For those of you who wanted to draft Ace Bailey, do the early returns make you feel any better?
Salaun assigned to the G League.
Salaun has had his moments so far. Iām still not a fan, but Iām trying. He had an efficient game one and then it seemed to slowly taper off back to the usual. Heās still shooting in the mid 30s for his field goal percentage. Close to league worst efficiency (again).
Hereās where Iāll let my southern side show. Salaun is a āoh bless his heartā player. Meaning, I love that he is willing to work hard and has a great energy on the floorā¦but if often doesnāt amount to much. He has a high motor but still doesnāt seem to have a feel for what to do and where to be.
Until that clicks for him and he can be a more efficient, diverse scorerā¦I fear itāll be a short lived NBA tenure.
Iām not writing him off. Heās still so young. If we get to the end of this season and he still hasnāt made much discernible progress-for how long can we say āoh yes young itāll take timeāā¦and actually belief that to be true?
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I think this is a perfect evaluation of Salaun. I want him to succeed so badly because of his work ethic and energy, but he still has a long ways to go to be more than hustle guy.
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He will play in November
See the Game Thread for NOP. Strangely, what I pulled from Yahoo! Sports shows LaMelo, Grant, and Josh as day-to-day - the Grant there shocked me. I thought he was a January hopeful but that reads far sooner
Did the organization ever say what shoulder injury Josh had? I know he had surgery. Just couldnāt find what the injury was.
Grant was practicing with the team as a small ball 5 in training camp so I had the sense it was more end of Nov early Dec. But sending Salaun to G League would suggest it may be sooner?
Reasonable take. Makes the Salaun move a little more palatable for all parties too since it would be from the stand point of a solid veteran needing to play more as much as a young kid needs to develop.
Thatās a good point GB24. For some reason I hadnāt made that connection. I think you might be correct there
Iāve been unable to watch all of the games so far. Is the following fair to say?
The Hornets came out on opening night and applied a high octane, attack mode personality, showing off depth, youthful energy, and ball movement. āListen up, NBA. If youāre going to beat us, youāll need to score 130.ā
Unfortunately, the Hornets have not been able to maintain that identity in the midst of the NBA grind.
From what Iāve seen and read, too many times an average to below average Hornet player ends up playing one-on-one ball while the rest of the team stands around. I get thatās what the modern NBA is to some degree. And perhaps thatās the result of the initial offensive play failing. But even with LaMelo and Miller out, we have plenty of guard/wings. It just seems like standing around is not the best strategy for this crew. Keep it moving, I say.
And yes, to some degree you need solid to defense to start fast break basketball like we had on opening night, but I want us to be a team that, when scored upon, immediately attacks on the other end. Perhaps that would require a little more substituting/platooning to maintain over 82 games.
I admit I havenāt seen enough of the games. So please correct me if Iām wrong. Iād love to hear you guysās opinions.
Im curious what the Upper management will do if another season is lost to injuries from multiple starters (ball,Bmill).only so many times you can punt on the season. Would they tear it all down trade ball and possibly miller and start over??
I donāt envy their decision making on this. But I do think if Melo misses extensive time and you can get a good trade for him, you do it.
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This is where Iām at. I give Miller more time. But, as much as I like LaMelo, Iām at the edge of my tolerance for the missed games. I wouldnāt oppose trading him now if you get a good return.
Edit: fair return
Iāve been saying this for two years
IMO the FO wouldnāt be too upset to be in the lottery again this year but they would have to move into the playoff convo the following year.
Reminder that Lamelo Ball is 24 so itās not like we are up against father time.
With health they will be in play in this year. But that health thing seems unlikely
The can has been kicked down the road long enough
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