Knowing now that AD is a money, ring chaser, would you still of wanted to have won the lottery?

[316Hornets]

AD, I thought was going to be one of the good guys. Stick with the team that picked him, hell or high water.

Well, ole Lebron came calling and AD ditched whatever roots he grew with eyes on the big lights.

I think it's pretty likely he would have done the same to us.

So, would you have still wanted to win that lottery, knowing now what you didn't know then?

[JDR720]

Yes. The Pelicans are a mess. i think he wouldn't have left Charlotte since Kemba could've helped him. MJ could have some sway too.

Didn't he supposedly want to come here too? Im probably making that up.

[Diop]

Yes

[Eoghan]

As bad as Charlotte has been at putting competitive teams on the floor, drafting, developing players, free agents, etc., New Orleans has been arguably much worse. The only reason I'd vote no is b/c it might've extended the tenures of Cho and Clifford.

[CuseMayne]

What kind of question is that bro lol...

[geraldwallace]

Of course I mean just imagine the 13/14 squad but instead of McRoberts you have AD

or the 15/16 team with AD, Kemba and Batum when he was a borderline All Star

[Lwcasu]

Yeah... the thing is if we got AD and Kemba develops, who’s to say AD walks? That right there is a top 4 team in the easy(t). Add a few pieces here and there and gosh that starts to look like a team that made it to the ECF or dare I say finals...

Guess it’s obvious I’d choose AD

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

AD, I thought was going to be one of the good guys. Stick with the team that picked him, hell or high water.

Well, ole Lebron came calling and AD ditched whatever roots he grew with eyes on the big lights.

I think it's pretty likely he would have done the same to us.

So, would you have still wanted to win that lottery, knowing now what you didn't know then?

Why is wanting to earn money and work in a good situation a bad thing?

Anyway, kind of like injuries forced Cliff to play the right guys, I think that having AD would have altered the Hornets drafts enough that the team would likely be better now. There would have been no Big Al signing. Trade for Batum probably never happens. Would it have been enough? IDK.

[yosemiteben]

What kind of question is that bro lol...

This

He's been there six years. Are you asking if it would've been worth having him here the last six years instead of MKG?

[Hornet Mania]

Yeah, 100% definitely still would want to win that lottery.

Davis was a good soldier in New Orleans for a long time, but the West is a bloodbath and the Pelicans made a lot of bad decisions (some obvious, some only bad in retrospect like the Cousins trade when he got injured) that eventually opened the door for Klutch and Lebron to start recruiting him. Davis simply got tired of losing and those influences in his ear have convinced him an exit is the only way he'll succeed in his career.

If Davis lands in Charlotte he probably has already banked a lot of success by this point thanks to a weak East, has another all-nba caliber teammate in Kemba Walker and is well-positioned to make Finals runs with one lucky bounce or two in the playoffs for years to come. It would be an entirely different situation altogether. Of course Lebron would still try to tamper and recruit, but it would be a much harder sell to ask him to walk away from a strong team in a weak conference. In that scenario he's leaving a sure thing (where he's the headliner) and leaving tens of millions of $$$ on the table to join an aging star (and be the sidekick/scapegoat for failure) just so they can get cock-slapped by Golden State in round 2. Maybe he really is that hungry for LA fame, or that much of a beta, but I doubt it.

[Liver_Pooty]

Regardless the Pelicans are going to get a hell of a restart on a rebuild, especially if they deal Holiday as well.

[316Hornets]

I think some people are overestimating AD's value. New Orleans has surrounded him with pretty solid players. Jrue Holiday isn't much worse than Kemba and they were able to bring Boogie over last year, yet New Orleans looked average.

While AD may put up impressive looking stats, the one that is remarkably empty is his assist rate. In fact, his assist rate is almost identical to Jeremy Lamb's, yet AD's usage is much higher - a blackhole on offense. (It's much better this season and of course now he decides to jet)

Not only would it hurt to lose AD, but to lose him after being the face of the franchise would sting even more. It will be a similar feeling if Kemba leaves this offseason.

All in all, I'm not really comparing AD to MKG or anything. Just looking at the opportunity of drafting #1 and taking AD. He didn't really bring any success to New Orleans and now he's leaving to go chase money and lights. Can't say I find much respect in his decision.

[stinger14]

YES, and it probably would have changed a lot for this franchise. If we had gotten AD, we probably would not have drafted Cody, Frank, or Vonleh. Without Vonleh, we MAY never have traded for Batum. Never know who we would have chosen, but no doubt the team would look much different

[Chapelchilla]

I think they would have put together a winner with kemba and ad and neither would want to leave. Even if he did, the return on trading him is going to be a lot higher then us trading MKG right?

[DY_nasty]

this is such a bobcat ptsd question

[JDR720]

Lets say we drafted Davis and picked in the 20's for the next few years.

2013 pick: Tim Hardaway
2014 pick: Shabazz
2015 pick: Willy Hernangomez (why not lol)
2016 pick: Brogdon
2017 pick: OG Anunoby
2018 pick: Devonte Graham


Not the best picks available (trying to not be too hindsighty), but it works. I would consider all those picks to be pretty realistic, based on fit and upside (at the time)

Kemba-Graham
TH- Shabazz
Brogdon
OG
Davis-Willy

Thats a good base, not including who we would've had on the roster from trades or free agents. Should be a top 3 seed in the East pretty easily.

[Snidely FC]

YES

Haiku to New Orleans:

you stole our franchise
then took our first pick AD
karma is a bitch

[HornetJail]

dumb question. short answer is yes yes yes yes yes.

Long answer includes the short answer plus the following:

NOLA failed to put a decent team around him that could compete in the West. We would already have Kemba and would be in a very very different situation right now. If all else was the same and we just had Davis instead of MKG, we'd be a perennial competitor for a top 4 seed in this conference. But things probably aren't the same. Our pick situations look very different. We probably never draft Vonleh with that Pistons 1st, which indirectly saddled us with Batum's contract. Maybe we look at a perimeter guy like LaVine or Harris...

The trickle down effect of losing that lottery is massive and depressing. Winning that lottery gives us some of the best years in franchise history, that we've quite frankly missed out on. Even if AD quit on the team and asked out after 3-4 years of top 10 player caliber play, it's worth it.

[stinger14]

Lets say we drafted Davis and picked in the 20's for the next few years.

2013 pick: Tim Hardaway
2014 pick: Shabazz
2015 pick: Willy Hernangomez (why not lol)
2016 pick: Brogdon
2017 pick: OG Anunoby
2018 pick: Devonte Graham


Not the best picks available (trying to not be too hindsighty), but it works. I would consider all those picks to be pretty realistic, based on fit and upside (at the time)

Kemba-Graham
TH- Shabazz
Brogdon
OG
Davis-Willy

Thats a good base, not including who we would've had on the roster from trades or free agents. Should be a top 3 seed in the East pretty easily.

It's all moot and a dream, but I was bored so I put this together quickly

Honestly though, 2013 and 2014 would have been late lottery or mid to late teens as Kemba was not very efficient or even close to the player he is now. Davis was good in his first two years, but again he wasnt anywhere near the player he is now. They weren't ready at that time.

Just a couple names that may have been options

2013 - McCollum, Steven Adams, Giannis (wow)
2014 - TJ Warren, Gary Harris

Kemba
Harris
FA??? (Sign Harrison Barnes in 2016??)
Giannis
Davis

Fill out around these 4 or 5 guys and I think it is fairly obvious what this team could be doing in the East right now. Much better defensively, and that offense with Kemba running pick n roll/pop with Davis, Kemba playing off the ball with Giannis handling, Giannis and Davis in the pick n roll. Team would have so many options

[316Hornets]

Here's a more realistic snapshot of what we would have taken based on MJ's preference for big college standouts

2013 pick: Solomon Hill (Sweet 16 senior)
2014 pick: Mitch McGary (Final 8 Soph)
2015 pick: Sam Dekker (Final 2 Junior)
2016 pick: Brice Johnson (Final 2 Senior)


Then, we probably still adding guys like PJ Hairston, Michael Carter-williams, and Marco Bellinelli

Team probably looking like

Kemba - MCW
Marco - Hairston
Batum - Dekker
McGary - Johnson
AD - Hawes