Was posted on Barstool Sports earlier on Sat and then deleted… I realize its just a shoot around and it means absolutely nothing (and he’ll likely go off on us anytime we play) BUT still…
https://twitter.com/Vator_H_Town/status/1672741520867315714?s=20
There’s a small part of me that wonders if Wemby can actually live up to the hype. I do also look at the long list of 7’0+ players who struggled with injury. Well, Dirk was pretty reliable and played forever. But there’s just a lot of those big guys who physically couldn’t hold up.
Let me be crystal clear: I’m not cheering for this kid’s career demise. So don’t get it twisted. Holy moly. But…
I am interested in the narrative that this kid doesn’t pan out as expected, and doesn’t live up to the hype. I’m not cheering for anyone to be a “bust”, but it would be one of the most profound basketball disappointments ever.
https://www.si.com/nba/hornets/news/hornets-extend-qualifying-offers-to-bridges-washington-maledon
Might not be in the right thread but Miles, PJ and Theo got qualifying offers today.
Ha…I did love me some Nik Staukas. My predictions on his career definitely went wide right.
Thomas Robinson was can’t miss for me. Dude was jacked and looked ready to terrorize teams for years.
That career did not pan out.
I was very keen on Wiseman.
Up until last year dudes were talking about trading a bust - Wiseman - for Melo an all star. I may say some crazy crap from time to time but never anything to THAT level. Do you remember all of the trade Melo talk from two weeks ago? To quote the late great Whitney Houston: “Crack is Whack”!
I wanted Hezonja I do remember that
No, nobody did that.
Yes, a few people did that.
And to the people that want to give up on Lamelo, I really think you will change your mind this season
I don’t think anyone here wants to give up on Lamelo.
95% of that talk was a trip in the “what if” machine on a sports message board. I didn’t read those as serious or giving up on Melo. Just a “what could another iteration of the roster look like”?
My position from the beginning is that if this year isn’t a major leap for this team, he gone.
It still is
I think some folks take things literal and read conversational things and repeat them verbatim. Or look at statements/sentiments and apply an all or nothing filter to them.
We can talk about trading Melo and not mean we’re give up on him.
We can talk about not wanting to pay Miles Bridges or not really wanting him on the team without meaning he’s a bad player or just not very good. I can see miles as less than an all star/borderline all star, but doesn’t mean I see him as a bad player.
And then what? A total rebuild from scratch?
I know a lot was based on the idea of drafting Scoot, then if he and Melo don’t work, you trade Melo.
I never liked that idea, because even if, for the sake of the argument, Scoot is a better player than Miller, I think the tandem of Melo/Miller has a higher ceiling than Scoot + whatever pieces you would trade Melo for. And that risk was not worth it for me.
(Though I did think Melo/Scoot would work out great if Scoot took a Kemba 3 point leap. But another big if.)
This just feels like a trauma response to me. And I get it because of all the traumas the Hornets have placed on us. But I don’t get the Harden/Kyrie/Durant diva vibes from Melo at all. He has more the chill Giannis/Dame/Beal kinda personality, so we can’t assume he wants out until he makes the actual request.
Prefer to live in the moment and enjoy it rather than have the constant worry about a what if.
Well there’s a subsection of us that already wants a small rebuild in the present moment. Not everyone here wants to roll with all of the same players from the past 3-4 seasons.
Take me, I only care about Melo, Miller, Mark. And I don’t think overpaying PJ, Miles, and rozier is the right surrounding cast.
I thought it was commonly known you need a minimum of two stars to make any sort of noise in this league. We have drafted two all stars since the franchise returned in 2004, it feels absolutely absurd to me we are already talking about trading one of those two players we have drafted. Especially one that seems decently happy here and would like to win here. There is zero way you trade LaMelo and end up a better team right away.
What you’re saying isn’t crazy at all. I think the common sense approach is building around LaMelo/Miller/Mark. I don’t think it’s unforeseen you can prioritize their development while also being a scrappy team that at a minimum is in play in contention.
I’m sorry, all the trade LaMelo shit is incredibly reactionary to me. I get the health concerns but he seems to legitimately like Charlotte and he makes the game easier for everyone he plays with. That is massive when trying to develop all the young players that we currently are. You give it 2-3 more years minimum unless he asks out which I truly don’t see happening.
We’re not talking about trading LaMelo. Nobody on here wants to. No one.
There was a scenario, which was discussed, where we drafted Scoot and he and LaMelo didn’t work out. It was a hypothetical situation.
The only other scenario where LaMelo leaving the franchise has been discussed was if we weren’t competitive enough. He could then push for a trade, having already signed his rookie max deal. Another hypothetical situation.
Nobody wants to trade LaMelo.
Also, part of my sentiment about clearing out other guys not named Melo, Mark, and Brandon is for pragmatic reasons.
Namely, Melo is about to sign a 200-240m contract next year.
I don’t disagree with this. I think Melo will certainly start to get antsy if we aren’t able to at least establish ourselves as a playoff team this year. But it seems to me that the best strategy of securing that outcome is to hold on to proven vets like Terry and re-signing at least a couple of our current FAs.
I know you’ve not necessarily been in favor of doing that so how do you reconcile the concern over Melo’s flight risk with jettisoning FAs and higher salaried vets?