Anybody have access to ESPN+? Wondering what they think.
I will take a guess here but there is at least one mention of the threat of him leaving
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So no Tier 1 pros coming out of this last draft? Cool cool, cool
As Mike Schmitz and I detailed last month, Ball looks like the kind of star talent whoās been in short supply in Charlotte since the Hornets returned to the NBA in 2004. Now comes the tricky part: building around Ball.
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Charlotte is well positioned in a couple of ways. The Hornets have all their first-round picks going forward and a relatively clean cap sheet despite $9 million in dead salary from stretching Nicolas Batumās contract to sign Gordon Haywardlast fall. Charlotte projects to have more than $20 million in cap space this summer, although cap holds for restricted free agents Devonteā Graham ($4.8 million because he met the āstarter criteriaā to increase his qualifying offer) and Malik Monk($16 million) would cause the Hornets to act as an over-the-cap team unless Monkās rights are renounced.
On the other hand, Charlotte doesnāt figure to pay the luxury tax any time soon. In fact, the Hornets are one of two teams (along with the New Orleans Pelicans) never to pay the tax. So Charlotte has to carefully manage its cap sheet with an eye toward 2024, when Ball will complete his rookie contract and likely jump to a max salary. As a result, I wouldnāt recommend aggressively offering future first-round picks in trades for veterans now.
From a team-building standpoint, Ballās size presents the Hornets interesting opportunities. Already, Charlotte is playing the most zone defense in the NBA this season ā by a wide margin. In fact, the 15.4% of plays on which the Hornets are using zone, according to Synergy Sports tracking, are the most by a team it has tracked back through 2008-09, which is to say Charlotte is probably playing more zone than any team in modern NBA history.
Additionally, the Hornets are also switching the leagueās highest percentage of opponentsā on-ball screens (33%) per Second Spectrum tracking. Together, both defensive strategies favored by coach James Borrego call for similar skill sets: versatile, athletic big men and long, athletic perimeter players. Those arenāt necessarily skills youād associate with the current Charlotte roster.
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In part, Borrego has been able to compensate in the frontcourt with smaller lineups. P.J. Washington has split his minutes between power forward and center nearly evenly and the Hornets have outscored opponents by 3.4 points per 100 possessions when he plays center, per my analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats, as compared to a minus-2.4 net rating with Washington at power forward.
Going forward, Iād like to complement Washingtonās ability as a stretch-5 with a rim runner who can protect the rim. Kentuckyās Isaiah Jackson seems almost tailor-made to provide vertical spacing in pick-and-rolls with Ball while protecting the rim or switching out on guards defensively. Jackson, currently 15th in our top 100 rankings, figures to be right in Charlotteās draft range.
The more interesting and difficult questions for the Hornets center on their backcourt. Neither Graham nor fellow starter Terry Rozier, both 6-foot-1, is ideally suited for the kind of defenses Charlotte is running. As well as Rozier has played this season, Iām just contrarian enough to look at his red-hot 3-point shooting (a career-best 44%) and unusual accuracy from in-between range (per Second Spectrum, heās making 50% of his 2-point attempts outside the restricted area, having never previously made more than 41% of these shots in a season) and wonder if itās the optimal time to pursue a trade.
Certainly, Iād want to do that only for another quality young player who could be part of the Hornetsā future. For example, Iād at least call the Pelicans about swapping Rozier for Lonzo Ball even though the older Ball now appears an established part of New Orleansā core. Aaron Gordon isnāt quite the kind of shooter youād want with LaMelo, but his ability to serve as a wing stopper would make him an interesting option.
Ultimately, there might not be a move to be made involving Rozier. But those are the kinds of players Iād be targeting as Charlotte: proven contributors who are still young enough to grow with Ball over the next few seasons rather than trying to peak too early by adding more players in their 30s unless theyāre strictly a low-cost rental.
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How about not playing zone and finding players that make that possible
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Uhmmm, ok this is weird on many levels
Thatās weird because I heard another rumor that Lavar wanted him to goto Charlotte, Iāve also heard the Bonnell rumor that LaMelo sucked in interviews was because he was trying to get to us.
We arenāt sure at this point if he tanked the interviews, but what we do know is that ānewsā was leaked by us, then covered up by Bonnell as coming from āoutside the organizationā.
That leak was in our favor and intentional, which is why it was Bonnell they chose to leak it. So maybe it did come from outside of our organization. But that leak was to our benefit, and at that time Lamelo was still projected #1 almost everywhere.
We may not ever know why he dropped from 1 to 3 over the last 3 weeks leading up to the draft, but thank God for it!
From my impression, Melo seems one of those guys where basketball is in his blood. Where he obsesses about it, and would be fine to play wherever. Maybe its even a sanctuary away from all the craziness surrounding his family. Obviously heās well aware of his ābrandā because, why not - that could outpace his on court earnings at some point, if not soon.
With that said, while it may be unethical for an agent to try to tank a player, its also their fiduciary duty to make as much money for your client as possible, and I guess in a way you could say this kind of āschemeā would accomplish that. Minnesota, despite all the stars theyāve had over the years, is not marketable as much. Havenāt seen a T-Wolves jersey since Garnett was there. Every other player seems to get forgotten there, no matter what. In Golden State, he would always, always, always be second fiddle to Curry. It would never be Meloās team.
But Charlotte, if successful, heād instantly be the face of the franchise. Plus with MJ, the Jordan brand, the Hornets branding, here is where heād be most marketable, and probably the quickest avenue to be THE draw to the team.
So my guess would be these āstrategic leaksā may have been his agent/team perhaps trying to influence the narrative that the other top 2 picks would be less risky, and hope that heād land in place here.
Its just this may be the first time we actually came out on top in desirability and luck, and I still donāt know how to trust good fortune with my PTSD and all.
The PTSD is definitely there for me as well, if you lived through watching every game of the Bobcats era that will always be there, but it just feels like all of a sudden the sun is shining on this franchise!
Both BS
Told yāall we were sure we would get Wiseman and thatās why we did not hop to 1.
Nice
Did anyone else see ESPN said LaMelo dissed Lebron for saying this. What a stretch
Didnāt see it, but it doesnāt surprise me. They just want to start shit.
He says those things all the time that he played basketball but didnāt watch it growing up
I hope he watches game film.
He meant that he grew up a little different as inā¦ āI donāt get star struckā¦ā
Boss
The only people not respecting LaMelo in this league right now with the assbag refs.
Itās ridiculous at this point.
The entire league knows this kid is the truth.
He is basically 20 years oldā¦
He is a boyā¦ my Lordā¦ when he is a manā¦ watch the fugg out!
He needs a woman from Charlotte! Then we win some ships!
Thank you for explaining that to those of us not in the champagne room.
[just playing]
Yeah, I donāt mind the confidence at all. However, I also appreciate when players acknowledge each other. I might be remembering it wrong but I think Kobeās approach to playing against Jordan was basically āIām not scared, but Jordan is great.ā