Will MKG be the centerpiece? Or is it Kemba?

[kd35sneighbor]

Will MKG be the guy this team is centered around like Tim Duncan, silent type but leads by example, or will it be Kemba, the star PG who runs every play like Rose (not saying he's as good, just saying the game plan is mostly through him thus making him the leader like Rose).

Every team has a leader, even the team oriented ones like the Spurs. So who will it be for Charlotte? Obviously numbers say MKG is wrecking it with those sky high PER... but will it realistically last all season? Kemba has been the more consistent one in terms of stats.

Who will be the face of the franchise? Or is that guy not on this team yet? What do you guys think?

[HornetJail]

Too early to tell IMO. In the long run, I honestly think our best player may not even be on the roster yet. (Zeller? Maybe even Wiggins in 2014?)

No way MKG's stats will be this high all season, unless he's primed to be an absolute superstar. He's barely 19 and still has quite a bit to improve on.

Be scared.

[thruthefire]

MKG hasn't done anything that could be characterized as a fluke or a hot streak. I bet his numbers will be very good for the entire season, perhaps get even better as the season progresses.

As far as the centerpiece thing goes, it's much easier to build around a guy like MKG than Kemba, if for nothing else than size. But I'm not sure this discussion is all that important... we're obviously trying to build with both of these guys.

[catch20two]

I think we they will probably parallel in importance like Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton did for the Detroit Pistons during their playoff runs of the mid 2000's. I can also see us adding a couple more pieces and develop a well rounded core similar to the current Memphis Grizzlies with Mike Conley Jr., Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol.

[HornetJail]

I will be very disappointed if MKG turns out to be Rip Hamilton. In his prime, I think MKG's OFFENSE might rival Rip's. Let's not even get into defense. We might have a perennial All-Star on our hands right now.

[Liver_Pooty]

Gilchrist is going to be alot better than Hamilton was, especially on the defensive end.

[catch20two]

I wasn't saying that MKG's game will parallel Rip's. They are two totally different players. But I hope that MKG can reach at least about the same amount of success over his career as Rip did. Come on now, Rip was a 3x All Star.

[lmcguir5]

Kemba is the true leader of this team right now because he leads by action. MKG is too quiet to be the centerpiece, but he's definitely a significant contributor. I think these two guys are great scaffolds to build around and we can be good for years to come in the near future.

[fatlever]

ideally we dont build the team around either. both are complimentary players on a championship team.

[Liver_Pooty]

ideally we dont build the team around either. both are complimentary players on a championship team.

I may have to disagree with you there. I probably have higher hopes for Kidd-Gilchrist than most, but I think he can be "the man" on a great team in 3 years or so.

[catch20two]

ideally we dont build the team around either. both are complimentary players on a championship team.

This is where my feelings are and I am kind of inclined to agree but it's subject to change as they grow because I hope they both never cease to amaze me every season going forward.

[LamarMatic7]

ideally we dont build the team around either. both are complimentary players on a championship team.

I may have to disagree with you there. I probably have higher hopes for Kidd-Gilchrist than most, but I think he can be "the man" on a great team in 3 years or so.

I actually think that he has the exact strengths a second best player on a team has. I'm not seeing him ever being "the man", just because I don't think he'll be the guy who can get you a bucket when you need one in the last minute of the game. I see him becoming more of a Scottie Pippen, Shawn Marion type of player.

[Stun704]

Kemba will be the franchise player, MKG is a great glue guy that does all the right things, we need a SG that can spread the floor and is a great defender. we also need a inside post scorer.

[fatlever]

Kemba will be the franchise player, MKG is a great glue guy that does all the right things, we need a SG that can spread the floor and is a great defender. we also need a inside post scorer.

stun, do you really think a team can will a championship with kemba as the best player on the team?

there have only been two point guards in the past 42 years (maybe longer) who won rings as the alpha player on the team - magic johnson and isiah thomas. magic had 3-4 hall of famers next to him to help him and isiah had dumars, rodman, laimbeer, vinny, aguirre (5 all-star level players).

[doc.end]

Leader? Centerpiece? I would losely compare the dynmaics to OKC's Westbrook-Durant duo. Kemba has leading personality and will put himself in center of things (PGs have to some extent anyways), MKG is the better player (plain stats may not show that, the more advance stats you look at the better he looks). That's with MKG playing only 7 games in his career so that's hardly a relevant sample despite many encouraging things. And evaluating only what we have now - we should add another young building block by our picks, DET pick or even POT pick and fill the rest via cap space. Not comparing Kemba with Westbrook or MKG with Durant, but as we build the same way and they happen to play at same positions it is natural to compare us with what OKC has done. Mullens may evolve into more than he is as well, Biyombo too (our Ibaka type of player; Jeff is or Sefolosha) - neither should be the main star though. The main star is hopefully yet to be drafted.

[Stun704]

Kemba will be the franchise player, MKG is a great glue guy that does all the right things, we need a SG that can spread the floor and is a great defender. we also need a inside post scorer.

stun, do you really think a team can will a championship with kemba as the best player on the team?

there have only been two point guards in the past 42 years (maybe longer) who won rings as the alpha player on the team - magic johnson and isiah thomas. magic had 3-4 hall of famers next to him to help him and isiah had dumars, rodman, laimbeer, vinny, aguirre (5 all-star level players).

I don't know, I think its defiantly possible, in his second year Kemba has shown that he can create his own shot at will, and can play tenacious defense, is a great rebounder for his position, and can hit clutch shots to win us the game, he just needs to improve his passing into an elite level and he has all the makings of a potential superstar, IMO. Now the organization would have to make the decision to build around Kembas strengths and weakeness, i feel we already have a player that fits him perfectly in MKG, we just need a facilitating SG that can score at will and defend like Lamb could at uconn, and a post scorer. So yes I feel that a Kemba led team could become a contender

[Fred Williamson]

I don't think either of them has the quality to be such a player. We have to wait till the '13 draft of maybe a superstar signing through free agency if we're lucky. I can see Kemba being the 2nd option on a championship team though, if he continue to improve. Not sure about MKG.

[LamarMatic7]

Kemba will be the franchise player, MKG is a great glue guy that does all the right things, we need a SG that can spread the floor and is a great defender. we also need a inside post scorer.

stun, do you really think a team can will a championship with kemba as the best player on the team?

there have only been two point guards in the past 42 years (maybe longer) who won rings as the alpha player on the team - magic johnson and isiah thomas. magic had 3-4 hall of famers next to him to help him and isiah had dumars, rodman, laimbeer, vinny, aguirre (5 all-star level players).

Add Gus Williams from the '79 Sonics to that list. His surname does sound weird on that list along Magic and Isiah though.

[KembaWalker]

MKG is gonna be our Tim Duncan. the guy when everyone new to the team comes into their first practice and realizes its his team and youre either with him or you're on the way out

not only does he have the talent, he also wants to be that guy. he doesnt wanna be on commercials, he doesnt wanna be an entertainer and an icon you won't see him on the NBA Rooks show or on Letterman. He just wants to win basketball games

[catch20two]

Anything is possible. I used to be a Chauncey Billups fan when he came out of Colorado to the NBA before being moved around to 5 different teams and eventually landing with the Detroit Pistons where he became the best player and Finals MVP of a championship team. I didn't see that coming. I'm currently a big fan of Derrick Rose and have been following him since seeing him play in a AAU game against Tyreke Evans before leading Memphis to the NCAA Championship Game only to fail because he couldn't make FTs and then being drafted no. 1 overall to the Chicago Bulls where he was a passive PG that lacked the ability to takeover games and then 2 years later he broke out to become the league's MVP and arguably a top 5 player. With all of that said I'll reiterate that "anything is possible" if that given player has the heart, will, determination, and effort to become better and I don't think Kemba lack any of those traits. We never expect the unexpected but the unexpected does happen sometimes.

I can make the same comparison using Dwyane Wade as a unheralded rookie that couldn't shoot that eventually became a superstar with MKG but I'll save the narrative. I think everybody got the gist.