Charlotte 2014 Picks Watch Thread

[Liver_Pooty]

Starting McDermott with MKG is too unconventional for me to even believe Clifford would experiment it. I think it could work, but I seriously doubt it happens if McDermott is drafted by Charlotte

Exactly. I think MKG is better off playing as close to the post anyway on both defense and obviously offense regardless.

[Liver_Pooty]

Starting McDermott with MKG is too unconventional for me to even believe Clifford would experiment it. I think it could work, but I seriously doubt it happens if McDermott is drafted by Charlotte

It's pairing a great scorer with an elite defender and rebounder. I don't see the problem.

MKG would have to develop some kind of shot, any kind of shot to be a SG, Sefolosha and Tony Allen can at least make a corner 3. MKG struggles to hit an open 15 footer. He can get away with that as a SF but it would be mighty tough to get away with that as a starting SG. Id prefer Mcdermott to come off the bench and give a big time scoring punch.

[mrknowitall215]

Starting McDermott with MKG is too unconventional for me to even believe Clifford would experiment it. I think it could work, but I seriously doubt it happens if McDermott is drafted by Charlotte

It's pairing a great scorer with an elite defender and rebounder. I don't see the problem.

The problem is that Clifford is too conventional. We haven't even seen him experiment putting MKG at PF for spot minutes yet, so I doubt you'd see the day that he'd slate MKG in at starting SG

[HornetJail]

Starting McDermott with MKG is too unconventional for me to even believe Clifford would experiment it. I think it could work, but I seriously doubt it happens if McDermott is drafted by Charlotte

It's pairing a great scorer with an elite defender and rebounder. I don't see the problem.

MKG would have to develop some kind of shot, any kind of shot to be a SG, Sefolosha and Tony Allen can at least make a corner 3. MKG struggles to hit an open 15 footer. He can get away with that as a SF but it would be mighty tough to get away with that as a starting SG. Id prefer Mcdermott to come off the bench and give a big time scoring punch.

Well we have a 4 in McRoberts that plays like a ball-handling, three-point shooting SF anyway. He pretty much plays the role of a 3 as a 4. MKG would essentially play the role of a 4 on offense.

Even if we completely struck out on free agents and went into next season with Al/McBob/MKG/McDermott/Walker and Biz/Zeller/Tolliver/Hendo/[Ridnour? Sessions again? other?], we're in pretty good shape. That starting five could work. If we got a more traditional power forward that doesn't pass, handle, and shoot like McBob does, then MKG/McDermott would make less sense.

[MasterIchiro]

Starting McDermott with MKG is too unconventional for me to even believe Clifford would experiment it. I think it could work, but I seriously doubt it happens if McDermott is drafted by Charlotte

It's a total pipe dream.

[Snidely FC]

Year 1, McDermott comes off the bench. Year 2, McD replaces the expiring McBob on the roster. McD can play 3-4 in today's NBA. He's a tough dude. Seriously, watch him play.

[MasterIchiro]

I don't like him aside Al as an interior defender - at all.

The only way he fits is at SF and they're in the middle of a development project with MKG there. And there's no way they will shift MKG to another position before he even masters his first one. Then tell Gerald Henderson what? What's his role. Nobody accounts for him.

I don't like the idea of drafting a bench guy at 9 or 10.

They need to upgrade Henderson, or trade up for a real PF like Randle. Hell I would prefer Vonleh to any of these experiments.

[MasterIchiro]

I don't want it to happen (so it will) but I suspect they will draft a player who can take Gerald Henderson's place in 2 years and that will be Gary Harris. Vonleh would be gone before that plus I don't think they're willing to go halfway with Zeller. I'm not saying I agree with any of this but this is a conservative, calculating group so creative thinking fans who want to experiment with this and that or prospect hunt for major upside are going to be disappointed when it comes to players like LaVine and Young and McDermott.

[MasterIchiro]

Our only hope is if teams drafting before Cho take these more projectable players like Harris and force Cho to do something more unorthodox. It's like their playbook is etched in stone and they're reading letter for letter word for word from the script. It's becoming too predictable.

[Snidely FC]

I would happily plug McDermott in at SG ahead of Hendo. For how that would look, refer to Kyle Korver. 6'8" SG? Yes, please.

McD is an outstanding team defender. Off-the-charts BBIQ. If you think he's a project, watch him play.

[MasterIchiro]

Does McDermott play any SG in college? The transition matters and you want to keep things as familiar as possible if you expect to optimize development (see "Project Stretch Zeller").

This is not what I want or how I plan it but this is what I predict you will see:

2014-2015 Charlotte Hornets

Kemba Walker-PG
Gerald Henderson-SG
Luol Deng-SF
Josh McRoberts-PF
Al Jefferson-C

2nd unit

Luke Ridnour-PG/Christon
Gary Harris-SG/Neal
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist/Taylor
Cody Zeller-PF/Tolliver
Bismack Biyombo-C

[MasterIchiro]

That keeps them winning and generating enough revenue to survive with the goal of (when Big Al, Henderson, McRoberts and Deng move on):

Kemba Walker-PG
Gary Harris-SG
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist-SF
Cody Zeller-PF
Bismack Biyombo-C

The only thing missing from the future roster right now is a young SG. They like these versatile all-around 2-way players and high character guys. Cho was all over Big Ten play last year scouting Zeller and he just appeared on that list of scouts for the MSU vs. Michigan game.

It will be Harris imo.

[Snidely FC]

I hope you're wrong that they draft Harris. He's a Hendo clone.

BTW Ichiro, are you at all worried that now that DET has an uphill climb to make the playoffs, they have gone into tank mode in order to keep their pick this year?

[MasterIchiro]

I'm not worried because the base of personnel they have to work with is so much different from the Blazers. Their foundation (J. Smith + Jennings) is just so flawed. It's like a bed of limestone beneath the ground in Florida, absorbing dubious amounts of acidified precipitation with no end to unchecked fossil fuel burning and CO2 emissions in sight. In other words, it's a sinkhole waiting to happen.

[MasterIchiro]

I hope I'm wrong (about Harris) as well. But this front office seems to lean towards drafting players with higher floors over higher ceilings. If you look at that future roster, you get my point. Even Kemba had a high floor.

[catch20two]

Please say no to Gary Harris and his streaky shooting. He's not a pure shooter. That would be a waste of a draft pick. I'd probably rather see Hendo for the next 2-3 years until his contract expire.

[MasterIchiro]

I think the idea will be to draft Gary Harris to play him behind Hendo for the next 2 years while hoping to improve his consistency, groom him behind other players just as they are doing with Biz and Zeller and probably hope they can do with MKG if you look at his minutes. All their draft picks are slow movers.

[Eoghan]

Well we have a 4 in McRoberts that plays like a ball-handling, three-point shooting SF anyway. He pretty much plays the role of a 3 as a 4. MKG would essentially play the role of a 4 on offense.

Even if we completely struck out on free agents and went into next season with Al/McBob/MKG/McDermott/Walker and Biz/Zeller/Tolliver/Hendo/[Ridnour? Sessions again? other?], we're in pretty good shape. That starting five could work. If we got a more traditional power forward that doesn't pass, handle, and shoot like McBob does, then MKG/McDermott would make less sense.

I would happily plug McDermott in at SG ahead of Hendo. For how that would look, refer to Kyle Korver. 6'8" SG? Yes, please.

McD is an outstanding team defender. Off-the-charts BBIQ. If you think he's a project, watch him play.

You guys are on the same page. Stop being bogged down with position labels and look at the skill sets.

Kemba: Co-primary scorer, good defender, decent shooter, primary ballhandler
MKG: Defends multiple positions, slasher, glue guy, decent ballhandler
McBob: Primary ballhandler, decent shooter, facilitator
Al: Primary scorer, dominates inside, ball dominant
Doug: Great shooter, decent defender, moves without ball, facilitator.

Ignore the labels and all the skill sets are balanced out. MKG and Doug would be interchangeable on the wings.

Gary Harris sucks, he's a homeless Bradley Beal. I'd honestly would rather have Smart than Harris. Streaky, poor athlete, overrated defender.

[MasterIchiro]

For the record, I don't like Harris at all but I think with his high floor and low ceiling he's the kind of safe pick that fits their drafting profile. They knew Kemba could handle the ball, they knew Biz could rebound and protect the rim, they knew MKG could defend and that Cody Zeller excelled in transition for a big man. They cling to one safe quality.

I just don't see their development project with MKG involving any type of experimentation. He's getting 25 minutes, only 9 more than Zeller, at his natural position as it is. I don't see them shifting him and him outplaying Gerald Henderson to the point where MKG replaces him on the pecking order at that poition. You could very well draft McDermott and be married to Gerald Henderson all over again once you attempt to move MKG to a new position.

I specifically don't like how Gary Harris can't create his own shot and does not have the athleticism to develop a game above the rim at the next level. He's one of those "fit" guys. They like how he fits into a team plan on offense and defense and willingly trade off individual talent for that more system oriented player on both ends.

I would much prefer James Young and again my top choice is Lance Stephenson for Gerlad's spot.

There will be 16 M in cap space and before the deadline the front office in shopping Gordon + the Blazers pick alluded to using that cap space and with Al Jefferson signing for big money and the new logo coming to spearhead a rebranding campaign, I believe those rumors to be true - they will spend that cap space.

I think it will be spent on Lance Stephenson or Luol Deng.

If it's Harris they end up drafting, they'll push for Deng or Evan Turner (SF)

If Vonleh is there, they will push for Lance.

Lance/Vonleh vs. Harris/Deng or Harris/Turner (SF)

My preference is Lance/Randle but it's not going to happen. In fact I think Vonleh will be gone and Randle will not be made available or that Cho would prefer to select Harris while pocketing the Blazers pick rather than move up to take Randle. They really like McRoberts and just drafted Zeller.

[Eoghan]

I don't see how playing McDermott and MKG together would be an experiment. The only reason MKG plays fewer minutes is b/c in close games he's a liability in the 4th quarter b/c of his FT shooting. But Hendo brings way less to the team than McDermott would, he can't shoot threes, he stops the ball and he can't pass. Hendo's the odd man out and with his game he should be coming off the bench as a 6th man to do his Kobe imitation anyway. McDermott fills in more holes which leads to a much better team through the first 3 quarters, marginalizing the need to bench MKG in the 4th. (MKG should improve his FT shooting in the offseason at least, his shot isn't that bad).