Offseason strategy thread

[JDR720]

This is going to be an interesting offseason so I figured we could use a thread to talk about it.

What to do about backup pg ?
MLE signings?
Should we try for a big trade to either make a push or rebuild?
Smaller trade to shed some contracts?
are cho and cliffs jobs safe?
Do we keep or trade our pick ?

[yosemiteben]

Ties in to this - viewtopic.php?p=51929929#p51929929

[HornetJail]

we're locked into what we currently have unless we completely gut our bench. We have a 1st rounder, the MLE, and the bi-annual exception at our disposal to help our depth. I'd like to see a long-term backup at PG as our draft pick. The MLE should help us get another Jeremy Lamb caliber player. The bi-annual exception probably isn't worth much, but we'd retained Josh McRoberts on it one time, and used it on Jeremy Lin another, so hopefully something like that can materialize.

If we make the playoffs and don't get totally embarrassed, I expect the status quo at least for another year. After Cleveland, the East is wide open and any team 4-12 could feasibly miss the playoffs given year-to-year happenings. I'm not in favor of blowing up this starting unit unless we're upgrading, but I doubt a trade like that comes along at this stage. Assuming no major shakeups, we really we need to focus on getting steady backups at positions of need, and not stupidly blowing assets in favor of mediocre-or-worse veterans like we've done with Bismack, our draft pick last year, etc.

That said, if a team came to us and offered us straight cap space for our entire bench, I'd do it in a heartbeat to get out of paying all that mediocrity as much as they do. If I was the GM right now, Lamb (plus maybe Graham+Wood since we don't know if they suck yet) would be the only bench guy I'd even consider keeping. I'd be jettisoning every other player and looking to rebuild the bench from the ground up. The bench without Lamb is the worst in the league: they don't defend, they can't semi-consistently create offense for themselves or others, they're soft as all hell, and they can't step into a starting role when one of the starters goes down.

[Hornet Mania]

I definitely agree that we should be drafting a PG. That's a no-brainer. The draft is loaded with PGs this year, I expect at least one intriguing PG prospect to drop to the late teens/early 20s. That player needs to be our pick.

For the MLE I'd just go for the best player available. The bench is awful as it stands today, but a young PG prospect and one decent addition alongside Bellinelli/Frank/Lamb/Plumlee could improve that unit significantly.

The starters are what they are, we're locked in to that unit barring a major trade. Luckily for us they're actually a pretty good group, it's what happens when they sit that kills us. The bench has to be our focus, and I'm sure it will be unless we break our core up before the deadline.

[yosemiteben]

I think this will be a very interesting trade deadline that will show where our FO's and ownership's mind is at. I just can't get with the we have no upside or assets mentality as long as we are sitting on all our picks.

[JDR720]

So is this a rebuild off-season?

[TheKingofSting]

Firing Cho is a must!


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[HornetJail]

I'm fully on the tank train for this season for a re-tooling project, so clearing out the bench in any way possible is a must. Marco, Frank, Plumlee, Sessions, maybe even Marvin if we get a decent offer should be on the chopping block. If we can get a top 10 pick for Batum, do it. We did a good job getting MKG, Kemba, Zeller, and Lamb on bargain contracts, so let's take advantage of that. Clear off all the fluff, get some cheap young talent, go the Miami route of taking flyers on savvy D-Leaguers and hope a couple pan out.

[TheKingofSting]

I'm fully on the tank train for this season for a re-tooling project, so clearing out the bench in any way possible is a must. Marco, Frank, Plumlee, Sessions, maybe even Marvin if we get a decent offer should be on the chopping block. If we can get a top 10 pick for Batum, do it. We did a good job getting MKG, Kemba, Zeller, and Lamb on bargain contracts, so let's take advantage of that. Clear off all the fluff, get some cheap young talent, go the Miami route of taking flyers on savvy D-Leaguers and hope a couple pan out.

We can't trust Cho with draft picks and that is a major problem.


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[BlackOutBuzz]

Psst. We're three games out of a top 5 pick.

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[HornetJail]

I'm fully on the tank train for this season for a re-tooling project, so clearing out the bench in any way possible is a must. Marco, Frank, Plumlee, Sessions, maybe even Marvin if we get a decent offer should be on the chopping block. If we can get a top 10 pick for Batum, do it. We did a good job getting MKG, Kemba, Zeller, and Lamb on bargain contracts, so let's take advantage of that. Clear off all the fluff, get some cheap young talent, go the Miami route of taking flyers on savvy D-Leaguers and hope a couple pan out.

We can't trust Cho with draft picks and that is a major problem.


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I disagree. Kemba was a good pick, Biz was a long shot pick that ended up not horrible but we mishandled him and let him walk. We all know MKG's impact on the game, and I don't mind the Zeller pick one bit. The Vonleh pick looks bad in hindsight but we got good value in a trade before we could find out. Frank is the only lottery pick that I would actually consider a bad pick. I don't agree with everything he's done, and hindsight is 20/20, but we never did get that one home-run draft pick in our tanking seasons. MKG, Zeller, and Kemba are all good starters anywhere in the league, we traded Vonleh for an elite role player in Batum who would start for just about every team in the NBA. Biz is a starting caliber player in the league. Not a lot of teams will turn five draft picks into one all-star, two above average starters, an average starter, and a 2nd/3rd big man. Drafting isn't the issue. It's the approach we took in order to speed up the process and mis-handling of players we had. This team could've stuck out a tank job one or two extra years, and we'd be an incredible up and coming team.

We tanked in a two-year stretch where there was a grand total of one player picked in the combined lottery of both drafts combined that would've made Kemba a second-banana.

[316Hornets]

NBA parity is garbage. You're either the king or you're the peasant. Let's all just go into hiding until we draft the next Lebron James or Stephen Curry.

[TheKingofSting]

I'm fully on the tank train for this season for a re-tooling project, so clearing out the bench in any way possible is a must. Marco, Frank, Plumlee, Sessions, maybe even Marvin if we get a decent offer should be on the chopping block. If we can get a top 10 pick for Batum, do it. We did a good job getting MKG, Kemba, Zeller, and Lamb on bargain contracts, so let's take advantage of that. Clear off all the fluff, get some cheap young talent, go the Miami route of taking flyers on savvy D-Leaguers and hope a couple pan out.

We can't trust Cho with draft picks and that is a major problem.


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I disagree. Kemba was a good pick, Biz was a long shot pick that ended up not horrible but we mishandled him and let him walk. We all know MKG's impact on the game, and I don't mind the Zeller pick one bit. The Vonleh pick looks bad in hindsight but we got good value in a trade before we could find out. Frank is the only lottery pick that I would actually consider a bad pick. I don't agree with everything he's done, and hindsight is 20/20, but we never did get that one home-run draft pick in our tanking seasons. MKG, Zeller, and Kemba are all good starters anywhere in the league, we traded Vonleh for an elite role player in Batum who would start for just about every team in the NBA. Biz is a starting caliber player in the league. Not a lot of teams will turn five draft picks into one all-star, two above average starters, an average starter, and a 2nd/3rd big man. Drafting isn't the issue. It's the approach we took in order to speed up the process and mis-handling of players we had. This team could've stuck out a tank job one or two extra years, and we'd be an incredible up and coming team.

We tanked in a two-year stretch where there was a grand total of one player picked in the combined lottery of both drafts combined that would've made Kemba a second-banana.

Kemba is his only good pick. He followed Biz around his country for years or whatever and passed on Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson. MKG has no offense (he is shooting his worst season percentage wise), Cody is a good role player but not a good Top 5 pick, I'd give him a pass on Vonleh because Randle didn't quite fall to us and we should have taken Turner, Booker, or Winslow over Frank. Cho is an idiot and should be fired immediately!


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[TheKingofSting]

Psst. We're three games out of a top 5 pick.

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We can only hope Cho is canned or he will blow that.

Having lost 10 in a row on the road and going on a long road trip, I could see us moving up the draft board quickly.


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[JDR720]

Kemba was a good pick.

Biz was a reach, but we botched that after we picked him by not keeping him.

MKG just gets hurt all the time and can't shoot, probably better as a pf. Still have some hope because of his work ethic.

Cody is a good role player and am fine with the pick, gets hurt too much.

Noah was a bad pick that we traded for Nic, which looks like a win until we have to pay Nic 120m which is far from ideal.

Frank is too soon to tell, but not looking so good.

The common thing with our picks is they are all lower ceiling players or had major flaws besides Kemba.

[HornetJail]

Kemba was a good pick.

Biz was a reach, but we botched that after we picked him by not keeping him.

MKG just gets hurt all the time and can't shoot, probably better as a pf. Still have some hope because of his work ethic.

Cody is a good role player and am fine with the pick, gets hurt too much.

Noah was a bad pick that we traded for Nic, which looks like a win until we have to pay Nic 120m which is far from ideal.

Frank is too soon to tell, but not looking so good.

The common thing with our picks is they are all lower ceiling players or had major flaws besides Kemba.

Bingo. For the most part, we've done merely alright with our draft picks. No major busts (other than Frank), but other than Kemba, no star talents. Which isn't good when you've had a #2 pick, a #4 pick, a #7 pick, and three #9 picks in a 5 year window. The team went the safe route afraid to strike out going for a home run (excluding Bismack, who was definitely not a safe pick). But we did a horrid job surrounding these good players.

[Braggins]

What are some realistic ways that we could stealth tank? I know there isn't much chance we go that route, but I'm wondering what our options are. The most obvious major thing I can think of is having Marv get the surgery on his hand that he decided not to do earlier in the season. Its still possible that is what is hampering his shooting and offensive efficiency. Ensuring that he gets that issue completely fixed well in time for next season while also improving our draft position seems like an all around positive direction.

A couple minor obvious things would be extending how long keep Cody out for his current injury (and limiting minutes on return) and also strategically resting Kemba/Batum on some back to backs. I'd personally be very open to trading Batum for a mid to late 1st pick and maybe a decent prospect + expiring salary, but I'm guessing that is unrealistic.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Kemba was a good pick.

Biz was a reach, but we botched that after we picked him by not keeping him.

MKG just gets hurt all the time and can't shoot, probably better as a pf. Still have some hope because of his work ethic.

Cody is a good role player and am fine with the pick, gets hurt too much.

Noah was a bad pick that we traded for Nic, which looks like a win until we have to pay Nic 120m which is far from ideal.

Frank is too soon to tell, but not looking so good.

The common thing with our picks is they are all lower ceiling players or had major flaws besides Kemba.

Bingo. For the most part, we've done merely alright with our draft picks. No major busts (other than Frank), but other than Kemba, no star talents. Which isn't good when you've had a #2 pick, a #4 pick, a #7 pick, and three #9 picks in a 5 year window. The team went the safe route afraid to strike out going for a home run (excluding Bismack, who was definitely not a safe pick). But we did a horrid job surrounding these good players.

Just MHO but part of the Bobcats problem back in the day was that they tended to swing for the fences with draft picks and miss. Adam Morrison anyone? I'm wondering if part the last few years has been an overreaction to some of those.

[Liver_Pooty]

Psst. We're three games out of a top 5 pick.

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Yesss

[fatlever]

Stealth tank?

Hold Cody out for as long as possible. After he returns, limit his minutes. Let Plumlee take his time getting back from his new injury. Limit his minutes. Forces Frank to log a lot of minutes at center, which serves a few purposes. It gives Frank much needed development playing as a center, with a lot of minutes to learn on the fly. Gives the team a lot of film to determine if Frank at center is a long-term possibility or just wasting time. Frank isn't yet ready for heavy minutes at center defensively, so it will probably result in a leaky defense and poor team rebounding, especially when our perimeter players can't seem to contain anyone.

Do not make any trades for a backup PG or any to improve the bench. Keep playing Roberts 12-16 minutes a night. More times than not, I suspect that will be a losing stretch of minutes.

Keep Kemba at no more than 34 minutes a night.

Let everyone else keep doing what they are doing. The results in the end will lean towards more loses than wins, no matter the strength of schedule.