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Speaker 1: What is up fellow Siko's I am Nama Valley. Can

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we get you from the future. I just recorded to

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Charlotte Hornets twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five look

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Ahead with Kannada Edwards, who is over at CBS Sports.

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He is the producer of the I on College Basketball podcast.

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He's a pinship producer for the Pick six pod as well.

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Follow him on the Twitter machine at Nada the scribe

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that's at nat a thh e scribe. I will include

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the handle link in the podcast and YouTube descriptions. We

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had a great conversation about all things Charlotte Hornets, as

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per usual. Just my quick reminder, as we're in the

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early stages of these look aheads, help support the show

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by subscribing across all platforms if you haven't already share

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these things. We can't promote ourselves on Reddit, but you

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can promote the episodes on Reddit if you would like to.

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But these look aheads are a bear, but we like

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doing them, We enjoy doing them. We think that they're

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valuable for all of us. But help us get them

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out there and make sure that you're listening to all

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of them, because rumor has it there are how many

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teams are there in the NBA now, like twenty, so

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we're probably gonna have like almost fifteen look aheads, just kidding,

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there should be thirty unless something catastrophic happens to yours. Truly.

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That's enough of my preamble, though, Let's get to talking

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all things Charlotte Hornets with the one, the Only Edwards Banada.

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It has been too long. Thank you so much for

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you for coming back. This is I don't know if

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you know this. This is your half decade of coming

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back for the hardware knock Chlotte Hornets. Look ahead, you've.

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Speaker 2: Now five years straight. Five years, man, dude, where is

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the time gone?

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Speaker 1: I don't know. It feels like it's been longer and

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shorter at the same time.

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Speaker 2: It feels like shorter. It really does feel like shorter

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to me. Like I remember the first time you asked me,

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and I was working at a wholly different company than

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I was now, and like us recording it in that

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studio rather than in the middle of my like office

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slash kitchen like we're doing right now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there was no video back then either. Like we

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we've all moved up in the.

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Speaker 2: World, yes, exactly, We've evolved we've evolved. If anything, we

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have evolved.

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Speaker 1: And it's it's always awesome when I can continue to

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trick people into coming back on that. That may time

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tricking me, dude, dude, Actually, after twice, it's your own fault,

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That's what I say. It's like the first two times

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it's kind of like, but after that it's it's all

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on you. So but I always appreciate you coming back.

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These look aheads are always so much fun to talk

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to you about. The Charlotte Hornets, and they are I mean,

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I'll probably say this about every team, but they have

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become uniquely fascinating to me basically since the sale that

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Michael Jordan told them and everything that's happened since then.

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And I think that's probably for me anyway. That's where

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I want to start, is we could look at it

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through the lens of ever since they installed Jeff Peterson,

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but even a little bit before that. What have you

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kind of made about, you know, this current regime that's

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in place, what they did around the deadline, the overarching direction,

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and what it says about where they're headed.

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Speaker 2: They've quite simply they've basically decided to infuse a whole

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bunch of money that either the Jordan Will administration was

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either unwilling to do or unable. And I'm probably gonna

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lean to the ladder because, like, just take this summer

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for an example, everybody, like the running joke around Charlotte

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was that the training staff was always responsible for getting

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these people hurt. And there were some whisperers and some

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rumblings that certain guys may or may not have could

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have played this season at the end towards the end

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of the season and did not because quite simply, they

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didn't trust the training staff. So what you see so ironically,

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if you go back and look at the Hornets Hornets

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Twitter page, they announced a brain new staff medical staff,

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and you read the Rod Boon piece about it. They've

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installed a whole bunch of stuff that a whole bunch

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of guys that previously weren't there. There is an investment

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in this team that I have never seen. I take again,

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I'll point it to another thing because normally, like you've

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seen how the Charlotte Hornets operate, especially if there's a

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guy that you think that they like on their summer

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league team, what do they normally do? Like it's cheap,

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it's a nice backup fifth fourteenth, fifteenth man type filler thing,

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and normally they signed the guy because you know what,

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we can get him for cheap. We can get him

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in and out and we don't have to worry if

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he plays or not, because it's most likely he won't play,

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except if you know the Hornet's history injury history, there's

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a really good chance he's absolutely gonna play. So the

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fact that they've done that, then they signed a Mussa Diabat,

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They've invested heavily in scouting, They've invested heavily in analytics.

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It's very clear they've invested very much in health. There

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is a clear infusion of money. And that's the biggest

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difference between what the Jordan regime did and what the

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what I like to call the shlock in slash Jeff

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Peterson era of the Charlotte Onnets. So far.

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Speaker 1: That's why I love talking to experts and people who

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cover every team because you can see. I saw the

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medical staff thing, and there's the whole isn't LaMelo Ball

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wearing fancy ankle braces now? So you see that. But

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just like even before we started recording you mentioned this,

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I wasn't aware of the extent to which like this

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new you know, ownership resim had funnel the actual money

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into all these different areas of the organization.

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Speaker 2: Like it's funny because they the first thing they did

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was raise ticket prices, which obviously is like, you're raising

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ticket prices on a twenty one win team, that's naturally

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going to be a recipe for disaster, right Unfortunately, like like,

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but fortunately they're trying to reinvest it. They're trying to

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put new stuff in the Spectrum Center. They're trying to

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make this the proper crown jewel of basketball, because it is,

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Like the biggest thing that I think is overplayed sometimes

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is the Charlotte Hornets had that long cell out streak

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in the middle of the nineties, and people cared about

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basketball back when we had like back when mono culture

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was actually a thing. So I get that. But at

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the same point, this is probably one of the most

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underserved fan bases in the league. So what they're seeing,

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what Schlockin is seeing at this point, Rick rich Na

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and gay Plot and have seen is that hey, if

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we just invested in this a little bit, more people

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are actually going to invest in this team. And so

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it's very like I find it very, very fascinating that

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they're doing this right now, and it's a breath of

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fresh air, because there was a lot of a lot

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of the stuff that like fans have been crying about, like, oh,

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let's get make sure we get a backup point guard. Hey,

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they have to vasa mea Chitchen tray Man, A lot

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of the stuff people have been crying about, getting the

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getting the perimeter defenders. Besides Cody Martin, who has been

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injury riddled, despite the fact that he is really above him.

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Speaker 1: I will continue to die on the Cody Martin hill

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until your body falls apart.

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Speaker 2: Me, me and you both, because there's no reason that

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he can't be like Caleb Martin. But the fact that

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there's there's been this clant like all Gay Ploq, and

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Rick Snall and Jeff Peterson have done. Have basically decided,

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you know, we're just going to do the obvious stuff,

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and just by interrusting the obvious stuff, they've earned themselves

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a benefit of the doubt that I didn't see them

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have it up until not for not for a little bit.

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But the fact that they've come in and they've affected

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this much change is very, very amazing to me.

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Speaker 1: And what do you sort of given all that change,

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what do you think it says about the actual direction

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of this team. From my read of it, when you

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look specifically what happened at the trade deadline, it's okay,

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they're really kind of married to a more gradual approach here.

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This isn't necessarily an organization that's going to look to

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I don't want to use the word acceleration, because when

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the opportunity presents itself, you can all justify that. But

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they're not going to short circuit their future in favor

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of like, well, let's be this like thirty eight win

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team that might make the play in.

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Speaker 2: See that's the thing I think they I think they

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hedged on that. I think what they did was they

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hedged there are people that in that building that clearly

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believe in LaMelo Ball. Brandon Miller obviously is going like

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people believe in him. But I think there's people that

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believe in the talent of this team. And while it

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may look gradual, there's a belief in that building that

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they'll compete for nine or ten this year and at

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the worst, if they get nine or ten and they

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pull in Atlanta Hawks, where Oh, you lose the playing game,

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but you gain the first pick and get Cooper flag

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Like that's they'll they'll live with that. I think the

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idea behind this team is we just want to get

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all the rot out. We want to get the guys

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that actually care about ball. We want to get the

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guys that don't. Just like I think they took the

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Terry Rogi quote. I think ownership specifically took that Terry

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Rogier quote about losing being in the DNA, and I

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think they took that very very personally, and so they

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brought people who actually care about this, namely Grant Williams,

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a guy that's got roots and is anchored here. I

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think a lot of that matters because they got guys

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that want to come in here, prove something, win basketball games,

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and if they get paid off the back end of that,

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that's even better.

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Speaker 1: So what did you make of the decision specifically to

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go with Charles Lee as their head coach and do

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you have any insider thoughts or expectations for what the

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guiding principles of this team are going to be under him,

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even if it's just kind of looking at the roster

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and reading and reacting off of that.

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Speaker 2: I look at what they did in Summer league. Quite honestly,

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like Charles Lee came in during Summer League, brought an

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energy that we have not seen in this team since

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Clip's first run. Like not even James Brago came int

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did as much change. I think there's an infectious spirit

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in this team. I think this team is going to defend.

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I think this team is going to like Charles Lee,

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having those two rings is going to affect so much

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change and so much credibility because it's like, hey, I've

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seen this, I've done this, so why don't you pay

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attention to these little details? If he's able to affect

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change with a summer league roster, I really do. I'm

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very excited to see what he does in October, in

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these times, in these preseason games, to affect change with

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guys like LaMelo Ball, because we all know he's LaMelo

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Ball is not really a willing defender. If he becomes

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semi willing, if he just becomes We're not asking for

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him to be elite perimeter defender, LaMelo. All we're asking

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probably is be passable LaMelo Ball defender. Just be that?

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Speaker 1: And do you mean letting ball handlers go by him.

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Speaker 2: I'm just well, well well well well yes, yes, fair, fair,

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fair that is, but but like I just want like

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all you just have. He just has to be not

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even like semi credible. We're not expecting that much.

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Speaker 1: He's size to do. It isn't I make a joke,

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but it's not like. This isn't someone who like you

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look at some players and it's I don't see the

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pathway to them being good on the defensive end. It's

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not that way with LaMelo.

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Speaker 2: It's focus. It's completely focused. And that's the thing. Like

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if you get if you get the attention to detail,

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hammer down, this is quite literally a thirty five win

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team off the I feel like this is a thirty

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five win team off the rip if they if health

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abounds again. The health thing is probably the biggest thing

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that sunk this team over the last two years. If

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they get that part fix, and if they if the

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players in that locker room trust the training staff for

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the first time in about four or five years, like

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at some point like this team can come together. And

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if they come together, or if they're a middling team,

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then we're gonna start seeing even more changes and then

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we're gonna start seeing people. But more importantly, like the

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Charles Lee piece was so important because for a long

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time I didn't think they were gonna get this done.

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But the more important portion of this is that they

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got their guy. And it's very rare that you've ever

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seen Charlotte Hornets get their guy. It's always been Okay,

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it'll be Ken Kenny Atkinson, impossible and oops, it turns

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into Steve Clifford like something along the lines of that.

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It's never been that's the number one target. We want

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that guy, and we actually and the Charlotte Hornets actually

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get him. That is a change, and that is a

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big testament to what Peterson has done in terms of relationships.

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It's also it's also a big thing in terms of

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what gay plot and rich Rick Shnall, who I'm going

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to mention a ton of times in this podcast. If

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you set a drinking game to it, don't because you're

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gonna end up hurting yourselves.

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Speaker 1: But more importantly, try to pronounce shall after having a

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few adult beverages too.

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Speaker 2: No no no, no, no no no. That's even worse like

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that that ends up like that might like if you

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try to do that, that might end up being the

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HRG violation somewhere.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, but I can't even probably say three

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times in a row sober.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. But like I, that's the thing. It is

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truly a new day, or at least it feels like

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everyone I've talked to feels like it's a truly new

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day because there's so many different but exciting things in

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Charlotte for like the first time in quite a long time.

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Speaker 1: So I have a ton of my own questions and

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there's a chance to answer to this steps on the

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toes of those, which is that's the point that would

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be in lockstep. But what is your aside from the

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stuff you've just mentioned, what is the biggest storyline that

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you're monitoring with this team heading into twenty four to

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twenty five?

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Speaker 2: How many games does LaMelo Ball play? Like it's it's

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that simple. If LaMelo Ball plays fifty to seventy five games,

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this team is winning at minimum, Like you can put

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your money on the over, which I believe is twenty

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nine point five right now. So you're telling so at

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this point, if you tell me he's playing fifty to

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seventy five games, then this team is going to win

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thirty games or more. If Mark Williams, who has not

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played more than forty games, play like it's it's all

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about health.

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Speaker 1: This is wild that those two have played. I know,

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Mark Wallings been the league for two years, They've played

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forty games together. That's not even a half season.

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Speaker 2: That's exactly think about it like this. Mark Williams probably

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hasn't had a full offseason weight training program with the

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Charlotte and like as a pro because last year he

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got hurt because of his thumb, and you know, you

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can't really do any lifting on it with a bad thumb.

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Like that, you're talking about a dude that might be

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slightly underdeveloped. But like, if those two play fifty games,

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I think this team is going to be better than

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people think. I don't. I'm not saying sure playoff thing.

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I'm not saying they're Cleveland from a few years ago.

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But what I am saying is this team has been

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hindered a lot by and I do think that if

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they do get healthy, a lot of things are going

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to fix itself. And the vision that Mitch Cupcheck had

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but didn't have the finances to really pull off, I

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think that will be actualized at this point.

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Speaker 1: So where are you kind of at. You mentioned the

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defensive stuff, but where are you kind of at with

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LaMelo Ball? I think before his injury, finishing still not great,

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but like he got to the rim, like the driving

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part of his game had increased. He avers like nineteen

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drives for thirty six minutes last year, which is wild.

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But like, what else are you looking forward to see

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from him? Or just like do you see him maybe

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improving his own shot selection in the ecosystem of a

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team that has more of a direction, more of a

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I guess, like an actual ecosystem or pecking order, a

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hierarchy or talent around him in place.

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Speaker 2: Like basically, the thing is, Charles Lee is not the

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substitute teacher. There were times that you could tell that

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LaMelo Ball and others treated Steve Clifford as the substitute

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teacher in that in that locker room, and he tried

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to get the attention to everybody, he couldn't and he

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lost the locker room clearly towards the end, because you

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would hear a whole bunch of different things from Steve Clifford.

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I expect LaMelo Ball to be better in all facets.

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In all facets, I expect there to be a competent

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defender at some point. I expect the shot selection to

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get better. I expect a whole like I expect the

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drives to get better. Quite honestly, like I think there

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is going to be improvement. The question is how healthy

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is he actually going to be? Because if he's not healthy,

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all of this is moot. And this team is probably

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hovering around twenty five, twenty seven, maybe even twenty nine wins.

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Speaker 1: What did you make? And I'm sure you saw it

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of there was this national discourse for a while. It

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did kind of peter out that maybe the Hornet should

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consider trading LaMelo so that they can reorient around Brandon Miller.

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And I want to put this Freddie Horne's fans thing

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and saying, oh, here we go to the national NBA podcast,

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bring up Amelo trade stuff that doesn't exist. I did

329
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not ascribe to that idea. I don't actually even understand

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the genesis of it, because I don't see redundancies in

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these players really at all. I think that they can

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compliment each other quite nicely. So the fact that that

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cropped up, like did you make anything of it? Like

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what I just I found it fascinating that it was

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even a discussion.

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Speaker 2: I guess I'm not surprised it's a discussion. This is

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the same thing that we do, like unfortunately, the national

338
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media does this with a lot of the smaller, smaller

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max level guys. At the same point, I think it's

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maybe a year eighteen months too soon to start entertaining that.

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I think there's got to be a lot more stuff.

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And despite the fact that you do hear rumblings on

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occasion that everyone, like the Hornets, are wanting to get

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out of the LaMelo LaMelo ball business. I put it

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this way, I wouldn't make any sort of intimations that

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he's done or they're gonna trade him, because it doesn't

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make sense. At this point. He is your draw card. Now. Granted,

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Brandon Miller's come about and made it kind of interesting,

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but at the same point, we're talking about a guy,

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when healthy that was a twenty point again of twenty

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point per game score and made things easy for quite

352
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literally everybody on the floor that he was with.

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Speaker 1: And it's with seven point guard Like I just like,

354
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those do not they do not grow on trees.

355
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Speaker 2: You don't exactly, you don't trade that unless you absolutely

356
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,880
have to or he basically says, yo, I'm not playing

357
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for you anymore. And by the way, you can't really

358
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do that anymore because the new CBA basically makes that

359
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virtually impossible unless you're willing to sacrifice millions and millions

360
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of dollars. So, unless they're real, unless both sides really

361
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,200
won out, I don't see the point in having this

362
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discussion unless and I put this like, unless they start.

363
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Unless I win fifteen games, they win fifteen to twenty games, again,

364
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maybe it becomes a conversation. And even then, most likely

365
00:19:15,799 --> 00:19:18,640
he's hurt and you're trading him for quite literally pennies

366
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on the dollar.

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Speaker 1: That's the That's the thing is that when you're outlining

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00:19:21,519 --> 00:19:24,920
the fifteen win scenario, it's probably because LaMelo isn't playing,

369
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and at that point his trade value is then nuked

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because he was injured again exactly.

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Speaker 2: And and remember this is the first year of his extension.

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So that's a forty million dollar contract that someone's going

373
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to have to eat and be willing to eat and

374
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be willing to rehab a whole lot of stuff. The

375
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,240
biggest thing, like the ankle bracest thing was my biggest

376
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:49,039
complaint about LaMelo Ball, that's gone. Now like he again

377
00:19:49,079 --> 00:19:51,880
it's clear he's got the ankle bracest. It's clear he

378
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:56,759
trusts this medical staff. So now there's going to be

379
00:19:56,839 --> 00:19:59,960
more of an attention on being a professional. He does that,

380
00:20:00,319 --> 00:20:04,160
he's untradeable at this point, because again, he takes care

381
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,640
of his body, he becomes a professional. He's wearing the

382
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,160
ankle braces, he's doing all this stuff. He's going like

383
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,319
he's gonna play fifty games if that at minimum. If

384
00:20:13,319 --> 00:20:16,119
he does that, and if he plays at minimum fifty games,

385
00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,799
he plays sixty games, he plays sixty five, we may

386
00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,920
see the return of All Star LaMelo Ball if that happens.

387
00:20:23,559 --> 00:20:26,720
Speaker 1: If he plays, if he hits the games threshold played threshold,

388
00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:29,319
I firmly believe I tend to be higher on him

389
00:20:29,319 --> 00:20:31,599
than consensus. Like we're talking about an All NBA caliber

390
00:20:31,599 --> 00:20:33,799
player here. I wouldn't guarantee it, but if he plays

391
00:20:33,799 --> 00:20:36,480
in sixty five plus games, my guess is he will

392
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,400
be in the conversation, even if it's on the periphery.

393
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:43,200
And that is an incredibly difficult player to find exactly.

394
00:20:43,079 --> 00:20:46,640
Speaker 2: Like that's you don't trade those guys unless unless you're

395
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,720
getting quite quite literally the Paul George package, like that's

396
00:20:50,759 --> 00:20:53,000
what you get, Like, that's what you trade him for.

397
00:20:53,839 --> 00:20:56,519
And there's no team that really has that outside of

398
00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:01,079
Utah and maybe okay, okay, see, yeah that really has

399
00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:02,640
it and okay, see doesn't need that guy.

400
00:21:03,799 --> 00:21:07,359
Speaker 1: So so my co host and I Grant were pretty

401
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:11,359
big advocates of the Charlotte Hornets drafting Scoot Henderson. And

402
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,319
while neither of us are out on Scoot Henderson, we

403
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,319
both fell in love with Brandon Miller last season. That

404
00:21:17,599 --> 00:21:19,440
was just I don't know, I shouldn't say I've never

405
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:21,839
turned like done in about face more quickly, but it

406
00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:24,640
was just every most of the time when I watched him,

407
00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,519
I just came away thinking, oh, this guy has more

408
00:21:27,519 --> 00:21:30,400
of the IT factor than I really thought, and even

409
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,960
people experts seem to portray coming out of the draft.

410
00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:37,480
So I have a twofold question. What impressed you? Were

411
00:21:37,519 --> 00:21:40,640
surprised you most about what he did as a rookie.

412
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,200
Speaker 2: It was his willingness to be vocal, like, okay, that

413
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,680
was my thing. He would tell people, get back. This

414
00:21:49,799 --> 00:21:52,640
dude were LaMelo Ball is a little bit more laid back.

415
00:21:53,079 --> 00:21:56,160
This dude wants to win at all costs. He is

416
00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,519
a jerk. He is absolutely that kind of guy where

417
00:22:01,319 --> 00:22:03,720
like his mentality is yo, I want to cut you.

418
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,799
He's old school, and you can see why, Like Michael

419
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:12,079
Jordan basically was attracted to this dude when and zagged

420
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:15,240
when everybody thought he should zig with Scoot Henderson. I

421
00:22:15,279 --> 00:22:18,440
am not out on Scoot Henderson either. Initially I was

422
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,279
all on the scoop wagon, and then I started really

423
00:22:21,279 --> 00:22:24,960
looking at the at the film for Brandon Miller and

424
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:28,400
I think we had this conversation last year where it

425
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,000
was I thought, at the minimum, Brandon Miller was going

426
00:22:32,039 --> 00:22:34,920
to be Kegan Mury Murray and then you started talking

427
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,680
to Cliff. Then people started talking Cliff. Cliff starts started

428
00:22:37,799 --> 00:22:45,160
throwing out the Tracy McGrady comparisons, and I'm like, oh, okay, cool. Yeah,

429
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,119
Like that was when I that's when it really started

430
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,119
chanting for me, is when people started throwing out the

431
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:53,920
Tracy comparisons and people really psyched about that dude in

432
00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:55,279
that building early.

433
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,319
Speaker 1: So I don't know that I must have missed that,

434
00:22:59,559 --> 00:23:01,880
and like, yeah that I'm thinking about it, I'm curious

435
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,759
as to whether he'll ever be the same playmaker that

436
00:23:05,839 --> 00:23:07,680
Tracy McGrady could be, but like.

437
00:23:07,599 --> 00:23:09,319
Speaker 2: He doesn't athleticism, he doesn't have.

438
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,519
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's like like now that I'm thinking about in

439
00:23:12,559 --> 00:23:15,039
my head and visualizing, like that's a pretty good less

440
00:23:15,039 --> 00:23:17,400
athletic Tracy McGrady. Okay, fine, he seems like he might

441
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,319
be a little bit craftier. I mean one of the

442
00:23:19,319 --> 00:23:22,160
things that or especially on defense, that might have been

443
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:23,880
the thing that stood out to me. I thought he

444
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:25,559
did a good job getting to his mid range game.

445
00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:27,240
He was better there than I thought. I think he

446
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,640
shot like forty seven percent on pull up twos, which

447
00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,640
for a rookie is like I would say, that's yeah,

448
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,200
But like the defense from him, and it's just like

449
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,799
even when he's not on the ball, like the ball denial,

450
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:39,720
Like it's just, oh, there's Brandon Miller, like his dude

451
00:23:39,759 --> 00:23:41,599
didn't get the ball because he refused to let him

452
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,920
even have it. Uh man, I'm gonna like laser into that, Tracey.

453
00:23:46,079 --> 00:23:47,680
I might click this and have to like make that

454
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:50,359
a YouTube clip that is a shout out Steve Quipper

455
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:51,000
for that comp.

456
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, like clif Cliff came up with that comp and

457
00:23:53,599 --> 00:23:55,839
like you didn't I didn't see it initially, but then

458
00:23:55,839 --> 00:23:57,839
you start seeing it, and you start, like you said,

459
00:23:57,839 --> 00:24:00,480
the playmaking. Playmaking is the only thing that short on.

460
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,480
But I trust that Charles Lee is going to get

461
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,279
that out of them. I thought there were those that

462
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,440
compared him to Tatum. I don't necessarily see it, but

463
00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:09,920
I can.

464
00:24:10,039 --> 00:24:13,000
Speaker 1: I understand cause Brandon Miller would get minutes for Team USA, right.

465
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,400
Speaker 2: Brandon Miller might be a better defender than Jason Tatum

466
00:24:17,839 --> 00:24:20,440
might be might be. And I don't want the Celtics

467
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,559
fans all of my mentions thinking about like like no,

468
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:24,200
like keep Brandon.

469
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,200
Speaker 1: On Twitter, jeez.

470
00:24:28,799 --> 00:24:31,759
Speaker 2: But at the same point, like, Brandon Miller is a killer.

471
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:37,079
Brandon Miller. And if the reason that they do end

472
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,799
up trading LaMelo balls because Brandon Miller, it basically becomes

473
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,680
Highlander and is again and isn't that there can be

474
00:24:44,759 --> 00:24:47,960
only one thing? Then I get it. But that dude

475
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,079
is a killer. That dude might end up being the

476
00:24:50,079 --> 00:24:53,000
de facto leader of this Hornets group by the end

477
00:24:53,039 --> 00:24:56,079
of this season. And there's already kind of established leader

478
00:24:56,079 --> 00:24:58,839
positions with Miles Bridges, who will get into later.

479
00:25:00,839 --> 00:25:03,119
Speaker 1: So what is one thing I guess we touched on

480
00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:04,960
it a little bit that you'll be looking to see

481
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,920
from Brandon Miller though in year two. Aside from I

482
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:09,119
think the obvious thing is like, okay, well, what does

483
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:10,839
it look like when he plays more with Mark Williams

484
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:11,920
and LaMelo Ball.

485
00:25:13,559 --> 00:25:16,079
Speaker 2: I want to see, like what he does with added strength.

486
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,319
I thought he finished pretty decent at the rim last year.

487
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,480
If he gets any sort of added strength, people are

488
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,960
getting dunked on pretty regularly, because he did pretty pretty well,

489
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,519
like the athleticism. It's not Tracy McGrady. But it surprised

490
00:25:30,559 --> 00:25:32,200
me because I thought he was more close. He was

491
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,240
closer to Chris Middleton than Tracy McGrady. It turns out

492
00:25:36,279 --> 00:25:39,279
I was wrong. He's closer to Tracy McGrady than Chris Middleton.

493
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:44,039
I think Muscle Watch with him is going to be

494
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,759
very very intriguing, Like what does he do with some

495
00:25:47,799 --> 00:25:50,559
added bulk? What does he do? Because because the one

496
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,079
game he did in Summer League, and I know we

497
00:25:52,079 --> 00:25:54,920
can't take much from Summer League, that release got quicker.

498
00:25:55,559 --> 00:25:57,359
That's the one thing. Like if you go back and

499
00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,920
look at the one game he played in some league,

500
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:04,000
you just look at that release, that release looks ridiculously

501
00:26:04,039 --> 00:26:06,720
quicker than it was last year, and just as deadly.

502
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,440
And if that's the case, that man is going to

503
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,880
be shooting a lot more threes and maybe maybe, just maybe,

504
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,400
like depending on how this season goes. The Hornets have

505
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,160
two All Stars.

506
00:26:19,799 --> 00:26:22,279
Speaker 1: And do you think I mean he added strength and

507
00:26:22,279 --> 00:26:24,960
the ability to do in theory finish better. And I'm

508
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,039
not again, I was impressed with his mid range game,

509
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:28,680
but it did have the tendency to become a little

510
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,559
bit of a crutch at points that something that could

511
00:26:30,599 --> 00:26:32,680
help him then get to the basket more.

512
00:26:33,079 --> 00:26:34,640
Speaker 2: I think it'll help him get to the basket, but

513
00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,119
I think it also helps him. I think it'll help

514
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,000
his midrange game too, because I do think that it does.

515
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,359
Like we kind of ignore how much strength it takes

516
00:26:42,519 --> 00:26:45,680
to stop on a dime, get your body right and

517
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,240
finish possibly over a defender in the mid.

518
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,440
Speaker 1: Range, especially if you're not generating a ton of separation,

519
00:26:50,559 --> 00:26:51,680
right exactly.

520
00:26:52,079 --> 00:26:53,920
Speaker 2: That And that's the other thing, like and you talk

521
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,920
about generating separation. There's stuff with his handle that he

522
00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,680
can clean up, and that he may have cleaned up,

523
00:27:00,519 --> 00:27:03,759
but he's good enough to where if he never cleans

524
00:27:03,839 --> 00:27:07,759
up the handle, he'll still be fringe all NBA. He

525
00:27:07,799 --> 00:27:10,480
cleans up that he cleans up the handle sky is

526
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:12,319
quite literally the limit for that kid.

527
00:27:12,839 --> 00:27:14,759
Speaker 1: The other thing that I kind of just thought of,

528
00:27:14,799 --> 00:27:17,039
and it's a duh thing, is that this team is

529
00:27:17,079 --> 00:27:20,039
better suited. It would have been this case last year,

530
00:27:20,039 --> 00:27:21,759
but when they're healthy, but the team is better suited

531
00:27:21,799 --> 00:27:24,400
to have improved spacing around him, and that just makes

532
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,440
his job easier no matter what level he is trying

533
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:27,160
to score from.

534
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,279
Speaker 2: It's funny you mentioned that because this might be like

535
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,640
last year, funnally like and this is and if you

536
00:27:35,759 --> 00:27:38,799
ever listen to what plocking It and Chanel said when

537
00:27:38,839 --> 00:27:41,519
they made that trade to basically clear the decks, they

538
00:27:41,559 --> 00:27:43,119
didn't know what they were doing. They just wanted to

539
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,640
clear the deck. And you added a Davis Bartans, you

540
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,119
added as Seth Curry, you added trade Man, and those

541
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,599
guys started hitting threes, and you started seeing space, a

542
00:27:52,599 --> 00:27:56,920
lot more spacing for these guys, and it like Brandon

543
00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:59,599
Miller became super effective. It was then where you started

544
00:27:59,599 --> 00:28:02,720
seeing the twenty the thirty point games from him, is

545
00:28:02,759 --> 00:28:05,240
when they started adding the spacing. If you add a

546
00:28:05,279 --> 00:28:08,240
lot more legitimate NBA talent to that to that roster,

547
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,759
I think you're gonna have. I do think that there's

548
00:28:11,799 --> 00:28:14,559
a there's a world where Brandon Miller averages twenty five

549
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,759
twenty seven, and I do think it could. I'm not

550
00:28:17,839 --> 00:28:21,839
saying fifty forty ninety, but if it's forty five, thirty

551
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,240
nine eighty five, I wouldn't be surprised.

552
00:28:26,039 --> 00:28:29,039
Speaker 1: I was watching Mark Williams. I don't know why we

553
00:28:29,079 --> 00:28:31,160
call it film or tapecause I'm not watching tape or film.

554
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,680
I'm watching Mark Williams possessions. The other day for something

555
00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:37,920
I was working on. I became enamored with him all

556
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:39,839
over again. I feel like it's been so long since

557
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,680
I watched him play in live game action. The dude

558
00:28:42,759 --> 00:28:46,799
is just big and moves just so incredibly well. Aside

559
00:28:46,839 --> 00:28:50,559
from staying healthy, what are you kind of looking to, like,

560
00:28:50,599 --> 00:28:53,599
what are you monitoring most closely about the development of

561
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,079
his whether it's on the defensive end, something specific about

562
00:28:56,079 --> 00:28:56,960
his offense, whatever.

563
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,200
Speaker 2: So I'm going to point out the one thing, like

564
00:29:01,279 --> 00:29:04,599
I worry about his strength. I do. I again we

565
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,440
brought I brought up earlier like that dude hasn't really

566
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,799
done his NBA strength training program. Start going back and

567
00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:15,680
looking at the film of it, like he's not strong

568
00:29:15,759 --> 00:29:19,200
enough to hold people off the blocks. I go back

569
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,519
to the Detroit team that like the Detroit team that

570
00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:26,359
got two of their wins, one of those where like

571
00:29:26,759 --> 00:29:31,400
Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duran punked straight punked Mark Williams

572
00:29:31,839 --> 00:29:36,119
and pushed him basically underneath the basket. If the strength

573
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:41,200
isn't there, this like he's I would put it this way,

574
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,599
he's not very effective if he cannot keep people off

575
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:46,720
the glass. Right now, he can do a lot of

576
00:29:46,759 --> 00:29:49,279
things on offense. I think his offense is ahead of

577
00:29:49,279 --> 00:29:52,599
his defense, quiet as it's kept. But at the same point,

578
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,279
his defense, his defensive ability, his ability to steal the rebounds.

579
00:29:56,599 --> 00:30:00,519
And honestly, Charles Lee was the most excited to work

580
00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,839
with Mark Williams and to get him to do some

581
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,440
more things because in his initial press conference he notes,

582
00:30:07,519 --> 00:30:11,000
and he's absolutely right, the reason that that Celtics team

583
00:30:11,079 --> 00:30:13,680
lost to that Hornets team, a big portion of that

584
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:15,880
was the effectiveness of Mark Williams and the fact that

585
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:17,119
he had a double double that night.

586
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, he is. I'm gonna remain fascinated with him. And

587
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,880
even just you mentioned his offense being ahead of his defense,

588
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:26,319
I think he even has there's room to explore or not. Okay,

589
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,440
le CUIs him as the hub, but if he's strong

590
00:30:28,559 --> 00:30:30,000
enough to where you're gonna trust him a bunch is

591
00:30:30,039 --> 00:30:32,440
the roller and you have space Like he's he feels

592
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:33,880
like he's gonna be a really good passer out of

593
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,960
those short roles. And Charles Lee obviously has like experience

594
00:30:37,039 --> 00:30:39,599
working with Biggs who can do that. So if this team,

595
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,359
if he's healthy, and then again the ground he can

596
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,000
cover on the defensive end to the strength you know, okay,

597
00:30:45,039 --> 00:30:46,720
we can get it. Muscle watch for him. I guess

598
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,519
as well too. But the ground he can just shoot

599
00:30:49,599 --> 00:30:51,759
in the half court from like a dead stop. Even

600
00:30:51,799 --> 00:30:55,400
it's just it's it goes beyond being good at being massive,

601
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:56,720
Like it doesn't when you kind of look at the

602
00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:59,079
ground he could cover, it almost doesn't make sense when

603
00:30:59,079 --> 00:31:00,920
you realize how like and long he is.

604
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,200
Speaker 2: It doesn't make sense. But at the same point, like,

605
00:31:03,559 --> 00:31:05,720
this is a guy that I thought did not have

606
00:31:05,799 --> 00:31:09,880
the foot speed to survive on the perimeter against NBA guards.

607
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,599
And one of the biggest things that he did quite

608
00:31:12,599 --> 00:31:15,440
early was block a Tray Young shot for the win.

609
00:31:15,799 --> 00:31:18,880
And I think that was his rookie season. So he's

610
00:31:19,119 --> 00:31:21,480
got the foot speed, he's got the requis at foot

611
00:31:21,519 --> 00:31:23,599
speed to be okay, and he's done a lot to

612
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:27,960
his body initially getting into the league. He's just got

613
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,720
to do a little bit more. He does that a

614
00:31:29,759 --> 00:31:33,400
little bit more, and he's able to stay healthy. That's

615
00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:35,799
the center that the Hornets have been looking for for

616
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:39,279
ever since quite literally Al Jefferson left. I think there's

617
00:31:39,319 --> 00:31:41,640
a possibility of that, But at the same point, I

618
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:43,519
want to see what he does strength wise, and if

619
00:31:43,519 --> 00:31:46,759
he can hold people off the block. I think it

620
00:31:46,799 --> 00:31:49,519
gets really really interesting and gets really really spooky for

621
00:31:49,559 --> 00:31:50,240
everybody else.

622
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 1: What do you make of the Miles Bridges contract three year,

623
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,680
seventy five million, just in terms of encore value, perfectly fine.

624
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:01,279
It declines and scaled two, which is if you want

625
00:32:01,279 --> 00:32:03,440
to extend him off of that, assuming you're planning to

626
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:05,319
keep him, not gonna make it a little bit more difficult.

627
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,119
I think the number is probably still high enough that

628
00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:08,759
if you wanted to keep him and extend him off

629
00:32:08,759 --> 00:32:11,359
that you'd be fine. But my first question with him

630
00:32:11,359 --> 00:32:13,720
before getting into his fit with this team is do

631
00:32:13,759 --> 00:32:15,960
you think they view him as a core piece of

632
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,519
this team or was this a deal that was almost

633
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:20,960
structured to be super tradable.

634
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:25,279
Speaker 2: I think it's structured to be super tradable. I think,

635
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,559
I know. I think we had this conversation. They don't

636
00:32:27,559 --> 00:32:32,440
trust him, They didn't trust him before the incidents, and

637
00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:36,039
then he has the incident obviously with domestic violence out

638
00:32:36,039 --> 00:32:40,319
in LA and then he has a second incident at

639
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:44,799
last season which ended up being unfounded or basically the

640
00:32:44,799 --> 00:32:50,480
cops didn't have enough evidence, and eventually, like he's been

641
00:32:50,519 --> 00:32:53,480
on the straight and narrow. I like the fact that

642
00:32:53,519 --> 00:32:58,240
it's a declining contract. I think there's a scenario where

643
00:32:58,359 --> 00:33:03,759
if this team is, as I don't know, fifteen seventeen

644
00:33:03,799 --> 00:33:09,279
wins in January, he's not here by the deadline. I

645
00:33:09,319 --> 00:33:14,240
think there's also a scenario where if they are top eight,

646
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:19,079
top nine in the East, they're probably not trading him either.

647
00:33:19,839 --> 00:33:24,960
Like the contract to Sketch is basically structured to where

648
00:33:25,799 --> 00:33:30,039
they can do whatever they want, and this also depends

649
00:33:30,039 --> 00:33:32,799
on what they believe, what to John Salon, who will

650
00:33:32,839 --> 00:33:36,960
talk about later, Like it also depends on his development,

651
00:33:37,279 --> 00:33:40,839
because I do think there is a world where Miles

652
00:33:40,839 --> 00:33:44,359
Bridges comes along and Miles Bridges does his thing to

653
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:47,839
John Salon comes along and then he becomes immediately tradable

654
00:33:47,839 --> 00:33:48,880
as soon as next summer.

655
00:33:50,079 --> 00:33:53,279
Speaker 1: Do you think he Let's say, LaMelo's healthy, Bredon Miller's healthy.

656
00:33:53,359 --> 00:33:57,400
Is he Miles Bridges? Is he less? Like? He can

657
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,640
be valuable? But is he less integral if you have

658
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:02,319
both of those guys healthy because of the No, he's

659
00:34:02,319 --> 00:34:03,000
not less.

660
00:34:03,279 --> 00:34:06,279
Speaker 2: No, he's not. He like the thing about Miles Bridges

661
00:34:06,319 --> 00:34:08,800
and the thing that this team lacks is that they

662
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,159
lack a little bit of nasty. He brings the nasty

663
00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:16,880
for them. For everything that Miles Bridges is, the one

664
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,480
thing he is is he's very very nasty. He's very very,

665
00:34:20,599 --> 00:34:23,880
very very important to that because otherwise they're a fairly

666
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,639
soft team and they can get pumped often. And that's

667
00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:29,880
why the addition of a guy like Grant Williams is

668
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,280
so important because it brings back up for a guy

669
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:34,800
like Miles Bridges that won't allow them to get pumped.

670
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,360
And I think that's also important because you still need

671
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,000
that mentality of this is our house. I care about

672
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,760
this again. I live this. And Miles Bridges through all

673
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:47,239
of his faults, and he loves his place. He loves

674
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,320
this town. He wants to be here, So there's that.

675
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,079
Speaker 1: And do you think also having both Grant Williams and

676
00:34:52,079 --> 00:34:55,480
Brennan Miller makes him more useful on the defensive end,

677
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:59,239
where I've always valued his malleability more than his actual profession.

678
00:35:00,079 --> 00:35:03,320
Speaker 2: Off ball, Yeah, his off ball again, his off ball defense,

679
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,440
his off ball willingness to be a shot blocker. A

680
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,880
lot of that stuff becomes unlocked when you have a

681
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,400
guy when you have other people that can defend, because

682
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,559
then it negates a lot of his on ball and

683
00:35:15,639 --> 00:35:19,480
his off ball. How would I put this? Missteps?

684
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:22,639
Speaker 1: So how did you feel about the decision to go

685
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,519
with t John Salon at number six?

686
00:35:26,159 --> 00:35:28,440
Speaker 2: Initially I was upset. I'm not gonna lie to you.

687
00:35:28,679 --> 00:35:31,599
Speaker 1: That video, by the way, but I love those behind

688
00:35:31,639 --> 00:35:33,760
the scenes looks where it's there's obviously stuff are not

689
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:35,519
going to see. But that one felt pretty candid and

690
00:35:35,559 --> 00:35:36,440
I really enjoyed it.

691
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,239
Speaker 2: Well, it felt pretty candid except for the portion where

692
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:41,800
they had clearly hit out the fact that they had

693
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,480
two guys above them. Above them, one of them was

694
00:35:44,519 --> 00:35:47,320
Reed Sheppard, the other one was Stefan Castle. I think

695
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,119
Stefan Castle would have been the ideal pick but it

696
00:35:50,159 --> 00:35:53,000
was very obvious during the draft he wasn't falling below four.

697
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:59,800
I completely understand the position of Jeff Peterson because I

698
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,639
I don't see him as raw as everybody else does.

699
00:36:02,679 --> 00:36:05,960
And this may be just me. I think there's a

700
00:36:06,559 --> 00:36:10,320
world where you can tell that kid, Okay, you're expected

701
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:14,760
to do two things rebound, not three things. Rebound, hustle

702
00:36:15,519 --> 00:36:18,400
and hit the corner. Three. You do those three things,

703
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:20,719
we can guarantee you anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes

704
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,599
a game. I think there's a lane for that to happen. Now, granted,

705
00:36:24,639 --> 00:36:27,199
a lot of that depends on his perimeter perimeter shot,

706
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:32,039
which at times is on and off, but the form

707
00:36:32,159 --> 00:36:34,519
is there. There's a lot of and I think the

708
00:36:34,519 --> 00:36:37,880
biggest thing with t Jhon Salon for me, and it's

709
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:39,760
one of the quotes that stuck out when I started

710
00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:44,320
doing some more background on him, is that his friend's

711
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:48,360
coach basically let him do whatever. There was no real structure,

712
00:36:49,039 --> 00:36:51,440
and I think that we're not going to do anything

713
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:55,920
with him. There's no real structure extended as far as

714
00:36:56,519 --> 00:36:58,880
Summer League this year. So I think he's really going

715
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,880
to start finally, is going to start really getting coaching

716
00:37:02,039 --> 00:37:04,800
on what to do and how to be an NBA pro.

717
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,360
I think the addition of a guy like TODJ. Gibson

718
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:10,519
helps because I think that's his going to be his

719
00:37:10,559 --> 00:37:13,760
pet project. I think he's going to be good. I

720
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:19,119
get why they did it. You wanted to in this

721
00:37:19,199 --> 00:37:21,079
kind of draft. You wanted a guy with a little

722
00:37:21,079 --> 00:37:24,280
bit more immediate impact, and maybe you might have wanted

723
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,360
a Cody Williams. Again, the guys I really kind of

724
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:31,400
was looking forward to Ron Holland a guy like Stefan

725
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:35,280
Cassel or Reied Shepherd. They were gone already. But for me,

726
00:37:36,559 --> 00:37:39,119
I think the only issue that you might have had

727
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:42,639
is the fact that you could not extract an asset

728
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:48,960
from either Memphis End or Portland in order to get

729
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:51,280
your guys. But I also get it. If you believe

730
00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:53,880
that Ta John Salon's going to be a part of

731
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,719
your culture going forward, then I understand the draft pick completely.

732
00:37:57,119 --> 00:37:58,599
Speaker 1: I want to say they're going to have a problem

733
00:37:58,639 --> 00:38:01,360
getting him to slow down. He feels like the quintessential

734
00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:05,800
dials always turned to eleven, which is exciting to watch.

735
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,159
But even the glimpses I saw of him at Summer

736
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:12,239
League was that dude's mother is like so good that

737
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,719
it's almost it's it's like almost too high, and so

738
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,039
I'm interested to see if they can get him to

739
00:38:17,039 --> 00:38:19,360
to slow down. I think not having him on the

740
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:21,519
ball is one way that will help him with that.

741
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,599
But I that stood out to just that I don't

742
00:38:24,599 --> 00:38:26,360
have a ton of background on these college guys. I

743
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:28,320
get knee deep into the draft right around it, so

744
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:31,000
I'll be curious to see how that sort of translates.

745
00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:33,719
Speaker 2: The one thing that really surprised me was his ability

746
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,760
to move off ball, Like that's the thing that basketball

747
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,320
like you when it came to moving off ball, because

748
00:38:39,679 --> 00:38:42,159
the one like you said that motor keeps going. So

749
00:38:42,559 --> 00:38:44,920
if he's the type of guy that's gonna grab it

750
00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:46,960
and go despite the fact that it might be one

751
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:49,360
on three and it's not really a good idea, that's

752
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:52,480
gonna that's gonna end quickly, especially with a guy like

753
00:38:52,519 --> 00:38:55,119
LaMelo Ball and another guy like Brandon Miller on this team.

754
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:57,800
That's gonna end quickly. But I do think that there

755
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,639
is a lane for him to be kind into okay,

756
00:39:01,119 --> 00:39:03,440
even if he spends a month in rings. Browing is

757
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,599
on the Mark Williams Program of Hey, we're gonna acclimate

758
00:39:06,679 --> 00:39:09,159
you to all this. Here's where you're gonna learn all this.

759
00:39:09,639 --> 00:39:12,440
And then when January comes up and we need some

760
00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:15,519
guys in the dog days of the season to help

761
00:39:15,559 --> 00:39:18,000
get us through, that motor is gonna help us win

762
00:39:18,039 --> 00:39:20,920
a couple of maybe win a game or two just

763
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:22,800
because of the sheer hustle, because no one else is

764
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:25,840
willing to try hard. I would also say that motor

765
00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:28,480
is needed here. You've seen enough games where you've seen

766
00:39:28,519 --> 00:39:33,159
guys be quite literally slow to the ball, and I

767
00:39:33,199 --> 00:39:37,719
think a guy like that only helps get other people going,

768
00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:40,440
get the crowd going, and it's going to be Hey,

769
00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:42,159
that rookie is willing to dive on the floor do

770
00:39:42,199 --> 00:39:44,239
all the dirty work, why aren't you? And I think

771
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:47,119
that's also kind of needed in this locker room that

772
00:39:47,239 --> 00:39:49,400
has been at times a little too cool for school.

773
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,679
Speaker 1: Do you envision him having an actual role with the

774
00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:55,119
big club this year?

775
00:39:58,559 --> 00:40:02,760
Speaker 2: Yes, because I I think a guy like that that

776
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,920
can rebound, that can hustle, it all really does depend

777
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,599
on his jump shot. If he can hit corner threes

778
00:40:08,679 --> 00:40:13,800
at a decent rate, he can defend pretty decently as is,

779
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:17,360
and that's without really good coaching. When you start to

780
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,840
get the really good coaching, he's only going to get better.

781
00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:23,079
I don't see a role for him early, but I can't.

782
00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:25,559
I can't help but see there's probably gonna be a

783
00:40:25,639 --> 00:40:29,360
role for him late because if he's done this improvement

784
00:40:29,519 --> 00:40:33,199
as he's theoretically done since now, I think there's a

785
00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:36,880
legitimate case that he may be guy eight, nine or

786
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,000
ten off off the bench this year and have a

787
00:40:39,079 --> 00:40:41,400
legitimate role just being the hustle Buckets guy as they

788
00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:43,679
develop everything else with them.

789
00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:47,000
Speaker 1: What did you make of the Josh Green addition? I

790
00:40:47,039 --> 00:40:48,519
found it curious very quickly.

791
00:40:48,599 --> 00:40:53,079
Speaker 2: Thank god, thank god, thank god that was it that

792
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:55,880
Thank god, because there's a perimitterive defender that that you

793
00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:57,760
know is actually gonna play sixty five games.

794
00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:01,159
Speaker 1: Well, okay, well that's where I think. I think the

795
00:41:01,199 --> 00:41:04,360
reality of Josh Green as a perimeter defender is going

796
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:05,960
in up being a rude awakening for a lot of

797
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,559
Hornets fans. And I think even his offensive fit, he

798
00:41:09,639 --> 00:41:12,199
wants to be on the ball more than he should be,

799
00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:14,119
and I don't trust him off of it as much

800
00:41:14,119 --> 00:41:16,599
as you should. And the contract is not terrible. They

801
00:41:16,599 --> 00:41:18,119
didn't give up a ton to get him. It was

802
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:20,119
instead of getting all three of those second round picks

803
00:41:20,119 --> 00:41:21,760
of Reggie Jackson, I think they got two of them.

804
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:24,639
Whatever it ended up being, So I just I found

805
00:41:24,679 --> 00:41:27,239
it interesting that they treated him like an asset to

806
00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:31,280
their team when I probably would have just preferred to ensure, like, well,

807
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:33,239
let's just make sure that there are enough available minutes

808
00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:37,000
for me, Sitch and Man and Cody Martin. I'm just

809
00:41:37,079 --> 00:41:39,079
I'm not a Josh Green guy, but I was curious

810
00:41:39,119 --> 00:41:41,360
to see, like how you felt about his fit and

811
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:42,400
outlook on this roster?

812
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:46,400
Speaker 2: Dan, do you realize that there may be I want

813
00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:49,599
to say four and I'm being kind in that four

814
00:41:49,639 --> 00:41:51,920
guys that probably can guard their men on the perimeter.

815
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:58,519
There might be it's Miller, it's Martin when healthy, it's

816
00:41:59,039 --> 00:42:03,519
Williams on the preim. And you see what I mean,

817
00:42:04,639 --> 00:42:06,800
It's like three. I got to three and I'm struggling

818
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:07,119
from here.

819
00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:11,320
Speaker 1: Maybe I suppose if he's being tethered to the Brandon

820
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:15,360
Miller minutes, I would like it or appreciate it more.

821
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:18,199
But if they're gonna use him defensively, how I think

822
00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:20,840
that they might try to maybe maybe Charles Lee coaches

823
00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:22,719
it into him, and maybe it was a matter of

824
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:27,000
kind of just like shifting opportunities in Dallas, but I couldn't.

825
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:29,199
And by the way, my co host Grant thinks Josh

826
00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:31,639
Green is fantastic. He thinks he's like some like diamond

827
00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:34,000
in the rough. So I just I don't know. I'm

828
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,679
always lower on John. It just feels like everything he's

829
00:42:36,679 --> 00:42:38,679
supposed to do well, he doesn't do well enough for

830
00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:41,159
me to have confidence in him.

831
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:44,719
Speaker 2: The Charlotte Hornets when it comes to perimeter defenders, Dan

832
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:49,599
are like that that man that that's on the island,

833
00:42:49,639 --> 00:42:53,039
that's on a deserted island, and a box of regular

834
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:57,039
route like dollar ninety nine crackers washes up and its

835
00:42:57,079 --> 00:43:01,119
completely dry, bags, completely dry. Happy to see the cracker.

836
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:04,679
You're just happy to see it. You're just happy. So

837
00:43:05,039 --> 00:43:08,559
I understand why you have your hesitations. I'm telling you

838
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:11,719
the fact that there are really not that many really

839
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:15,159
good defenders on the Charlotte Hornets. Again, he's the tallest

840
00:43:15,159 --> 00:43:18,119
short guy in the room. It's okay. I understand that

841
00:43:18,159 --> 00:43:22,760
there are there every there's everything that's trust me, it's

842
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:23,920
better than the alternative.

843
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:28,000
Speaker 1: At this point, does it feel like depth could be

844
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:31,159
a sneaky strength, yes of this roster, and if so.

845
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:33,800
Now I'm not saying I designed this question for you

846
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:36,400
to wax poetic about Cody Martin, but like, who's the

847
00:43:36,519 --> 00:43:40,840
non headline core player that intrigues you the most long term?

848
00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:43,079
And I think I mentioned Cody Martin, but like Grant

849
00:43:43,119 --> 00:43:44,719
Williams could be an answer here with the way that

850
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:46,920
he played for Charlotte after the trade.

851
00:43:47,199 --> 00:43:50,119
Speaker 2: Long term, long term is Grant. Long term is Grant

852
00:43:50,159 --> 00:43:51,480
because I think Grant's going to be here for a

853
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:53,840
while because again, he loves this place and I do

854
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,000
think that he feels a responsibility because he's from here.

855
00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:00,800
The other guy, like I'm kind of intrigued by what

856
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:02,639
Seth Curry is going to do this year. I am

857
00:44:02,719 --> 00:44:05,039
kind of intrigued by it because I think there is

858
00:44:05,079 --> 00:44:07,639
a room. There's a room for there's room for him

859
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:11,280
to do some really good things. He played pretty well

860
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:14,599
under Cliff despite the fact that like everyone was trying

861
00:44:14,599 --> 00:44:16,719
to go for this, go for theirs and get their buckets.

862
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:19,519
I think there's a lot of room for him to

863
00:44:19,679 --> 00:44:23,039
go come in here, do some really good things and

864
00:44:23,159 --> 00:44:26,079
establish himself and probably get one more multi year contract

865
00:44:26,079 --> 00:44:28,199
on the way out the door on the way the

866
00:44:28,199 --> 00:44:33,199
door for this first career. So I'm very intrigued by that. Vasimichic,

867
00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:37,079
who had a dynamic Olympics, was the second best player

868
00:44:37,079 --> 00:44:39,199
on that on that Serbian team. Obviously we know what

869
00:44:39,239 --> 00:44:43,360
the number one guy was, but he's very intriguing. And

870
00:44:43,559 --> 00:44:46,039
the storyline that the other storyline that I didn't mention

871
00:44:46,679 --> 00:44:50,119
is who's going to be there, because remember you have

872
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:53,000
Vasamichich who's on a seven million dollar contract for this

873
00:44:53,079 --> 00:44:55,840
season and next season. Then you have Trey Mann who

874
00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:59,199
was looking for his extension. One of those guys is

875
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:04,199
going to be gone by January. Whomever stays is probably

876
00:45:04,199 --> 00:45:06,960
going to have that long term backup role. I'm not

877
00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:09,840
sure who it's going to be. It could be Vasi Michic,

878
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:12,280
it could be trade man. The allure of trade man

879
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:14,480
has always been there since he was drafted a couple

880
00:45:14,519 --> 00:45:19,199
of years ago. I don't necessarily see it, and I

881
00:45:19,199 --> 00:45:22,159
would lean Vasi Michic and I would just see if

882
00:45:22,159 --> 00:45:24,480
I can tempt someone else on the allure of trade man.

883
00:45:24,639 --> 00:45:27,199
But at the same point, I can understand why he

884
00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:30,320
might be an intriguing factor this year. Oh you know

885
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:32,800
what I forgot almost.

886
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:34,920
Speaker 1: I think Nick Smith Junior, That's what I was gonna

887
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:35,760
ask you about next.

888
00:45:36,199 --> 00:45:39,960
Speaker 2: Nick Smith Junior. I think his like, I know we

889
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:44,079
can't take much from Summer League, but I see like

890
00:45:44,159 --> 00:45:47,400
a Peyton Pritchard like role for that kid. We keep

891
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:50,239
forgetting like he was the number one draft. He was

892
00:45:50,239 --> 00:45:53,280
the number one recruit in a high school recruit in

893
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:55,599
his class over guy like Brandon Miller for a reason.

894
00:45:56,559 --> 00:45:59,400
I think he's a guy that if you figure out

895
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,679
a role, and I think he's a guy that now

896
00:46:02,719 --> 00:46:04,480
that he's got a little bit more structured, now that

897
00:46:04,519 --> 00:46:07,320
he's kind of figured out the jump shot, I think

898
00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:10,719
a guy like Nick Smith Junior can flourish here, especially

899
00:46:10,719 --> 00:46:13,239
with a guy like Charles Lee who that immediately has credibility.

900
00:46:13,599 --> 00:46:16,119
And if you watch Summer League, they went out of

901
00:46:16,199 --> 00:46:19,000
their way to feature a guy like Nick Smith Junior.

902
00:46:19,159 --> 00:46:20,840
I think really intentionally.

903
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:22,639
Speaker 1: Drop twenty one on the Nuggets that one game.

904
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:26,280
Speaker 2: Mm hmm, Like there's they went out of their way

905
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:28,639
to do that. They only do you only do that

906
00:46:28,679 --> 00:46:31,039
for a reason. I think there's there's a significant role

907
00:46:31,079 --> 00:46:33,840
for Nick Smith Junior once he gets the defense down.

908
00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:37,320
Speaker 1: So you we kind of touched on this a little

909
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:40,519
bit before, but you mentioned that this organization seems like

910
00:46:40,519 --> 00:46:45,280
it's kind of structured to be like react to what's happening.

911
00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:47,239
And so if this is a team that's fully healthy,

912
00:46:47,639 --> 00:46:50,519
I think they're going to be better than people expect

913
00:46:50,679 --> 00:46:53,639
if that happens. Are they a candidate to lean into

914
00:46:53,679 --> 00:46:56,239
it and or even just let it play out, or

915
00:46:56,320 --> 00:46:59,239
could you could you even envision a scenario in which

916
00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:01,639
they are healthy, they're winning more than you might expect,

917
00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:03,920
but they still kind of steer out of it and

918
00:47:04,519 --> 00:47:06,440
prioritize the long term.

919
00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:14,559
Speaker 2: I can see them prioritizing the long term, but I

920
00:47:14,639 --> 00:47:18,320
also would need to see what, Like, let's say there's

921
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:21,199
something there's a I can't say no to for Miles

922
00:47:21,199 --> 00:47:24,559
Bridges deal. I can see them doing that. Like I

923
00:47:24,559 --> 00:47:28,800
can see a scenario where Miles Bridges plays extraordinarily well

924
00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:32,800
some team I don't know, maybe the Lakers offers something

925
00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:38,320
like a D'Angelo Russell plus expire plus other expirings and

926
00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:41,880
shed more salary. I can see a scenario where that happens.

927
00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:46,559
But I also, excuse me, can I also can see

928
00:47:46,599 --> 00:47:50,840
a scenario where they just don't make any trades and

929
00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:53,199
they're like Let's just wait till the sun Let's see

930
00:47:53,199 --> 00:47:57,159
what we have. Let's stress test this entire roster. Make

931
00:47:57,679 --> 00:48:00,320
if we make nine or ten and we end up

932
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:02,480
with a top five pick, great. If we end up

933
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:04,440
in the lottery in the back of the lottery in

934
00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:09,320
a loaded draft, that's also great. I think they're just

935
00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:11,880
going to be flexible. I don't think they're going to

936
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:14,360
lean anyway, like We're not going to know where they

937
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:18,199
lean until games play, and I think that's the best

938
00:48:18,239 --> 00:48:20,800
way for this for this organization to go for right now.

939
00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:23,800
Speaker 1: I think I would agree based off how they're built.

940
00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:25,880
And I would also agree just based on the fact

941
00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:29,480
that in this particular landscape, when you look at how

942
00:48:30,079 --> 00:48:32,119
there's one team out west we know that doesn't care

943
00:48:32,159 --> 00:48:34,679
about winning at the moment in Portland. They could stumble

944
00:48:34,719 --> 00:48:36,159
into some wins based off the talent they have, but

945
00:48:36,199 --> 00:48:38,159
they're clearly invested in the long term. There are some

946
00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:40,840
truly bad Eastern Conference teams, yes, right now, and so

947
00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:45,840
if you're not going to be bad or organically prioritize

948
00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:47,639
not winning however you want to phrase it, out of

949
00:48:47,639 --> 00:48:49,960
the gate, there will be less of an incentive for

950
00:48:50,039 --> 00:48:52,760
you to go that route. In the middle of the season,

951
00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:54,679
and so I almost feel like the most likely outcome

952
00:48:54,719 --> 00:48:59,079
for this team, barring a catastrophic injury that changes their trajectory,

953
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:01,880
is that they mostly just stamp pat and let this

954
00:49:01,920 --> 00:49:04,960
play out. And there's there's nothing wrong with that when

955
00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:07,199
you look at what's in place, there's enough long term

956
00:49:07,519 --> 00:49:09,719
even if you don't think some of these guys are

957
00:49:09,719 --> 00:49:12,679
in there for the big picture, there's enough prospects, enough

958
00:49:12,679 --> 00:49:15,559
long term equity on this roster has currently constructed that

959
00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:18,000
you can stand pat And that's perfectly okay.

960
00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:21,599
Speaker 2: The other thing you got to remember, losing game intentionally

961
00:49:21,599 --> 00:49:25,280
losing games does not help you. It doesn't help you anymore.

962
00:49:25,840 --> 00:49:29,119
This lottery, the way this lottery goes, you're better off

963
00:49:29,199 --> 00:49:32,360
trying to figure out exactly what you have for seventy

964
00:49:32,440 --> 00:49:35,719
games rather than try and intentionally lose. Because, hello, Detroit,

965
00:49:36,119 --> 00:49:38,960
you've intentionally tried. They've intenseally tried to tank. What last

966
00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:42,159
three years, they've only had one real one player to show.

967
00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:45,920
Speaker 1: For it, really there, and it's their situations all sorts

968
00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:47,840
of fucked up though. But like when you're in if

969
00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:50,159
you're the Hornets and you have an injury like LaMelo's, Okay,

970
00:49:50,159 --> 00:49:52,480
I get it, but when you already have, first of all,

971
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:54,719
they have two players that could technically be the guy.

972
00:49:55,119 --> 00:49:57,320
There's just like you're not necessarily in search of your

973
00:49:57,360 --> 00:50:00,119
north star at this moment. So I would understand it

974
00:50:00,199 --> 00:50:03,239
more if you pulled LaMelo and Red and Miller off

975
00:50:03,239 --> 00:50:05,880
this team. But they're already there. It's like, that's why

976
00:50:05,880 --> 00:50:09,000
Detroit there was the Kid Cunningham injuries. But they're all

977
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:10,199
sorts of messed up, but.

978
00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:13,840
Speaker 2: They are they are. But again, win it again. Intentionally

979
00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:17,480
losing games does not help you. We saw two teams

980
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:20,280
that tried to win as many games as they possibly could.

981
00:50:20,719 --> 00:50:25,559
That was Atlanta, even though like they were a dysfunctional mess.

982
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:28,119
And you had a team like Houston that was trying

983
00:50:28,159 --> 00:50:30,400
to win as many games as they could and they

984
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:33,199
looked up into the third pick. It's better to see

985
00:50:33,199 --> 00:50:35,199
what you have and win as many games as you

986
00:50:35,320 --> 00:50:38,920
have because the basketball gods and the odds will favor you.

987
00:50:39,239 --> 00:50:42,239
Because at this point the lottery has shown it doesn't

988
00:50:42,280 --> 00:50:45,519
give a damn about your plans. Got It's much more

989
00:50:45,559 --> 00:50:48,639
about do the best you can figure it out and

990
00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:53,440
basically treat your fans not in bad faith. For the

991
00:50:53,599 --> 00:50:56,960
entire season, And I think that's a very important point

992
00:50:57,000 --> 00:50:59,960
going forward, is that for the Charlotte Hornets a lot,

993
00:51:00,199 --> 00:51:03,880
it's very easy to say, Okay, wait for the draft

994
00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:07,079
next year and have the draft basically be lucy to

995
00:51:07,119 --> 00:51:11,920
your Charlie Brown. At the same point, like I just

996
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:15,119
like this team needs to show some good faith and say, hey,

997
00:51:15,159 --> 00:51:17,480
we're trying to win as many games in the eighty

998
00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:20,159
two as we possibly can because we know you're sick

999
00:51:20,199 --> 00:51:23,280
of us not trying for half the season and something

1000
00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:25,519
like that. It would be a show of good faith

1001
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:30,079
to do that. And so I do see them incentivizing, hey,

1002
00:51:30,119 --> 00:51:33,079
we're gonna go figure this out through eighty two, no

1003
00:51:33,159 --> 00:51:36,719
matter how much like in his initial statement Charles Lee

1004
00:51:36,719 --> 00:51:39,800
mentioned lean years, this might be one of those lean years.

1005
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:42,880
It might not, we don't know. But at the same point,

1006
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:45,159
I think it's important to try all eighty two to

1007
00:51:45,159 --> 00:51:45,920
figure that out.

1008
00:51:46,119 --> 00:51:48,440
Speaker 1: I also think it helps, even if you're not trying

1009
00:51:48,519 --> 00:51:50,960
or if you're not winning, when there's a clear direction

1010
00:51:51,079 --> 00:51:53,079
and it does feel like the groundwork has been laid

1011
00:51:53,079 --> 00:51:55,840
in Charlotte more so in years past, over the past

1012
00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:56,719
twelve months or.

1013
00:51:56,679 --> 00:51:59,199
Speaker 2: However you want to frame it, Absolutely like that's the thing.

1014
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:01,559
That's the other portion of this, Like a lot of

1015
00:52:01,559 --> 00:52:07,039
this already has the framework of guys, this is going

1016
00:52:07,119 --> 00:52:10,119
to be we want to build a sustainable product where

1017
00:52:10,159 --> 00:52:14,360
we're like they're doing again the infusion of money. The

1018
00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:17,280
practice facility is going to be improved. They're building a

1019
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:20,599
new practice facility quite literally right next to the Spectrum Center.

1020
00:52:21,119 --> 00:52:23,840
This is going to be a completely new district similar

1021
00:52:23,880 --> 00:52:27,840
to what you've seen in like Milwaukee and in Toronto

1022
00:52:28,079 --> 00:52:31,480
Jurassic Park, a lot of that stuff. So you're going like,

1023
00:52:31,639 --> 00:52:34,199
it's very much gonna be very different. And there again

1024
00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:37,800
the influx of investment. They're choosing to invest in this team.

1025
00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:40,760
I think they're in choosing to invest in player development

1026
00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:43,079
guys like Josh long Staff, got a lot of Guy

1027
00:52:43,159 --> 00:52:46,280
Lamar Skeeter, guys that were responsible for guys like Laurie

1028
00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:48,320
Mark and then figuring it out and everything else like that.

1029
00:52:48,639 --> 00:52:51,679
I do think that it kind of matters at this point.

1030
00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:54,199
So I do think that this is going to be

1031
00:52:54,320 --> 00:52:56,840
much more. We're gonna invest, we're gonna play all eighty two,

1032
00:52:56,880 --> 00:52:58,760
and we're gonna all figure it out at the same time.

1033
00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:01,719
Speaker 1: Are you ready for the Cookie cutter portion of the post.

1034
00:53:01,760 --> 00:53:03,119
Speaker 2: Let's let's do it. Let's do it.

1035
00:53:03,679 --> 00:53:07,800
Speaker 1: What does the top ten rotation look like for this team?

1036
00:53:08,559 --> 00:53:17,559
Speaker 2: Top ten? Ball ball Bridges Williams, both Williams at this point,

1037
00:53:18,280 --> 00:53:24,239
ball bridges, both Williams. Me chicch man. I'm not going

1038
00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:26,480
to put Cody Martin in there because Cody Martin's got

1039
00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:27,719
to show me something health wise.

1040
00:53:27,800 --> 00:53:30,320
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that stings, Richard.

1041
00:53:30,440 --> 00:53:33,599
Speaker 2: Trust me like me and you are like the last

1042
00:53:33,599 --> 00:53:36,320
two on Cody Martin Island like that.

1043
00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:38,840
Speaker 1: I was when it looked like he might have been

1044
00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:40,679
healthy for a minute last year, I was begging for

1045
00:53:40,800 --> 00:53:42,960
every contender to trade for him.

1046
00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:46,719
Speaker 2: Dude, Well, we talk about people that don't necessarily trust

1047
00:53:46,760 --> 00:53:48,800
the training staff. He might be one of them, and

1048
00:53:48,840 --> 00:53:52,239
he might have shut it down early. So again, if

1049
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:54,480
they traded for him and he ended up being healthy,

1050
00:53:54,519 --> 00:53:58,159
he might have been healthy. I don't know, but I

1051
00:53:58,199 --> 00:54:02,000
would I would point out that. Okay, so where was

1052
00:54:02,039 --> 00:54:04,920
I at? I was at, man, let's see, let's see

1053
00:54:04,960 --> 00:54:07,000
ball bridges.

1054
00:54:08,719 --> 00:54:13,880
Speaker 1: So I have for me Pennsylton is the starters, LaMelo,

1055
00:54:14,119 --> 00:54:17,239
Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams and Josh Green.

1056
00:54:18,320 --> 00:54:21,000
Speaker 2: I would say that's probably very safe to go with.

1057
00:54:21,719 --> 00:54:23,719
I would, I would, I would tell you that's safe.

1058
00:54:24,480 --> 00:54:30,199
Everything everyone after that is like william again, Williams, Richard's

1059
00:54:31,599 --> 00:54:36,000
man Mitridx is right there. And then I think that

1060
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:40,440
that last one is between Nixonith Junior and Seth Kurry.

1061
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:44,000
Speaker 1: And so you mentioned you're leaving Martin off until he

1062
00:54:44,039 --> 00:54:46,559
proved something healthwise, so you don't really expect at least

1063
00:54:46,639 --> 00:54:48,679
until maybe the second half of the season for Salon

1064
00:54:48,719 --> 00:54:49,639
to factor into that.

1065
00:54:50,159 --> 00:54:52,320
Speaker 2: I don't, Yeah, I don't, not not right now, not

1066
00:54:52,440 --> 00:54:55,039
right now, And that's okay because I think they that's

1067
00:54:55,039 --> 00:54:58,360
a long term project and if if this team doesn't,

1068
00:54:58,440 --> 00:55:02,280
if this team goes sideways and in any sort of

1069
00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:04,840
form of fashion, then he'll start playing in you anywhere,

1070
00:55:04,880 --> 00:55:06,559
and then he'll start figuring it out together.

1071
00:55:07,719 --> 00:55:09,760
Speaker 1: This is to some extent matchup dependent, and it could

1072
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:11,719
be you could default to what you think the starters are,

1073
00:55:11,760 --> 00:55:13,679
but what do you think will wind up being their

1074
00:55:13,760 --> 00:55:16,480
most used or most effective crunch time unit.

1075
00:55:18,360 --> 00:55:28,760
Speaker 2: Health dependent, it's going to be Ball, Miller, Bridges, Williams, Williams.

1076
00:55:30,719 --> 00:55:32,599
Speaker 1: So it's basically yeah, So really it feels like that

1077
00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:35,159
last like the let's call it the Josh Green spot

1078
00:55:35,199 --> 00:55:37,119
is going to be sort of fungible where they see.

1079
00:55:37,079 --> 00:55:39,639
Speaker 2: Very very fungible, and I could see Green closing games.

1080
00:55:39,679 --> 00:55:42,599
But I can also see a scenario where you're going

1081
00:55:42,639 --> 00:55:45,760
to need the shooting, and as you said, Josh Green

1082
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:49,599
provides it in some spots, but not really. And I

1083
00:55:49,639 --> 00:55:52,519
also think that Miles Bridges has kind of earned that

1084
00:55:52,559 --> 00:55:55,119
benefit of the doubt when it comes to closing games

1085
00:55:55,119 --> 00:55:55,800
at this point.

1086
00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:00,719
Speaker 1: Is there a weirdo, quirky, unconventional lineup you would like

1087
00:56:00,719 --> 00:56:02,440
to see them roll out at some point next season?

1088
00:56:03,880 --> 00:56:09,360
Speaker 3: Williams Salon, which Williams is this h Grant Williams et Centa,

1089
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:16,360
Grant Williams Salon, Martin Miller, Curry.

1090
00:56:17,679 --> 00:56:20,800
Speaker 1: So I have the exact same one, except I wanted

1091
00:56:20,840 --> 00:56:23,039
it to be like it's small, but it's really all

1092
00:56:23,039 --> 00:56:25,599
big at the same time. So I have Grant Williams,

1093
00:56:25,679 --> 00:56:29,639
Miles Bridges, Cody Martin, Brandon Miller. And I was debating

1094
00:56:29,639 --> 00:56:32,880
on like, I guess LaMelo just because he is six seven,

1095
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:35,280
But I wouldn't mind seeing message with that group either

1096
00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:37,039
or you go with Josh Green. I don't know if

1097
00:56:37,039 --> 00:56:38,440
there's enough playmaking there, then.

1098
00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:40,440
Speaker 2: There's not there's not like like that's the thing. That's

1099
00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:43,440
where I would think, like that's putting a lot on

1100
00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:46,280
a guy like Brandon Miller do playmaking. And I'm not

1101
00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:49,559
sure he's there yet, but I do think that, come on,

1102
00:56:50,519 --> 00:56:54,400
he's team he's proto Ta Mac. He's not fully actualized

1103
00:56:54,880 --> 00:56:58,000
that this battle station is not fully operational. Dan, like

1104
00:56:58,079 --> 00:57:02,599
we got to remember that, so like we gotta like

1105
00:57:02,760 --> 00:57:05,199
we gotta slow roll a little bit with him. But

1106
00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:09,000
at the same point, I really do think that this team,

1107
00:57:09,119 --> 00:57:11,480
Like I think there are a lot of fun lineups.

1108
00:57:11,519 --> 00:57:13,840
I think there's a lot there's an eighty bitty Bugs

1109
00:57:13,840 --> 00:57:17,239
lineup that would like with a big LaMelo like you

1110
00:57:17,280 --> 00:57:21,639
can do LaMelo man, Nick Smith Junior or Seth Curry,

1111
00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:25,480
Bridges Williams and do and just cause havoc and have

1112
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:30,199
five out at some points, which really does kind of help. Like,

1113
00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:32,880
I do think there's a lot of different fungible lineups

1114
00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:34,800
that can be thrown out there. And it's gonna be

1115
00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:36,960
really interesting to see what Charles Lee chooses to do.

1116
00:57:38,119 --> 00:57:41,159
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd be curious to see if he does downsize

1117
00:57:41,559 --> 00:57:44,119
in that way, just because of how much he values defense,

1118
00:57:44,159 --> 00:57:45,920
and I guess the way Grant Williams works is fine,

1119
00:57:45,960 --> 00:57:48,559
but who do you trust as kind of the the

1120
00:57:48,599 --> 00:57:51,000
big man guy in that's area has to be Grant Williams.

1121
00:57:51,039 --> 00:57:52,840
Then he's going to be your five and I don't

1122
00:57:53,199 --> 00:57:54,960
love him in those matchups. I will say one of

1123
00:57:55,000 --> 00:57:56,920
the things that impressed me about Brandon Miller too wasn't

1124
00:57:56,960 --> 00:57:59,400
all the time, but just like the number of contests

1125
00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:02,000
he ended up having around the basket too, which is

1126
00:58:02,440 --> 00:58:04,480
constantly thinks he was doing on defense. Hold me, I

1127
00:58:04,480 --> 00:58:06,519
know we're not on Brandon Miller anymore, but no, no.

1128
00:58:06,360 --> 00:58:08,880
Speaker 2: No, but but that's the thing like Brandon Miller, Like

1129
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:13,280
Brandon Miller could be a culture changer in terms of YO,

1130
00:58:13,360 --> 00:58:15,639
you got to show up every day like I'm working.

1131
00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:18,920
You got to work too. So it doesn't like a

1132
00:58:18,960 --> 00:58:21,519
lot of the stuff Brandon Miller did last year went

1133
00:58:21,599 --> 00:58:24,119
under the like went by the wayside because Wenby was

1134
00:58:24,239 --> 00:58:27,119
so awesome and it may happen again this year. But

1135
00:58:27,800 --> 00:58:30,239
like Brandon Miller is a number one pick in any

1136
00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:33,199
other draft other than the one he was in. And

1137
00:58:33,639 --> 00:58:36,480
the fact that the Charlotte whenets ended up lucking into

1138
00:58:36,519 --> 00:58:38,480
that is something that you taken on.

1139
00:58:39,320 --> 00:58:41,679
Speaker 1: Well, they deserve I think they deserve credit for taking

1140
00:58:41,719 --> 00:58:43,199
him too, because that wasn't a no break like if

1141
00:58:43,239 --> 00:58:44,880
you have the number one pick, okay, it's Wemby like

1142
00:58:44,920 --> 00:58:46,639
done deal. But you didn't have the number one pick,

1143
00:58:46,639 --> 00:58:49,039
and there was a natural decision to make at number two.

1144
00:58:49,039 --> 00:58:51,360
And the decision they made was widely panned.

1145
00:58:52,000 --> 00:58:55,039
Speaker 2: It was wily panned. But also it was because the

1146
00:58:55,079 --> 00:58:58,159
guy of the guy who made that pick, remember that

1147
00:58:58,280 --> 00:58:59,679
was that was not that.

1148
00:58:59,639 --> 00:59:03,039
Speaker 1: Was It was like people considered and they there's no

1149
00:59:03,079 --> 00:59:05,079
reason to think. Again, it's been one year for Scoot.

1150
00:59:05,079 --> 00:59:06,960
He dealt with injuries. There was a weird role in Portland,

1151
00:59:06,960 --> 00:59:09,719
but he was billed as generational, like people thought he

1152
00:59:09,760 --> 00:59:12,280
was gonna better than John Morant basically, so like to

1153
00:59:12,440 --> 00:59:15,360
pass on that even though you have Lamello, I think

1154
00:59:15,360 --> 00:59:18,159
it takes a level of golf that in his case

1155
00:59:18,239 --> 00:59:19,559
really worked out for them.

1156
00:59:19,679 --> 00:59:21,559
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's and the one guy that's capable of

1157
00:59:21,599 --> 00:59:23,599
doing that is the one that made the pick. It's

1158
00:59:23,719 --> 00:59:26,000
Michael Jordan because again I think and I think I

1159
00:59:26,039 --> 00:59:28,880
told the story like Michael said the pick was Miller

1160
00:59:29,039 --> 00:59:31,320
and has had said the pick was Miller for two

1161
00:59:31,360 --> 00:59:35,800
weeks and everybody come and find out everybody signed off

1162
00:59:35,840 --> 00:59:39,960
on it, like LaMelo signed off on it, Clifford signed

1163
00:59:40,000 --> 00:59:41,920
off on it, like a lot of.

1164
00:59:41,880 --> 00:59:44,400
Speaker 1: Mello signed off on someone who doesn't, you know, play

1165
00:59:44,440 --> 00:59:45,599
his position. That shocks me.

1166
00:59:46,119 --> 00:59:49,039
Speaker 2: Well, yes, but also at the same point, like and

1167
00:59:49,119 --> 00:59:51,079
I think we made this guy. I think I think

1168
00:59:51,159 --> 00:59:53,280
we talked about this last year. My thing is, what

1169
00:59:53,320 --> 00:59:56,679
if scoot? What if Scoots just Stefan Marbury like a

1170
00:59:57,000 --> 01:00:02,559
very good like has a like super super super like

1171
01:00:02,840 --> 01:00:05,320
first five years, and then the league figures him out

1172
01:00:05,599 --> 01:00:08,920
and he ends up eating Vasselin on a U stream somewhere.

1173
01:00:09,599 --> 01:00:12,119
Speaker 1: Or saying that Lebron is in on the same level

1174
01:00:12,119 --> 01:00:13,840
as Kobe. I don't know if you saw that recently.

1175
01:00:14,400 --> 01:00:19,360
Speaker 2: Well, I've learned to ignore Sefan Marbury since two thousand

1176
01:00:19,400 --> 01:00:22,880
and nine, and most like I was like the NBA,

1177
01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:25,480
I chose to ignore him after a certain point in time.

1178
01:00:25,719 --> 01:00:27,480
I wish everybody else did.

1179
01:00:29,039 --> 01:00:31,880
Speaker 1: So they're over under as we record this is said

1180
01:00:31,920 --> 01:00:33,960
it twenty nine and a half lower than last year,

1181
01:00:34,119 --> 01:00:37,199
which I found surprising. Are you taking the over and

1182
01:00:37,280 --> 01:00:39,360
under on that? And how many wins would you predict

1183
01:00:39,440 --> 01:00:39,840
them for?

1184
01:00:40,119 --> 01:00:44,239
Speaker 2: As a This is gonna surprise you I don't trust

1185
01:00:44,239 --> 01:00:50,679
them health wise, no, yes, but also but also that's

1186
01:00:50,719 --> 01:00:53,599
why I'm taking the under. I want to take the

1187
01:00:53,760 --> 01:00:56,719
over so bad because this feels like an easy over.

1188
01:00:56,840 --> 01:01:00,400
If they're healthy, I just don't know they will be. Like,

1189
01:01:00,519 --> 01:01:03,480
I think it's gonna take some time for this new program,

1190
01:01:03,559 --> 01:01:06,519
this new regime, all these guys come in and do everything.

1191
01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:10,159
I think it's gonna take a year for everyone to

1192
01:01:10,159 --> 01:01:12,679
get comfortable with one another. So there may be a

1193
01:01:12,719 --> 01:01:15,239
couple of scenarios where guys take a little bit of

1194
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:18,039
extra time to like, you know, not come back or whatever.

1195
01:01:18,519 --> 01:01:20,480
I think it's gonna take some time. I think that

1196
01:01:20,719 --> 01:01:22,400
is going to be a bridge that takes a little

1197
01:01:22,440 --> 01:01:26,000
bit of time this so next year, like I can

1198
01:01:26,039 --> 01:01:28,559
see them being under, but I also think it's going

1199
01:01:28,599 --> 01:01:31,000
to be probably health related more often than not.

1200
01:01:32,840 --> 01:01:34,480
Speaker 1: I think that's a fair stance, and we will do

1201
01:01:34,519 --> 01:01:37,679
our Me and Michaels Grant will do our over unders later.

1202
01:01:37,760 --> 01:01:39,400
This is a team that I feel like I might

1203
01:01:39,760 --> 01:01:42,599
smash the over on. But if they do hit the under,

1204
01:01:42,639 --> 01:01:45,679
I know you mentioned health, there's that, but I'll even

1205
01:01:45,719 --> 01:01:47,960
say if it's because of health, I really do think

1206
01:01:48,000 --> 01:01:50,199
then it's also what will contribute to it is they

1207
01:01:50,239 --> 01:01:53,280
are going to sell off some of their players because

1208
01:01:53,320 --> 01:01:55,280
this is not a thirty This is better than a

1209
01:01:55,280 --> 01:01:57,360
thirty win team on paper. If they're even a semblance

1210
01:01:57,360 --> 01:01:57,800
of healthy.

1211
01:01:58,119 --> 01:02:01,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that's the thing. Like if they they quite

1212
01:02:01,480 --> 01:02:06,079
quite seriously, if they end up with ten wins by January,

1213
01:02:06,679 --> 01:02:11,239
Miles Bridges is somewhere else, and then it depends on that.

1214
01:02:11,400 --> 01:02:13,920
If if Miles bridge is gone, then is try mangn

1215
01:02:14,519 --> 01:02:18,519
is Seth is Seth Curry headed somewhere like they're gonna

1216
01:02:18,559 --> 01:02:21,000
They have a lot of pieces that are easily move

1217
01:02:21,039 --> 01:02:27,119
offable and are and can be can help a good team,

1218
01:02:27,480 --> 01:02:31,280
a good playoff team solidify their bench going into the playoffs.

1219
01:02:31,320 --> 01:02:34,880
So I think there's a legitimate scenario where this team

1220
01:02:34,920 --> 01:02:37,320
does hit the under and it's also health, but it's

1221
01:02:37,360 --> 01:02:38,960
also them selling off players as well.

1222
01:02:40,400 --> 01:02:43,519
Speaker 1: Cut Is there anything any one something about this team

1223
01:02:43,559 --> 01:02:45,400
that we have not discussed. I didn't ask you about

1224
01:02:45,400 --> 01:02:48,159
that that you think we need to to chit chat about.

1225
01:02:48,960 --> 01:02:53,239
Speaker 2: Honestly, this the biggest thing is like it's a new

1226
01:02:53,320 --> 01:02:56,800
day in Charlotte that you had the Charlotte owners have

1227
01:02:56,960 --> 01:03:00,800
two owners that are willing to spend more and it's

1228
01:03:00,840 --> 01:03:04,039
the first time pretty much ever. And if you look

1229
01:03:04,079 --> 01:03:06,840
at the history of the Charlotte Hornets, so when you

1230
01:03:06,880 --> 01:03:10,159
start talking about like teams that again we start talking

1231
01:03:10,159 --> 01:03:12,559
about influx of talent, influx of cash and everything else

1232
01:03:12,599 --> 01:03:15,079
like that. This is going to be. This is not

1233
01:03:15,119 --> 01:03:16,880
going to be the Jordan Hornets where they're too cheap

1234
01:03:16,920 --> 01:03:19,440
to do stuff. This is gonna be much more of

1235
01:03:19,480 --> 01:03:23,519
the mid tier team that is going to spend money wisely,

1236
01:03:23,599 --> 01:03:26,000
but at the same point make a couple of bold moves.

1237
01:03:26,199 --> 01:03:28,000
We just don't know what those moves are just yet.

1238
01:03:29,599 --> 01:03:32,719
Speaker 1: Ganada, this was great everyone. The link will be and

1239
01:03:32,760 --> 01:03:34,719
the handle will be in the podcast and YouTube description,

1240
01:03:34,800 --> 01:03:38,480
but go follow Kanada at Nada describe. Thank you so

1241
01:03:38,559 --> 01:03:40,480
much for your time, man. I always appreciate you being

1242
01:03:40,519 --> 01:03:44,039
so generous with your time and insight. This is always fun, dude.

1243
01:03:44,239 --> 01:03:47,119
Speaker 2: We're going on a half decade of this. Next year

1244
01:03:47,159 --> 01:03:48,079
we go for number six.

1245
01:03:48,559 --> 01:03:51,760
Speaker 1: That'll be wild. That'll be that's the Jordan Bullsier. It's

1246
01:03:51,800 --> 01:03:52,920
not a stick feet.

1247
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:57,920
Speaker 2: Though, exactly so, Like dude, I love doing this anytime

1248
01:03:57,920 --> 01:04:00,960
we get with the chance to clear ups of narratives

1249
01:04:00,960 --> 01:04:03,000
about the Charlott corn Is. Naturally, I thought love giving

1250
01:04:03,039 --> 01:04:03,079
it