls.

No, I don't expect Gilchrist to play 82 games. I'd bet he plays about as many as Rose, more than jennings, and more than noah though.

Most of your criticisms of the hornets were made about guys who don't expect to factor much in our rotation.

Kemba/batum/marv are our stars. Mkg is probably our best player if he can stay healthy. And then we have zeller/kaminsky/lamb for depth.

That's a 45-50 win team without any "what ifs".


Noah and Rose are absolutely terrible on offense. Kp is average. Lee is average. Carmelo is above average. You're a middling team on both ends of the court with a depth problem and red flags up and down the lineup for health risks.

I'd take nyk to win 35-39 games. With a capped upside of like 43 wins if everything breaks right

how many people agree with this assessment of your team ?

Without injuries we're better than we were last year. MKG is huge for this team. With injury to MKG we're marginally worse than last year. Maybe 3 or so games worse in my opinion.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Eh, depends on Hibbert but i would say that without MKG this team is probably 5-6 games worse than last year. If Hibbert has a turnaround year (best case) then this team is probably about 2-3 games worse.

With a full year of MKG ... and the best case where his outside shout falls enough for other teams to have to respect it ... this could be a really special year.

Yeah, I would have felt a lot better if Lin and Lee were back, but both of them wanted shots at starting roles. I can't blame the team for that.

[Hornet Mania]

I think we downgraded a bit from the group we had last year but with MKG returning it will even out assuming he can stay healthy. The big thing was retaining both Batum and Marvin at reasonable prices, solidifying the core for a few years(since MKG/Kemba were already on super cheap deals). We've got a bit of flexibility in the future to improve if the opportunity arises, otherwise it will need to be internal development and continuity. The Marco trade was a bit weird, but I doubt we would have gotten a different maker with that pick anyway.

Cho had few options this offseason. No big free agents were coming here, Lin was gone no matter what, and his top priority was salvaging the respectable squad he'd put together by retaining Marv/Batum at a price that wasn't insane. He accomplished the goal in my eyes. It would have been nice to make a big leap forward but that was never a realistic possibility.

Grade: B

[TinmanZBoy]

The deep end of the bench sucked then and still sucks now, and while I don't love the Bellinelli acquisition and the fact we're probably going to have to look at Spencer Hawes' ugly **** face for another year, those are pretty minor issues compared to what could've gone down.

I can't give Cho a C or worse rating for sticking to his guns and not giving role players $12M a year. The $6M contracts we owe Hawes, Bellinelli, and Lamb are at least moveable and two of them could pan out for us (Hawes is a lost cause).

I think you are mistaken about Hawes. I was not a fan of his during the season, at all, but during the playoffs, he led the team by far in some important advanced categories:

Net Rating: Hawes 21.7 Lin 1.1
Defensive Rating: Hawes 71.2 Zeller 96.9

He was second in RB%: Lamb 18.2% Hawes 15.7%

He was third in TS%: Zeller 62.4% Lamb 61.1% Hawes 57.5%

I mention this because not all the Hornets stood up to the test of the playoffs, but Hawes did. Moving him now would be shortsighted.

bro... sample size... he played more than 8 minutes in just three of the games. He played alright (way above his usual level), but sample size really throws off advanced stats. He was a liability on both ends for nearly the entire season.

Hawes' season had a bad start, but his season was getting better and better until the ugly injury... his chemistry with Lin was getting better and better, you just have to hope he will develop chemistry with sessions as soon as possible...