We need some professional shooters!
We do. We need a sharp shooter.
But alsoā¦ Iām afraid we need a coach that can make the guys care.
While every team needs more shooting, as a team we were 4th in points, 6th in 3pt fg%, and 11th in fg%.
We were 21st in defensive rebounds, 23rd in opp 3 pt %, 20th in opp fg%, 29th in opp assist avg, and 25th in opp ppg.
Defense is clearly the biggest need.
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We donāt need a rookie w potential!
Defense, rebounding, rim protection, an offense that can function in the post season that doesnāt just chuck threes from all over the floor. Leadership, intensity, heart. Too mad to think of anything else at the moment.
ā¦ or, do we need players that care? Yes, a coach should be able to motivate and bring more out of their players, but there is an inherent responsibility on the players themselves to have some fight in them. Do you think Trez needs JB to āmake him careā? Of course not, he simply has it in his nature. We need more like him.
That said, I absolutely do get your point, and the finish to this season has left a bad taste in all of our mouths. We need improvement in our coaching, especially with the defensive scheme and, while some of that will be internal improvement, I would be disappointed if we didnāt bring in a specialist to help at the very least. As per @dnbmanās post above, we need to improve our D. Iāve mentioned the coaching already, but some of it is on the players themselves and a good deal of it is on the front office to balance out the roster. We need some D, rebounding and rim protection in our starting group. Hopefully Kai & Thor will address some of that from the bench, but we simply must throw everything we can at a C whoās ready to start right now.
Ball is untouchable, Miles must be resigned, and I like a lot of our youth but ā¦
Iād move Terry for a starting SG who can defend 1-3 (the opponentās best Guard/Wing) well, and throw a pick at it too for the right player.
Mason & Ubreās contracts are excellent trade pieces. Maybe GH has some positive value? We also have picks. Itās all on the table for the right Centre.
IMHO those two moves, in a world where theyāre possible, added to the growth of Ball, Miles etc. should make us a competitive in the playoffs.
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everyone else should be considered expendable. as of right now, there is melo and no core. if anyone on this roster is looked at as a core, then melo will resign the monster max and immediately begin barking for the trade to a big market.
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Everyone is expendable sans Ball.
Agreed, and in time, I would not be totally surprised if LaMelo and Miles are 1A and 1B vs 1 and 2. But anyone else should not be held in such esteem that they cannot be moved. Having said that, none of our youth should be moved for the sake of moving them because I think we have evaluated talent well and they have worth, just not protection from trade worth.
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Thereās going to be some pain in getting off of Hayward and Rozierās contracts. If Mitch remains in his seat he HAS to figure a way. As armchair GM Iām calling the Lakers to exchange those two contracts for Westbrookās expiring to then buy out or amnesty Westbrook to build around Ball and Bridges.
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Mitchell Robinson would be my main signing for free agency!
Isaiah Hartenstein is intriguing as well.
Iāll say this - if theyāre not going to play Bouknight significant minutes next year, youāve got to move him this summer as sweetener in a package. A second year of sitting the bench is going to take all the shine off of that āformer lottery pickā status.
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Kind of like what happened to Monk. We just let them rot away and get nothing for him.
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What I āthinkā isnāt what I want per se, itās just what I think from a practical standpoint.
- JB will be back but the FO needs to put training wheels or bumpers around that - thereās no way they can ignore two years exiting this way and not have a crisis of confidence there
- Miles is not a max contract player - the FO was off trying to get him to sign a 15m/yr contract extension but they signaled their view that he wasnāt worth full-fare - how he played last night likely enters into their argument for walking his agent down from anything max
- If Milesā 60m contract offer is an indicator of how we play in the extension market, I donāt see us making PJ an extension that heās going to sign and I donāt see us trading him or at least wonāt be in a rush to do so
- We bid farewell to Cody over not having the requisite contract dollars
- We prioritize Jalen McDaniels (over Cody) on a 3 year deal like the Lamb contract
What I āhopeā is a far less confident than what I think:
- Bring in a high-end defensive coordinator to this coaching staff even if itās a veiled hot spare for a game 20 dismissal if things donāt go well early
- We come to terms with a John Collins level contract in the 5@120m range for Miles
- We figure out a way to keep Cody Martin
- Sign PJ Washington to a $13-15m sized contract extension in October
More like āprayerā level stuff:
- We have seen the last games of Mason and Kelly as Hornets as they are big trade components with their partial guarantees
- We do NOT let Miles get to an RFA offer sheet from another club (didnāt end well for Utah and Gordon, it wonāt here either IMO)
- We figure out a trade destination for Gordon that brings back a viable center
- If we bring back a Trez or IT, itās of the condiment variety rather than entree or side sized contracts
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You should also add, new Orleans beats los Angeles giving the hornets two picks to find a meaningful young veteran impact guy trade partner
Well, bye
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110%!! BYE FELICIA!!
With the amount of games heās missed just showing up to spectrum Center instead of his house would probably be a pretty big change of scenery
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āWord has circulated amongst rival front offices that the 32-year-old swingman would be interested in a change of scenery this offseason, although a source close to Hayward told B/R heās primarily focused on recovering from his injured foot.ā
If you use the NBA Front Office show (Trevor Lane and Keith Smith), lens on that drop in, āwho benefits from that statement?ā, itās not Hayward or his camp, but other front offices. Iām wondering if heās got better value in trade than we might otherwise think.
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