2022 Draft: Who you like?

I don’t think too many people are advocating using both picks to dump Hayward into, like, Portland’s cap space for no return. I do think it makes a lot of sense to use at least one of those picks plus some veteran salary (doesn’t have to be Hayward, but there’s smoke that he wants a change) to re-balance the roster and get a guy who’ll hopefully be available come the postseason.

Outside of LaMelo, LaMelo’s Friend Miles, and MAYBE Terry (I’ll forever be a Terry Guy) everybody and all the picks should be available to some degree.

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Lottery gods look kindly on us tonight please :raised_hands:

4 Likes

Another jump-10 would be kind.

We don’t want picks we don’t want Hayward. We don’t want Terry we want a true 3andD Guy. Terry is one of the best catch and shoot guys in the game.
We got people who want to give up both picks and Hayward for a bag of chips. I have been down this road many times and if we screw up now I will be dead be for we get this close again. Me I think we need to use our two best trade chips Plumlee and Oubre and at most one draft pick to pick up a key contributor. A Bamba , Mitchell Claxton type. I am glad Mitch is still around so we don’t get screwed so bad . On draft picks on trades and even on the Hayward issue. The reason i liked JB was because he said we was trying to build a culture not just a team. I hope the next coach continues that. Hayward will at worst could be key coming off the bench and contribute. Hayward to me is a slight plus value adding two draft picks to him is very native value unless it’s for a all star. In no way Hayward is that bad.
Me i like Mark Williams he reminds me of a poor mans ZO. Shoots the free through at a decent clip. Protects the paint , Blocks shots and can run the floor. Rebounds. With the other pick the best 3 and D guy we could get.Last Improve the roster with Plunlee and Oubre both have very good contracts

Gots to shoot for stars in a scenario like we are in right now. We will be more likely to get a major impact player_star with 2 picks at 13/15 than using them as bait.

But with all of the “moving the chips all-in” talk, it doesn’t seem like we have the patience for 2 more rookies

What kind of chips? “2 years, 61 millions dollars” flavored? Or “only going to play 30 games a season” flavored? Both delicious flavors.

Ah, you got me excited with the chips talk earlier. And still going with more chip talk, but trade chips this time.

You had me at chips and Mo Bamba.

Talked myself into Mark Williams

At the risk of becoming Bill Simmons and basing my pick off one game, Williams dominated the Arkansas game in the first half

He’s definitely the best fit, that’s projected to be in our range. I do wonder how we’d develop both Mark Williams and Kai though?

Is it a competition between those two for starter/bench minutes, with Richards as emergency backup? If that’s the case, then we can’t be starting the season with a ‘playoff or bust mandate’.

Or are they both fighting for bench/g-league minutes behind a Bamba or Claxton?

I like Williams, but it’s tough to see how we’d fit another young centre into the rotation unless we’re happy to call off the search for a starting vet at the position.

Indeed, he is. I don’t think anyone’s disputing that. But that wasn’t the point that I or others were making.

If we assume that LaMelo and Miles are our core players moving forwards, it behoves us to find the right fit to operate between them at SG. Terry is a good player, just not a good fit in our starting group. We need a plus defender in there somewhere and, for all Terry’s many strengths, defending is not one of them.

That’s why I reiterated my preference for Moody in the previous draft and my belief that Terry is ideally suited to the 6th man role. Moody would have fit alongside Terry, he would have fit alongside LaMelo. If we’d drafted him, I would be very happy with LaMelo, Terry & Moody as our heavy minute Guards. But we didn’t, we drafted another 6th man style SG who doesn’t fit alongside Ball or Terry. I just don’t see how we can persist with Terry and Bouknight on the roster. In my humble opinion, one of them needs to be traded and a 3&D SG brought in. But acknowledging that doesn’t prevent me from also liking Terry, and Bouknight for that matter, too.

Lots of people penciling in Kai as. C only. I think his quickness and versatility in transition make him more of a 4/5 hybrid at this point, but until he shoots 35%+ from 3, it will be tough for him to share the floor with a traditional C.

Reports are that Kai is now 235, think he came into league at 205?. Big improvement, he looks bigger, more confident.

I mean, there IS a chance that he is a 4/5 hybrid C and maybe even capable of logging some big minutes as early as next season. Whoever the new coach is will probably identify him early on as one of our top pieces.

The perfect center these days is a switchable center, seems Kai has some solid peremeter d skills too.

This is to say that I am BPA still, we aren’t good enoguh to draft for fit yet. Need to make sure we get the most talent we can get regardless of position.

Drafting a 1 position center is typically the most wasteful pick you can make in this era that we are in so I am hesitant.

I’m thinking Kai is potentially more of a 4 than a 5 from what I’ve seen. He seems to do better in space and seems to “shrink” when things get tight. Maybe more experience will help with that.

I bet he’s one of those guys in the draft that some team will reach and draft him earlier than expected.

Tell me please who this great three and D guy is that is going to take us to the eastern conference finals. That Hayward and our draft picks is going to net us .
I will make it easy what player are we getting. Who what type? I will buy those chips.
With a traded Hayward tell me one way we going to have the money to sign Melo. I will buy those chips two. Or are we going to sell chips to sign Melo. May be we should let Melo walk. Or we could let Miles walk and use that money to sign Melo.
I don’t understand? Please explain how you plan to keep both players and sign all these other guys.

This is my favorite period of NBA draftness - when everyone starts to move around mock draft boards like crazy. I always want to capture mocks as they fly so I can watch guys ascend and descend and end up getting drafted where the original consensus (pre lottery night) had them.

If you want something entertaining, go look at NBADraft.net’s mock history. It’s easy to find some “are you serious” stuff in there but give them a TON of credit for being one of the only mock draft providers that show their historical work.

Buckle up. This should be fun. And for the record, I am all for using our draft assets to get a true 3&D Wing that has enough NBA mileage that we don’t question if he’s 3&No or 0&D.

  1. I don’t really know what you’re talking about. I think you’ve locked into one small thing I’ve said and are missing me.
  2. All I want to do is unload Hayward to better accommodate Miles new max or near max contract
  3. With Hayward’s contract gone, in addition to cap flexibility for Miles, it would allow the Hornets to sign lesser role guys I’d like to have back like Cody Martin and Jalen McDaniels. These are cheaper deals, but still cost money.
  4. All I said is that it would be ideal if we had a taller, rangy 3andD guy. I love Terry, and he’s probably not going anywhere
  5. The guy I really want is Mo Bamba. Who will cost, but isn’t going to be more than 15m a season most likely. Anyone here knows that I won’t shut the fuck up about Mo Bamba.

This might be good news for you. Me too .A rumor I just read Is . Charllotte is interested in MO . The offer I read is Oubre’s contract and the 15th pick . Sense the Magic is in a full rebuild their is some good wings in that range . Most likely a big going first. MO 's offer sheet has to work so we might need to add a filler.
My thoughts on Hayward is we got to have the money to resign Melo no matter what. Hayward money does that along with what he makes now. I all so feel we have to resign Bridges because of Melo. So if we have to let a smaller contract walk we have to do it. We have up to 4o million to get this done this year . But our number one move has to be signing Bridges and Melo. And hope we could get Mo second . Bad thing now is Hayward has a negative contract and will be hard to move money wise. Hayward can be our sixth man I don’t want another Batum buy out contract.

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Melo is so important to re sign, I haven’t even mentioned it because it’s not even worth talking about. Taking care of Melo after his rookie contract to the Hornets is like breathing is to being alive.

Fortunately, we have a few years left on his rookie deal. But yes, the angling starts now.

And I certainly don’t think there is going to be a certain, magical player that comes in and unlocks this team. This team has a litany of problems including, coach, personnel, front office future, financial/salary cap. I mean, there’s a lot on the line right now.

And one player won’t solve it.

Other than Mo Bamba.( I’m jk)

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I want to come out of this off season with a center better than a guy one of the worst teams in the league is letting walk. I think that it’s OK to trade one or even both picks for that.

If the team keeps the picks I lean towards 3&D types or getting Melo a good young backup. OK with Mark Williams, but think that the team is better served by trying to trade for a center or get a good free agent rather than drafting another young guy. Still have long term hopes for Kai as a center.

I’d do that without hesitation. Obviously there’s a contract to consider, but unless he’s asking silly money I think that’s a very reasonable price to pay for a young centre with absolutely freakish measurables, who can hit the 3, hit his free throws and protect the rim. He lacks a bit at the rim on offence, but I would like to think a bit of physical maturity and knowhow will help improve that.

The other side of this is, if he doesn’t pan out and Kai overtakes him then we haven’t given up so much that it hurts. All in if it’s 15 & Oubre.