Off-season is over, time to for a new thread to share our collective misery in
Reminder this thread is for anything Hornets related not worthy of its own thread
Do we think Thor will sign a new contract soon, a la Bryce? He has this season and the next to run. He’s 21, so the same age as Mark, one year older than Miller & Bryce and one year younger than LaMelo. Fits right in with our young group and can replace the wife beater’s minutes when he agrees to a trade at the deadline.
I’m not sold on Thor yet. His defense seemed to drop off a bit last season from where it was his first year. That’s his primary skill and I don’t view him as elite in that category at this point. And until he can consistently knock down open 3s, he’s a fringe rotation guy for me.
Agree with the fringe rotation take, based on last season, but similar can be said of Bryce. And that’s the sort of contract I’m thinking about. Solid money, but nothing that compels a coach to play him or hurts the cap. I’d certainly like to have Thor for more than just this and next season. 3 year extension at 3-4 per … something like that.
I think with Thor we should extend him right now for cheapest possible before he shows the world how good of a glue guy he is.
Still very very young. Think he has good upside.
Especially since Bouk and Kai are most likely not getting an extension this season.
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I’ll take it. Looks like Miller time.
Two weeks ago I thought this team could be pretty deep, except for PG which had me aggravated.
Now I’m worried about all 5 positions. It’s same old Hornets.
C We have Richards but if either C goes down I guess it’s small ball and L’s. Lots of speculation on team forums about a Biyombo return…oh my, biiiig stretch and oh, Yaaawwn; Mitch is in his jammies still.
PF Thor - we going to count on JT Thor? You can’t count on JT Thor.
SF Whoops looks like Miller is starting again. Looking for a backup……still looking. There may be one available if the NBA will let him play, though it looks like his own team’s fans hope they don’t. Fans REALLY don’t want to see or hear anymore about Miles Bridges. This is going to get awkward isn’t it?
SG McGowens is a poor 3 pt. shooter and still mostly lost, but he’ll have to do.
PG Ball has to play 48x82. There is no one else. Good job Mitch.
This is our missing depth:
Maledon - out for now. Not great anyway.
Martin - chronic. Looks like sunk cost.
Bouknight - long term injury. Will likely never play for Hornets again.
Miller - inevitably starting for Hayward
Bridges - we’re investigating
Kai Jones - jumped off a Cliff, lost forever.
Ntilikina - this one is healthy, which is great for him but not great for the team
Smith Jr., Bailey - not ready this season; may never be.
Nnaji - is playing in Europe for some reason.
Mensah, Hunter - waiver candidates.
Just when I felt the first taste of a little optimism…I was ready to smash the over on the hornets line of 31.5 wins set by Vegas…
-Kai has some sort of emerging mental health crisis: waived
-Bouk is out with injury
-Miles reminds us all he has not learned from any of this and has no remorse
It’s all setting up for another hornets meltdown.
This team is so screwed at the backup PG spot. So screwed. They needed to keep DSJ so badly.
The guy I’ve wanted for a few years now is Cam Payne, but he took less money to go with the Bucks. Smart guy.
I’m also a Mavs fan. Frank is horrible, and I cannot believe this is the answer. His shooting and offense will make DSJ look like a really good scorer.
Lastly, slightly better shooting (slightly) coming from Theo. I remember him having a very good synergy with Mark Williams.
3…2…
Hornets to address guard depth, sign Kevin Porter Jr.
I know you’re kidding, but I walk away from the Hornets if they do this. It’s one thing for a franchise to support their own woman beater, which I wish they hadn’t done, but quite another to add a second one of these scumbags to the roster. I’m 99.9% sure they won’t do this, they simply can’t.
I honestly don’t think it’s all doom and gloom. Giving Gordon maintenance days should have been done and it gives Miller more time. Hell that’s a plus to me, Gordon hasn’t been that great anyways.
Backup PG and a veteran big are still needed, but this time last year no one expected DSJ to be anything and we all said similar things. Maybe Frank can be competent enough for 7 minutes a half that it’ll be ok.
Like I said earlier, I think Nick Smith Jr has a chance to pass McGowens for backup minutes at the 2 if he doesn’t get it together. He can score at a high level and can be instant offense.
JT Thor looks like he is really working hard and if his 3 ball is consistent I think he will be a fine backup at the 4 spot
Bench
PG Frank
SG Smith Jr/McGowens
SF Miller
PF Thor
C Richards
Cliff will usually play 8-9 guys nightly so I think we are OK and that doesn’t include Miles, which at this point anything he gives to me is unexpected and a bonus on the court, current issues not withstanding.
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Good post, as usual, and I think the bench you list highlights the need for Cliff to stagger his line-ups. The lack of shooting for that group really is quite stark. That said, there’s some good size, length and D there. I’d feel so much better with a fit Cody in that group.
Finally, assuming Frank is in the rotation, I’d hope he plays most of his minutes in the first half. A priority, if the game allows it, should be to keep Terry as fresh as possible for the fourth quarter. Let’s play to Terry’s strengths via considered rotations.
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Solid posts as always guys. At this point, I’m not counting on the guy who I’m done even naming to even play this year.
So I’m going to move on to the bench.
The bench looks rough. From a shooting perspective. To start, I’m going to say something I’m starting to feel pretty confident about. Cody Martin may be done guys. Everything from day one has been bad news about his knee. Reminds me of Lonzo Ball’s journey with his injury problems. In addition to the other guy I alluded to above, I’m also counting out Cody Martin.
About the shooting: the bench shooting will not be good, but it’ll only be salvageable if Miller can hit around 38% and Thor shows that clear improvement. If so, now we’re talking. Still won’t be a great shooting bench, but it won’t be atrocious.
Smith Jr, Miller, and Thor all have the capacity to be good shooters, but yes they definitely have to prove it.
And yes, I agree that some staggering definitely needs to occur. I don’t think any Dean Smith style substitutions does anyone good. Lol
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Not a hornets stat and more of a general NBA factoid here, but I had to share.
There was a stretch last season where Ben Simmons made 1 free throw in a span of 16 games. This is while he was a full rotation player, and not missing games/playing a few minutes. Not only is he still scared to get fouled, he still can’t make a FT.
Guys I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, how the f*ck does anyone build a roster around that? Woof.
Anyways, carry on.
I agree that the protracted nature of Cody’s injury, the lack of updates, and lack of a clear timeline for his return is very concerning and does give Lonzo vibes. It looks like he’ll be back at some point, but I think it is definitely fair to wonder how much we’re going to get from him this season.
Without Miles or PJ coming off the bench… we ain’t winning 31 games… I wasted a lot of money
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Unless Miller grows up quick… this is one of the worst benches in the league.
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