After a night sleeping on it, I think its safe to say most of us feel, at best, like we’re in that period of waiting to see your medical test results, or whether you passed a big exam, or if you got the job you applied for. The terrible queasy feeling of limbo.
This is at best. Part of it is the Duren/Williams pairing. We made a choice, we hope its not an Okafor/Howard path, or Duren isn’t Bam 2.0. And if not the Center choice, we hope Griffin isn’t a new Jimmy Butler or Booker, or Eason isn’t that ultimate 3 and D guy we’ve been coveting, and that McGowens can actually make the roster some day.
Maybe we actually did pick the 2 best of all of the above, but until we see it, that impending sense of “what the fuck did we do” will hang for the next few years.
But… I promise this isn’t one of those justification speeches (no excuse not to squeeze as much value out of 13 as possible), but - this is the most talent the Hornets have ever assembled since the new inception.
- One actual bona fide superstar to build around.
- A former all-star who, when/if healthy, will help the team a lot.
- A burgeoning star who’s added to his game every year, who I think has the skills to do everything on the court, and who’s prime hasn’t even hit yet.
- A tough, hard nose scorer who has some go-to, late game closing skills.
- A young, Swiss army type defender and scorer, who’s skills fit really well with the team.
- An erratic long shooter, who when on, can light any defense up and change the course of the game.
- A rugged defender that can impact games, who can also hit 3s pretty decently
Then there’s the young guys who seem to have more promise than most rookies during the Bobcats error. I have most faith in Kai right now - yes, its mostly a vibe, but his energy and passion, which normally isn’t ever enough, combined with his sheer size, skill set, and athleticism, I think it will come together. I have faith in him. Thor seems like the perfect modern wing stopper, but he has offensive skills too. Bouk has a ton of talent, he showed how good he can be when he was in the rotation. Just consistency and getting rid of youthful mistakes, I think he’s in the mix. And adding the really really huge Mark Williams, who if he can impact the court anything like Jarrett Allen, would be huge for us. Plus he has a much better shot than Allen, so his potential can reach even higher than that if things go together.
So yes, we absolutely could’ve handled assets better yesterday. But we do have a noticeable collection of talent, even if it doesn’t fit perfectly right now. I guess I don’t feel its the end of the world for the team yet, even though that chance will always exist as long as Hornets Law reigns supreme.