Amen to that. The rich always seem to get richer, without having to do much.
That said, I really don’t want a one-year-rental vet who would, essentially, artificially boost our win total for just one season. If they’ve got 3 years in the tank, I could be convinced.
Counter argument: can you recall one of these buyout guys being a true deciding factor in a championship run that has you substitued them with a vet min guy they wouldn’t have gotten to the finals?
These guys get bought out because literally nobody wants them on their current contract. Even the beals and Lillard’s aren’t getting you over the hump this year
I’m cool on the idea of Vuc. In terms of a trade, we can’t just offer 2nds and scraps. Vuc is set to make 21.5m this season. The Hornets would need to send money out. Lots of other reasons why neither side would make said trade.
In terms of Vuc as a buyout signing, but I’m just not wild about him as a player at this stage. He’ll be 35 at the start of the season. He was never a good defender, and now he has 35 year old legs.
But is he better than what we currently have? Yeah, but that’s a low bar. Would he help? Yeah I’d say so. Do I want to necessarily win more games this season? Again, yeah. Probably. Maybe not.
I just don’t think Vuc is particularly good at this stage, but if we got him on a smaller deal and he’s cool with playing like 20 minutes or so a night. Again, As @Mich_Mercer stated above: I’m sure Vuc will sign with the lakers or whatever
Hell yeah. Zach Lowe includes Brandon miller in his most intriguing players of the upcoming NBA season. Last year, Lowe selected mark Williams as his one of his 6 most intriguing players going into the season. The hornets/Miller discussion starts around 47:30 on the Spotify podcast. Highlights:
“This going nowhere for 5 years without Miller reaching all star status”
He gave props to Moussa.
He said “yes. There is a clear vision in charlotte.”
“Lamelo, I’ve always been higher on Lamelo. When he’s on the floor they’ve been able to win more games than given credit for. Given the talent around him, that’s not nothing.”
Anytime we get coverage or discussion that isn’t extremely negative, it’s worth it
That’s a fair point. A difference maker, no, but they do add some vet savvy and nous to a playoff rotation.
Vuc on the market might help our chances of getting Horford. I know he’s previously earned ring chasing status, but he’s past the point of really helping any team much on the court anymore. Even here, I’d prefer him as a backup (3rd sting preferably), but I’d more love to sign him for the locker room presence and leadership he can give the young players. I do think the Lee ties would help convince him, especially with it seeming no contenders have snapped him up yet.
Idk… I still see Ayton as both caliber young center, who the Lakers got for “free”. They had no room to do much at all so of course, he falls in their lap. It wouldn’t shock me if that was the plan all along, with LeBron running and ruining the league and everything.
Granted… Ayton can be lazy, but he still has too much upside to just be bought out to me.
Well d@mn you are on a roll - but this is not unexpected. I don’t think that I can buy into your 3rd string suggestion. I think that Ryan should ride the bench a lot so that his confidence won’t get too damaged in his first season.
Bringing in Big Al would also give us more credibility around the league and in the eyes of players.
I agree with you 100% on this. It feels like buyouts have just become a means to circumvent salary cap rules. The whole point of the cap is to maintain competitive balance and the buyout loophole seems to run counter to that by allowing teams that are over the cap to sign guys they never could have been able to sign outside of a buyout.
You’re right. I can’t recall this being the case up until now, but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t be. I think Beal to LAC could be one of those impactful moves that maybe gets them over the hump. They aren’t a contender just because of Beal, and agreed, no one wanted him at $50+ mil, but getting a guy of his caliber on a minimum salary, far below his market value, is a huge get for the Clips, especially in light of their other off-season additions. And we can say what we want about Ayton, but at $8mil per, he’s a great value for a team that, absent a buyout, would’ve never been able to afford him. Similarly, Vuc could absolutely be a difference maker on a contending team. All these guys are FAR better than your average vet minimum player. It just doesn’t seem right.
I think for any of these buyout guys, I love to see the league implement a rule that requires the team they sign with to have to be able to accommodate the full cap hit of their original deal, just like their previous team has to.
Have you looked at the Hornets’ roster lately? It’s weird, man. They have 18 guys under contract, and one of their two non-guaranteed deals belongs to Moussa Diabate, who could conceivably be their starting center. (The other belongs to DaQuan Jeffries.)
Charlotte got two second-round picks from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for taking on Pat Connaughton’s $9.4 million expiring contract. He’s as obvious a buyout candidate as there is in the league, but he hasn’t been bought out yet.
As well as being thin at center – besides Diabate, the options are veteran Mason Plumlee and No. 34 pick Ryan Kalkbrenner – the Hornets suddenly have a surplus of ballhandling guards: LaMelo Ball, the newly acquired Collin Sexton, the re-signed Tre Mann, the newly signed Spencer Dinwiddie and the returning Nick Smith Jr., plus their own summer league standout, KJ Simpson, on a two-way.
Charlotte could simply waive Connaughton, Smith and Jeffries in between now and opening night. If it doesn’t make a bigger move that happens to clear a roster spot, that is.
Source: Warriors and Knicks among six NBA teams with most offseason work left to do - CBS Sports
This FanDuel SB number seems up from a week ago where we were at 24.5 via DraftKings (according to a couple of podcast mentions). I feel like we’re bound to trend upward slightly approaching the season, more on par with the numbers these sportsbooks are associating with the Fears-led Pelicans (around 30ish). We do, in the end, play only 28 games against the West.
I realize I am a super homer wrt the Hornets but I can see a world where we’re in the low 30s wins this upcoming season. Where are you guys on an over/under with a hypothetical 31.5 win total?
I have a $5 bet for over 29 and a half wins at plus 280
Loving the optimism here!
I said there is more to come and I’m sticking to my guns.
Where did you get that? I love that
Draft kings
Thanks Homie
Sad face emoji
well shoot. I liked Jent. If he takes the job in New York, I hope he at least takes a Charlotte Hornets summer league champions t shirt with him. I’d expect that he could use it as inspiration for the Knicks team. Jent showing off his championship hardware, since they got rings for the summer league win lol
