Off Season Changes?

We need some professional shooters!

We do. We need a sharp shooter.

But alsoā€¦ Iā€™m 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 donā€™t need a rookie w potential!

Defense, rebounding, rim protection, an offense that can function in the post season that doesnā€™t 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 ā€˜make 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 didnā€™t bring in a specialist to help at the very least. As per @dnbmanā€™s post above, we need to improve our D. Iā€™ve 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 whoā€™s ready to start right now.

Ball is untouchable, Miles must be resigned, and I like a lot of our youth but ā€¦

Iā€™d move Terry for a starting SG who can defend 1-3 (the opponentā€™s best Guard/Wing) well, and throw a pick at it too for the right player.

Mason & Ubreā€™s contracts are excellent trade pieces. Maybe GH has some positive value? We also have picks. Itā€™s all on the table for the right Centre.

IMHO those two moves, in a world where theyā€™re 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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Thereā€™s going to be some pain in getting off of Hayward and Rozierā€™s contracts. If Mitch remains in his seat he HAS to figure a way. As armchair GM Iā€™m calling the Lakers to exchange those two contracts for Westbrookā€™s 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.

Iā€™ll say this - if theyā€™re not going to play Bouknight significant minutes next year, youā€™ve 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 ā€œformer 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 ā€œthinkā€ isnā€™t what I want per se, itā€™s just what I think from a practical standpoint.

  • JB will be back but the FO needs to put training wheels or bumpers around that - thereā€™s 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 wasnā€™t 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 donā€™t see us making PJ an extension that heā€™s going to sign and I donā€™t see us trading him or at least wonā€™t 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 ā€œhopeā€ is a far less confident than what I think:

  • Bring in a high-end defensive coordinator to this coaching staff even if itā€™s a veiled hot spare for a game 20 dismissal if things donā€™t 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 ā€œprayerā€ 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 (didnā€™t end well for Utah and Gordon, it wonā€™t 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, itā€™s 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 heā€™s missed just showing up to spectrum Center instead of his house would probably be a pretty big change of scenery

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ā€œWord 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 heā€™s 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, ā€œwho benefits from that statement?ā€, itā€™s not Hayward or his camp, but other front offices. Iā€™m wondering if heā€™s got better value in trade than we might otherwise think.

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