Speaker 1: What is up fellow Siko's I am Nama Valley. Can
we get you from the future. I just recorded to
Charlotte Hornets twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five look
Ahead with Kannada Edwards, who is over at CBS Sports.
He is the producer of the I on College Basketball podcast.
He's a pinship producer for the Pick six pod as well.
Follow him on the Twitter machine at Nada the scribe
that's at nat a thh e scribe. I will include
the handle link in the podcast and YouTube descriptions. We
had a great conversation about all things Charlotte Hornets, as
per usual. Just my quick reminder, as we're in the
early stages of these look aheads, help support the show
by subscribing across all platforms if you haven't already share
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But these look aheads are a bear, but we like
doing them, We enjoy doing them. We think that they're
valuable for all of us. But help us get them
out there and make sure that you're listening to all
of them, because rumor has it there are how many
teams are there in the NBA now, like twenty, so
we're probably gonna have like almost fifteen look aheads, just kidding,
there should be thirty unless something catastrophic happens to yours. Truly.
That's enough of my preamble, though, Let's get to talking
all things Charlotte Hornets with the one, the Only Edwards Banada.
It has been too long. Thank you so much for
you for coming back. This is I don't know if
you know this. This is your half decade of coming
back for the hardware knock Chlotte Hornets. Look ahead, you've.
Speaker 2: Now five years straight. Five years, man, dude, where is
the time gone?
Speaker 1: I don't know. It feels like it's been longer and
shorter at the same time.
Speaker 2: It feels like shorter. It really does feel like shorter
to me. Like I remember the first time you asked me,
and I was working at a wholly different company than
I was now, and like us recording it in that
studio rather than in the middle of my like office
slash kitchen like we're doing right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there was no video back then either. Like we
we've all moved up in the.
Speaker 2: World, yes, exactly, We've evolved we've evolved. If anything, we
have evolved.
Speaker 1: And it's it's always awesome when I can continue to
trick people into coming back on that. That may time
tricking me, dude, dude, Actually, after twice, it's your own fault,
That's what I say. It's like the first two times
it's kind of like, but after that it's it's all
on you. So but I always appreciate you coming back.
These look aheads are always so much fun to talk
to you about. The Charlotte Hornets, and they are I mean,
I'll probably say this about every team, but they have
become uniquely fascinating to me basically since the sale that
Michael Jordan told them and everything that's happened since then.
And I think that's probably for me anyway. That's where
I want to start, is we could look at it
through the lens of ever since they installed Jeff Peterson,
but even a little bit before that. What have you
kind of made about, you know, this current regime that's
in place, what they did around the deadline, the overarching direction,
and what it says about where they're headed.
Speaker 2: They've quite simply they've basically decided to infuse a whole
bunch of money that either the Jordan Will administration was
either unwilling to do or unable. And I'm probably gonna
lean to the ladder because, like, just take this summer
for an example, everybody, like the running joke around Charlotte
was that the training staff was always responsible for getting
these people hurt. And there were some whisperers and some
rumblings that certain guys may or may not have could
have played this season at the end towards the end
of the season and did not because quite simply, they
didn't trust the training staff. So what you see so ironically,
if you go back and look at the Hornets Hornets
Twitter page, they announced a brain new staff medical staff,
and you read the Rod Boon piece about it. They've
installed a whole bunch of stuff that a whole bunch
of guys that previously weren't there. There is an investment
in this team that I have never seen. I take again,
I'll point it to another thing because normally, like you've
seen how the Charlotte Hornets operate, especially if there's a
guy that you think that they like on their summer
league team, what do they normally do? Like it's cheap,
it's a nice backup fifth fourteenth, fifteenth man type filler thing,
and normally they signed the guy because you know what,
we can get him for cheap. We can get him
in and out and we don't have to worry if
he plays or not, because it's most likely he won't play,
except if you know the Hornet's history injury history, there's
a really good chance he's absolutely gonna play. So the
fact that they've done that, then they signed a Mussa Diabat,
They've invested heavily in scouting, They've invested heavily in analytics.
It's very clear they've invested very much in health. There
is a clear infusion of money. And that's the biggest
difference between what the Jordan regime did and what the
what I like to call the shlock in slash Jeff
Peterson era of the Charlotte Onnets. So far.
Speaker 1: That's why I love talking to experts and people who
cover every team because you can see. I saw the
medical staff thing, and there's the whole isn't LaMelo Ball
wearing fancy ankle braces now? So you see that. But
just like even before we started recording you mentioned this,
I wasn't aware of the extent to which like this
new you know, ownership resim had funnel the actual money
into all these different areas of the organization.
Speaker 2: Like it's funny because they the first thing they did
was raise ticket prices, which obviously is like, you're raising
ticket prices on a twenty one win team, that's naturally
going to be a recipe for disaster, right Unfortunately, like like,
but fortunately they're trying to reinvest it. They're trying to
put new stuff in the Spectrum Center. They're trying to
make this the proper crown jewel of basketball, because it is,
Like the biggest thing that I think is overplayed sometimes
is the Charlotte Hornets had that long cell out streak
in the middle of the nineties, and people cared about
basketball back when we had like back when mono culture
was actually a thing. So I get that. But at
the same point, this is probably one of the most
underserved fan bases in the league. So what they're seeing,
what Schlockin is seeing at this point, Rick rich Na
and gay Plot and have seen is that hey, if
we just invested in this a little bit, more people
are actually going to invest in this team. And so
it's very like I find it very, very fascinating that
they're doing this right now, and it's a breath of
fresh air, because there was a lot of a lot
of the stuff that like fans have been crying about, like, oh,
let's get make sure we get a backup point guard. Hey,
they have to vasa mea Chitchen tray Man, A lot
of the stuff people have been crying about, getting the
getting the perimeter defenders. Besides Cody Martin, who has been
injury riddled, despite the fact that he is really above him.
Speaker 1: I will continue to die on the Cody Martin hill
until your body falls apart.
Speaker 2: Me, me and you both, because there's no reason that
he can't be like Caleb Martin. But the fact that
there's there's been this clant like all Gay Ploq, and
Rick Snall and Jeff Peterson have done. Have basically decided,
you know, we're just going to do the obvious stuff,
and just by interrusting the obvious stuff, they've earned themselves
a benefit of the doubt that I didn't see them
have it up until not for not for a little bit.
But the fact that they've come in and they've affected
this much change is very, very amazing to me.
Speaker 1: And what do you sort of given all that change,
what do you think it says about the actual direction
of this team. From my read of it, when you
look specifically what happened at the trade deadline, it's okay,
they're really kind of married to a more gradual approach here.
This isn't necessarily an organization that's going to look to
I don't want to use the word acceleration, because when
the opportunity presents itself, you can all justify that. But
they're not going to short circuit their future in favor
of like, well, let's be this like thirty eight win
team that might make the play in.
Speaker 2: See that's the thing I think they I think they
hedged on that. I think what they did was they
hedged there are people that in that building that clearly
believe in LaMelo Ball. Brandon Miller obviously is going like
people believe in him. But I think there's people that
believe in the talent of this team. And while it
may look gradual, there's a belief in that building that
they'll compete for nine or ten this year and at
the worst, if they get nine or ten and they
pull in Atlanta Hawks, where Oh, you lose the playing game,
but you gain the first pick and get Cooper flag
Like that's they'll they'll live with that. I think the
idea behind this team is we just want to get
all the rot out. We want to get the guys
that actually care about ball. We want to get the
guys that don't. Just like I think they took the
Terry Rogi quote. I think ownership specifically took that Terry
Rogier quote about losing being in the DNA, and I
think they took that very very personally, and so they
brought people who actually care about this, namely Grant Williams,
a guy that's got roots and is anchored here. I
think a lot of that matters because they got guys
that want to come in here, prove something, win basketball games,
and if they get paid off the back end of that,
that's even better.
Speaker 1: So what did you make of the decision specifically to
go with Charles Lee as their head coach and do
you have any insider thoughts or expectations for what the
guiding principles of this team are going to be under him,
even if it's just kind of looking at the roster
and reading and reacting off of that.
Speaker 2: I look at what they did in Summer league. Quite honestly,
like Charles Lee came in during Summer League, brought an
energy that we have not seen in this team since
Clip's first run. Like not even James Brago came int
did as much change. I think there's an infectious spirit
in this team. I think this team is going to defend.
I think this team is going to like Charles Lee,
having those two rings is going to affect so much
change and so much credibility because it's like, hey, I've
seen this, I've done this, so why don't you pay
attention to these little details? If he's able to affect
change with a summer league roster, I really do. I'm
very excited to see what he does in October, in
these times, in these preseason games, to affect change with
guys like LaMelo Ball, because we all know he's LaMelo
Ball is not really a willing defender. If he becomes
semi willing, if he just becomes We're not asking for
him to be elite perimeter defender, LaMelo. All we're asking
probably is be passable LaMelo Ball defender. Just be that?
Speaker 1: And do you mean letting ball handlers go by him.
Speaker 2: I'm just well, well well well well yes, yes, fair, fair,
fair that is, but but like I just want like
all you just have. He just has to be not
even like semi credible. We're not expecting that much.
Speaker 1: He's size to do. It isn't I make a joke,
but it's not like. This isn't someone who like you
look at some players and it's I don't see the
pathway to them being good on the defensive end. It's
not that way with LaMelo.
Speaker 2: It's focus. It's completely focused. And that's the thing. Like
if you get if you get the attention to detail,
hammer down, this is quite literally a thirty five win
team off the I feel like this is a thirty
five win team off the rip if they if health
abounds again. The health thing is probably the biggest thing
that sunk this team over the last two years. If
they get that part fix, and if they if the
players in that locker room trust the training staff for
the first time in about four or five years, like
at some point like this team can come together. And
if they come together, or if they're a middling team,
then we're gonna start seeing even more changes and then
we're gonna start seeing people. But more importantly, like the
Charles Lee piece was so important because for a long
time I didn't think they were gonna get this done.
But the more important portion of this is that they
got their guy. And it's very rare that you've ever
seen Charlotte Hornets get their guy. It's always been Okay,
it'll be Ken Kenny Atkinson, impossible and oops, it turns
into Steve Clifford like something along the lines of that.
It's never been that's the number one target. We want
that guy, and we actually and the Charlotte Hornets actually
get him. That is a change, and that is a
big testament to what Peterson has done in terms of relationships.
It's also it's also a big thing in terms of
what gay plot and rich Rick Shnall, who I'm going
to mention a ton of times in this podcast. If
you set a drinking game to it, don't because you're
gonna end up hurting yourselves.
Speaker 1: But more importantly, try to pronounce shall after having a
few adult beverages too.
Speaker 2: No no no, no, no no no. That's even worse like
that that ends up like that might like if you
try to do that, that might end up being the
HRG violation somewhere.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I can't even probably say three
times in a row sober.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. But like I, that's the thing. It is
truly a new day, or at least it feels like
everyone I've talked to feels like it's a truly new
day because there's so many different but exciting things in
Charlotte for like the first time in quite a long time.
Speaker 1: So I have a ton of my own questions and
there's a chance to answer to this steps on the
toes of those, which is that's the point that would
be in lockstep. But what is your aside from the
stuff you've just mentioned, what is the biggest storyline that
you're monitoring with this team heading into twenty four to
twenty five?
Speaker 2: How many games does LaMelo Ball play? Like it's it's
that simple. If LaMelo Ball plays fifty to seventy five games,
this team is winning at minimum, Like you can put
your money on the over, which I believe is twenty
nine point five right now. So you're telling so at
this point, if you tell me he's playing fifty to
seventy five games, then this team is going to win
thirty games or more. If Mark Williams, who has not
played more than forty games, play like it's it's all
about health.
Speaker 1: This is wild that those two have played. I know,
Mark Wallings been the league for two years, They've played
forty games together. That's not even a half season.
Speaker 2: That's exactly think about it like this. Mark Williams probably
hasn't had a full offseason weight training program with the
Charlotte and like as a pro because last year he
got hurt because of his thumb, and you know, you
can't really do any lifting on it with a bad thumb.
Like that, you're talking about a dude that might be
slightly underdeveloped. But like, if those two play fifty games,
I think this team is going to be better than
people think. I don't. I'm not saying sure playoff thing.
I'm not saying they're Cleveland from a few years ago.
But what I am saying is this team has been
hindered a lot by and I do think that if
they do get healthy, a lot of things are going
to fix itself. And the vision that Mitch Cupcheck had
but didn't have the finances to really pull off, I
think that will be actualized at this point.
Speaker 1: So where are you kind of at. You mentioned the
defensive stuff, but where are you kind of at with
LaMelo Ball? I think before his injury, finishing still not great,
but like he got to the rim, like the driving
part of his game had increased. He avers like nineteen
drives for thirty six minutes last year, which is wild.
But like, what else are you looking forward to see
from him? Or just like do you see him maybe
improving his own shot selection in the ecosystem of a
team that has more of a direction, more of a
I guess, like an actual ecosystem or pecking order, a
hierarchy or talent around him in place.
Speaker 2: Like basically, the thing is, Charles Lee is not the
substitute teacher. There were times that you could tell that
LaMelo Ball and others treated Steve Clifford as the substitute
teacher in that in that locker room, and he tried
to get the attention to everybody, he couldn't and he
lost the locker room clearly towards the end, because you
would hear a whole bunch of different things from Steve Clifford.
I expect LaMelo Ball to be better in all facets.
In all facets, I expect there to be a competent
defender at some point. I expect the shot selection to
get better. I expect a whole like I expect the
drives to get better. Quite honestly, like I think there
is going to be improvement. The question is how healthy
is he actually going to be? Because if he's not healthy,
all of this is moot. And this team is probably
hovering around twenty five, twenty seven, maybe even twenty nine wins.
Speaker 1: What did you make? And I'm sure you saw it
of there was this national discourse for a while. It
did kind of peter out that maybe the Hornet should
consider trading LaMelo so that they can reorient around Brandon Miller.
And I want to put this Freddie Horne's fans thing
and saying, oh, here we go to the national NBA podcast,
bring up Amelo trade stuff that doesn't exist. I did
not ascribe to that idea. I don't actually even understand
the genesis of it, because I don't see redundancies in
these players really at all. I think that they can
compliment each other quite nicely. So the fact that that
cropped up, like did you make anything of it? Like
what I just I found it fascinating that it was
even a discussion.
Speaker 2: I guess I'm not surprised it's a discussion. This is
the same thing that we do, like unfortunately, the national
media does this with a lot of the smaller, smaller
max level guys. At the same point, I think it's
maybe a year eighteen months too soon to start entertaining that.
I think there's got to be a lot more stuff.
And despite the fact that you do hear rumblings on
occasion that everyone, like the Hornets, are wanting to get
out of the LaMelo LaMelo ball business. I put it
this way, I wouldn't make any sort of intimations that
he's done or they're gonna trade him, because it doesn't
make sense. At this point. He is your draw card. Now. Granted,
Brandon Miller's come about and made it kind of interesting,
but at the same point, we're talking about a guy,
when healthy that was a twenty point again of twenty
point per game score and made things easy for quite
literally everybody on the floor that he was with.
Speaker 1: And it's with seven point guard Like I just like,
those do not they do not grow on trees.
Speaker 2: You don't exactly, you don't trade that unless you absolutely
have to or he basically says, yo, I'm not playing
for you anymore. And by the way, you can't really
do that anymore because the new CBA basically makes that
virtually impossible unless you're willing to sacrifice millions and millions
of dollars. So, unless they're real, unless both sides really
won out, I don't see the point in having this
discussion unless and I put this like, unless they start.
Unless I win fifteen games, they win fifteen to twenty games, again,
maybe it becomes a conversation. And even then, most likely
he's hurt and you're trading him for quite literally pennies
on the dollar.
Speaker 1: That's the That's the thing is that when you're outlining
the fifteen win scenario, it's probably because LaMelo isn't playing,
and at that point his trade value is then nuked
because he was injured again exactly.
Speaker 2: And and remember this is the first year of his extension.
So that's a forty million dollar contract that someone's going
to have to eat and be willing to eat and
be willing to rehab a whole lot of stuff. The
biggest thing, like the ankle bracest thing was my biggest
complaint about LaMelo Ball, that's gone. Now like he again
it's clear he's got the ankle bracest. It's clear he
trusts this medical staff. So now there's going to be
more of an attention on being a professional. He does that,
he's untradeable at this point, because again, he takes care
of his body, he becomes a professional. He's wearing the
ankle braces, he's doing all this stuff. He's going like
he's gonna play fifty games if that at minimum. If
he does that, and if he plays at minimum fifty games,
he plays sixty games, he plays sixty five, we may
see the return of All Star LaMelo Ball if that happens.
Speaker 1: If he plays, if he hits the games threshold played threshold,
I firmly believe I tend to be higher on him
than consensus. Like we're talking about an All NBA caliber
player here. I wouldn't guarantee it, but if he plays
in sixty five plus games, my guess is he will
be in the conversation, even if it's on the periphery.
And that is an incredibly difficult player to find exactly.
Speaker 2: Like that's you don't trade those guys unless unless you're
getting quite quite literally the Paul George package, like that's
what you get, Like, that's what you trade him for.
And there's no team that really has that outside of
Utah and maybe okay, okay, see, yeah that really has
it and okay, see doesn't need that guy.
Speaker 1: So so my co host and I Grant were pretty
big advocates of the Charlotte Hornets drafting Scoot Henderson. And
while neither of us are out on Scoot Henderson, we
both fell in love with Brandon Miller last season. That
was just I don't know, I shouldn't say I've never
turned like done in about face more quickly, but it
was just every most of the time when I watched him,
I just came away thinking, oh, this guy has more
of the IT factor than I really thought, and even
people experts seem to portray coming out of the draft.
So I have a twofold question. What impressed you? Were
surprised you most about what he did as a rookie.
Speaker 2: It was his willingness to be vocal, like, okay, that
was my thing. He would tell people, get back. This
dude were LaMelo Ball is a little bit more laid back.
This dude wants to win at all costs. He is
a jerk. He is absolutely that kind of guy where
like his mentality is yo, I want to cut you.
He's old school, and you can see why, Like Michael
Jordan basically was attracted to this dude when and zagged
when everybody thought he should zig with Scoot Henderson. I
am not out on Scoot Henderson either. Initially I was
all on the scoop wagon, and then I started really
looking at the at the film for Brandon Miller and
I think we had this conversation last year where it
was I thought, at the minimum, Brandon Miller was going
to be Kegan Mury Murray and then you started talking
to Cliff. Then people started talking Cliff. Cliff starts started
throwing out the Tracy McGrady comparisons, and I'm like, oh, okay, cool. Yeah,
Like that was when I that's when it really started
chanting for me, is when people started throwing out the
Tracy comparisons and people really psyched about that dude in
that building early.
Speaker 1: So I don't know that I must have missed that,
and like, yeah that I'm thinking about it, I'm curious
as to whether he'll ever be the same playmaker that
Tracy McGrady could be, but like.
Speaker 2: He doesn't athleticism, he doesn't have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's like like now that I'm thinking about in
my head and visualizing, like that's a pretty good less
athletic Tracy McGrady. Okay, fine, he seems like he might
be a little bit craftier. I mean one of the
things that or especially on defense, that might have been
the thing that stood out to me. I thought he
did a good job getting to his mid range game.
He was better there than I thought. I think he
shot like forty seven percent on pull up twos, which
for a rookie is like I would say, that's yeah,
But like the defense from him, and it's just like
even when he's not on the ball, like the ball denial,
Like it's just, oh, there's Brandon Miller, like his dude
didn't get the ball because he refused to let him
even have it. Uh man, I'm gonna like laser into that, Tracey.
I might click this and have to like make that
a YouTube clip that is a shout out Steve Quipper
for that comp.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like clif Cliff came up with that comp and
like you didn't I didn't see it initially, but then
you start seeing it, and you start, like you said,
the playmaking. Playmaking is the only thing that short on.
But I trust that Charles Lee is going to get
that out of them. I thought there were those that
compared him to Tatum. I don't necessarily see it, but
I can.
Speaker 1: I understand cause Brandon Miller would get minutes for Team USA, right.
Speaker 2: Brandon Miller might be a better defender than Jason Tatum
might be might be. And I don't want the Celtics
fans all of my mentions thinking about like like no,
like keep Brandon.
Speaker 1: On Twitter, jeez.
Speaker 2: But at the same point, like, Brandon Miller is a killer.
Brandon Miller. And if the reason that they do end
up trading LaMelo balls because Brandon Miller, it basically becomes
Highlander and is again and isn't that there can be
only one thing? Then I get it. But that dude
is a killer. That dude might end up being the
de facto leader of this Hornets group by the end
of this season. And there's already kind of established leader
positions with Miles Bridges, who will get into later.
Speaker 1: So what is one thing I guess we touched on
it a little bit that you'll be looking to see
from Brandon Miller though in year two. Aside from I
think the obvious thing is like, okay, well, what does
it look like when he plays more with Mark Williams
and LaMelo Ball.
Speaker 2: I want to see, like what he does with added strength.
I thought he finished pretty decent at the rim last year.
If he gets any sort of added strength, people are
getting dunked on pretty regularly, because he did pretty pretty well,
like the athleticism. It's not Tracy McGrady. But it surprised
me because I thought he was more close. He was
closer to Chris Middleton than Tracy McGrady. It turns out
I was wrong. He's closer to Tracy McGrady than Chris Middleton.
I think Muscle Watch with him is going to be
very very intriguing, Like what does he do with some
added bulk? What does he do? Because because the one
game he did in Summer League, and I know we
can't take much from Summer League, that release got quicker.
That's the one thing. Like if you go back and
look at the one game he played in some league,
you just look at that release, that release looks ridiculously
quicker than it was last year, and just as deadly.
And if that's the case, that man is going to
be shooting a lot more threes and maybe maybe, just maybe,
like depending on how this season goes. The Hornets have
two All Stars.
Speaker 1: And do you think I mean he added strength and
the ability to do in theory finish better. And I'm
not again, I was impressed with his mid range game,
but it did have the tendency to become a little
bit of a crutch at points that something that could
help him then get to the basket more.
Speaker 2: I think it'll help him get to the basket, but
I think it also helps him. I think it'll help
his midrange game too, because I do think that it does.
Like we kind of ignore how much strength it takes
to stop on a dime, get your body right and
finish possibly over a defender in the mid.
Speaker 1: Range, especially if you're not generating a ton of separation,
right exactly.
Speaker 2: That And that's the other thing, like and you talk
about generating separation. There's stuff with his handle that he
can clean up, and that he may have cleaned up,
but he's good enough to where if he never cleans
up the handle, he'll still be fringe all NBA. He
cleans up that he cleans up the handle sky is
quite literally the limit for that kid.
Speaker 1: The other thing that I kind of just thought of,
and it's a duh thing, is that this team is
better suited. It would have been this case last year,
but when they're healthy, but the team is better suited
to have improved spacing around him, and that just makes
his job easier no matter what level he is trying
to score from.
Speaker 2: It's funny you mentioned that because this might be like
last year, funnally like and this is and if you
ever listen to what plocking It and Chanel said when
they made that trade to basically clear the decks, they
didn't know what they were doing. They just wanted to
clear the deck. And you added a Davis Bartans, you
added as Seth Curry, you added trade Man, and those
guys started hitting threes, and you started seeing space, a
lot more spacing for these guys, and it like Brandon
Miller became super effective. It was then where you started
seeing the twenty the thirty point games from him, is
when they started adding the spacing. If you add a
lot more legitimate NBA talent to that to that roster,
I think you're gonna have. I do think that there's
a there's a world where Brandon Miller averages twenty five
twenty seven, and I do think it could. I'm not
saying fifty forty ninety, but if it's forty five, thirty
nine eighty five, I wouldn't be surprised.
Speaker 1: I was watching Mark Williams. I don't know why we
call it film or tapecause I'm not watching tape or film.
I'm watching Mark Williams possessions. The other day for something
I was working on. I became enamored with him all
over again. I feel like it's been so long since
I watched him play in live game action. The dude
is just big and moves just so incredibly well. Aside
from staying healthy, what are you kind of looking to, like,
what are you monitoring most closely about the development of
his whether it's on the defensive end, something specific about
his offense, whatever.
Speaker 2: So I'm going to point out the one thing, like
I worry about his strength. I do. I again we
brought I brought up earlier like that dude hasn't really
done his NBA strength training program. Start going back and
looking at the film of it, like he's not strong
enough to hold people off the blocks. I go back
to the Detroit team that like the Detroit team that
got two of their wins, one of those where like
Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duran punked straight punked Mark Williams
and pushed him basically underneath the basket. If the strength
isn't there, this like he's I would put it this way,
he's not very effective if he cannot keep people off
the glass. Right now, he can do a lot of
things on offense. I think his offense is ahead of
his defense, quiet as it's kept. But at the same point,
his defense, his defensive ability, his ability to steal the rebounds.
And honestly, Charles Lee was the most excited to work
with Mark Williams and to get him to do some
more things because in his initial press conference he notes,
and he's absolutely right, the reason that that Celtics team
lost to that Hornets team, a big portion of that
was the effectiveness of Mark Williams and the fact that
he had a double double that night.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he is. I'm gonna remain fascinated with him. And
even just you mentioned his offense being ahead of his defense,
I think he even has there's room to explore or not. Okay,
le CUIs him as the hub, but if he's strong
enough to where you're gonna trust him a bunch is
the roller and you have space Like he's he feels
like he's gonna be a really good passer out of
those short roles. And Charles Lee obviously has like experience
working with Biggs who can do that. So if this team,
if he's healthy, and then again the ground he can
cover on the defensive end to the strength you know, okay,
we can get it. Muscle watch for him. I guess
as well too. But the ground he can just shoot
in the half court from like a dead stop. Even
it's just it's it goes beyond being good at being massive,
Like it doesn't when you kind of look at the
ground he could cover, it almost doesn't make sense when
you realize how like and long he is.
Speaker 2: It doesn't make sense. But at the same point, like,
this is a guy that I thought did not have
the foot speed to survive on the perimeter against NBA guards.
And one of the biggest things that he did quite
early was block a Tray Young shot for the win.
And I think that was his rookie season. So he's
got the foot speed, he's got the requis at foot
speed to be okay, and he's done a lot to
his body initially getting into the league. He's just got
to do a little bit more. He does that a
little bit more, and he's able to stay healthy. That's
the center that the Hornets have been looking for for
ever since quite literally Al Jefferson left. I think there's
a possibility of that, But at the same point, I
want to see what he does strength wise, and if
he can hold people off the block. I think it
gets really really interesting and gets really really spooky for
everybody else.
Speaker 1: What do you make of the Miles Bridges contract three year,
seventy five million, just in terms of encore value, perfectly fine.
It declines and scaled two, which is if you want
to extend him off of that, assuming you're planning to
keep him, not gonna make it a little bit more difficult.
I think the number is probably still high enough that
if you wanted to keep him and extend him off
that you'd be fine. But my first question with him
before getting into his fit with this team is do
you think they view him as a core piece of
this team or was this a deal that was almost
structured to be super tradable.
Speaker 2: I think it's structured to be super tradable. I think,
I know. I think we had this conversation. They don't
trust him, They didn't trust him before the incidents, and
then he has the incident obviously with domestic violence out
in LA and then he has a second incident at
last season which ended up being unfounded or basically the
cops didn't have enough evidence, and eventually, like he's been
on the straight and narrow. I like the fact that
it's a declining contract. I think there's a scenario where
if this team is, as I don't know, fifteen seventeen
wins in January, he's not here by the deadline. I
think there's also a scenario where if they are top eight,
top nine in the East, they're probably not trading him either.
Like the contract to Sketch is basically structured to where
they can do whatever they want, and this also depends
on what they believe, what to John Salon, who will
talk about later, Like it also depends on his development,
because I do think there is a world where Miles
Bridges comes along and Miles Bridges does his thing to
John Salon comes along and then he becomes immediately tradable
as soon as next summer.
Speaker 1: Do you think he Let's say, LaMelo's healthy, Bredon Miller's healthy.
Is he Miles Bridges? Is he less? Like? He can
be valuable? But is he less integral if you have
both of those guys healthy because of the No, he's
not less.
Speaker 2: No, he's not. He like the thing about Miles Bridges
and the thing that this team lacks is that they
lack a little bit of nasty. He brings the nasty
for them. For everything that Miles Bridges is, the one
thing he is is he's very very nasty. He's very very,
very very important to that because otherwise they're a fairly
soft team and they can get pumped often. And that's
why the addition of a guy like Grant Williams is
so important because it brings back up for a guy
like Miles Bridges that won't allow them to get pumped.
And I think that's also important because you still need
that mentality of this is our house. I care about
this again. I live this. And Miles Bridges through all
of his faults, and he loves his place. He loves
this town. He wants to be here, So there's that.
Speaker 1: And do you think also having both Grant Williams and
Brennan Miller makes him more useful on the defensive end,
where I've always valued his malleability more than his actual profession.
Speaker 2: Off ball, Yeah, his off ball again, his off ball defense,
his off ball willingness to be a shot blocker. A
lot of that stuff becomes unlocked when you have a
guy when you have other people that can defend, because
then it negates a lot of his on ball and
his off ball. How would I put this? Missteps?
Speaker 1: So how did you feel about the decision to go
with t John Salon at number six?
Speaker 2: Initially I was upset. I'm not gonna lie to you.
Speaker 1: That video, by the way, but I love those behind
the scenes looks where it's there's obviously stuff are not
going to see. But that one felt pretty candid and
I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: Well, it felt pretty candid except for the portion where
they had clearly hit out the fact that they had
two guys above them. Above them, one of them was
Reed Sheppard, the other one was Stefan Castle. I think
Stefan Castle would have been the ideal pick but it
was very obvious during the draft he wasn't falling below four.
I completely understand the position of Jeff Peterson because I
I don't see him as raw as everybody else does.
And this may be just me. I think there's a
world where you can tell that kid, Okay, you're expected
to do two things rebound, not three things. Rebound, hustle
and hit the corner. Three. You do those three things,
we can guarantee you anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes
a game. I think there's a lane for that to happen. Now, granted,
a lot of that depends on his perimeter perimeter shot,
which at times is on and off, but the form
is there. There's a lot of and I think the
biggest thing with t Jhon Salon for me, and it's
one of the quotes that stuck out when I started
doing some more background on him, is that his friend's
coach basically let him do whatever. There was no real structure,
and I think that we're not going to do anything
with him. There's no real structure extended as far as
Summer League this year. So I think he's really going
to start finally, is going to start really getting coaching
on what to do and how to be an NBA pro.
I think the addition of a guy like TODJ. Gibson
helps because I think that's his going to be his
pet project. I think he's going to be good. I
get why they did it. You wanted to in this
kind of draft. You wanted a guy with a little
bit more immediate impact, and maybe you might have wanted
a Cody Williams. Again, the guys I really kind of
was looking forward to Ron Holland a guy like Stefan
Cassel or Reied Shepherd. They were gone already. But for me,
I think the only issue that you might have had
is the fact that you could not extract an asset
from either Memphis End or Portland in order to get
your guys. But I also get it. If you believe
that Ta John Salon's going to be a part of
your culture going forward, then I understand the draft pick completely.
Speaker 1: I want to say they're going to have a problem
getting him to slow down. He feels like the quintessential
dials always turned to eleven, which is exciting to watch.
But even the glimpses I saw of him at Summer
League was that dude's mother is like so good that
it's almost it's it's like almost too high, and so
I'm interested to see if they can get him to
to slow down. I think not having him on the
ball is one way that will help him with that.
But I that stood out to just that I don't
have a ton of background on these college guys. I
get knee deep into the draft right around it, so
I'll be curious to see how that sort of translates.
Speaker 2: The one thing that really surprised me was his ability
to move off ball, Like that's the thing that basketball
like you when it came to moving off ball, because
the one like you said that motor keeps going. So
if he's the type of guy that's gonna grab it
and go despite the fact that it might be one
on three and it's not really a good idea, that's
gonna that's gonna end quickly, especially with a guy like
LaMelo Ball and another guy like Brandon Miller on this team.
That's gonna end quickly. But I do think that there
is a lane for him to be kind into okay,
even if he spends a month in rings. Browing is
on the Mark Williams Program of Hey, we're gonna acclimate
you to all this. Here's where you're gonna learn all this.
And then when January comes up and we need some
guys in the dog days of the season to help
get us through, that motor is gonna help us win
a couple of maybe win a game or two just
because of the sheer hustle, because no one else is
willing to try hard. I would also say that motor
is needed here. You've seen enough games where you've seen
guys be quite literally slow to the ball, and I
think a guy like that only helps get other people going,
get the crowd going, and it's going to be Hey,
that rookie is willing to dive on the floor do
all the dirty work, why aren't you? And I think
that's also kind of needed in this locker room that
has been at times a little too cool for school.
Speaker 1: Do you envision him having an actual role with the
big club this year?
Speaker 2: Yes, because I I think a guy like that that
can rebound, that can hustle, it all really does depend
on his jump shot. If he can hit corner threes
at a decent rate, he can defend pretty decently as is,
and that's without really good coaching. When you start to
get the really good coaching, he's only going to get better.
I don't see a role for him early, but I can't.
I can't help but see there's probably gonna be a
role for him late because if he's done this improvement
as he's theoretically done since now, I think there's a
legitimate case that he may be guy eight, nine or
ten off off the bench this year and have a
legitimate role just being the hustle Buckets guy as they
develop everything else with them.
Speaker 1: What did you make of the Josh Green addition? I
found it curious very quickly.
Speaker 2: Thank god, thank god, thank god that was it that
Thank god, because there's a perimitterive defender that that you
know is actually gonna play sixty five games.
Speaker 1: Well, okay, well that's where I think. I think the
reality of Josh Green as a perimeter defender is going
in up being a rude awakening for a lot of
Hornets fans. And I think even his offensive fit, he
wants to be on the ball more than he should be,
and I don't trust him off of it as much
as you should. And the contract is not terrible. They
didn't give up a ton to get him. It was
instead of getting all three of those second round picks
of Reggie Jackson, I think they got two of them.
Whatever it ended up being, So I just I found
it interesting that they treated him like an asset to
their team when I probably would have just preferred to ensure, like, well,
let's just make sure that there are enough available minutes
for me, Sitch and Man and Cody Martin. I'm just
I'm not a Josh Green guy, but I was curious
to see, like how you felt about his fit and
outlook on this roster?
Speaker 2: Dan, do you realize that there may be I want
to say four and I'm being kind in that four
guys that probably can guard their men on the perimeter.
There might be it's Miller, it's Martin when healthy, it's
Williams on the preim. And you see what I mean,
It's like three. I got to three and I'm struggling
from here.
Speaker 1: Maybe I suppose if he's being tethered to the Brandon
Miller minutes, I would like it or appreciate it more.
But if they're gonna use him defensively, how I think
that they might try to maybe maybe Charles Lee coaches
it into him, and maybe it was a matter of
kind of just like shifting opportunities in Dallas, but I couldn't.
And by the way, my co host Grant thinks Josh
Green is fantastic. He thinks he's like some like diamond
in the rough. So I just I don't know. I'm
always lower on John. It just feels like everything he's
supposed to do well, he doesn't do well enough for
me to have confidence in him.
Speaker 2: The Charlotte Hornets when it comes to perimeter defenders, Dan
are like that that man that that's on the island,
that's on a deserted island, and a box of regular
route like dollar ninety nine crackers washes up and its
completely dry, bags, completely dry. Happy to see the cracker.
You're just happy to see it. You're just happy. So
I understand why you have your hesitations. I'm telling you
the fact that there are really not that many really
good defenders on the Charlotte Hornets. Again, he's the tallest
short guy in the room. It's okay. I understand that
there are there every there's everything that's trust me, it's
better than the alternative.
Speaker 1: At this point, does it feel like depth could be
a sneaky strength, yes of this roster, and if so.
Now I'm not saying I designed this question for you
to wax poetic about Cody Martin, but like, who's the
non headline core player that intrigues you the most long term?
And I think I mentioned Cody Martin, but like Grant
Williams could be an answer here with the way that
he played for Charlotte after the trade.
Speaker 2: Long term, long term is Grant. Long term is Grant
because I think Grant's going to be here for a
while because again, he loves this place and I do
think that he feels a responsibility because he's from here.
The other guy, like I'm kind of intrigued by what
Seth Curry is going to do this year. I am
kind of intrigued by it because I think there is
a room. There's a room for there's room for him
to do some really good things. He played pretty well
under Cliff despite the fact that like everyone was trying
to go for this, go for theirs and get their buckets.
I think there's a lot of room for him to
go come in here, do some really good things and
establish himself and probably get one more multi year contract
on the way out the door on the way the
door for this first career. So I'm very intrigued by that. Vasimichic,
who had a dynamic Olympics, was the second best player
on that on that Serbian team. Obviously we know what
the number one guy was, but he's very intriguing. And
the storyline that the other storyline that I didn't mention
is who's going to be there, because remember you have
Vasamichich who's on a seven million dollar contract for this
season and next season. Then you have Trey Mann who
was looking for his extension. One of those guys is
going to be gone by January. Whomever stays is probably
going to have that long term backup role. I'm not
sure who it's going to be. It could be Vasi Michic,
it could be trade man. The allure of trade man
has always been there since he was drafted a couple
of years ago. I don't necessarily see it, and I
would lean Vasi Michic and I would just see if
I can tempt someone else on the allure of trade man.
But at the same point, I can understand why he
might be an intriguing factor this year. Oh you know
what I forgot almost.
Speaker 1: I think Nick Smith Junior, That's what I was gonna
ask you about next.
Speaker 2: Nick Smith Junior. I think his like, I know we
can't take much from Summer League, but I see like
a Peyton Pritchard like role for that kid. We keep
forgetting like he was the number one draft. He was
the number one recruit in a high school recruit in
his class over guy like Brandon Miller for a reason.
I think he's a guy that if you figure out
a role, and I think he's a guy that now
that he's got a little bit more structured, now that
he's kind of figured out the jump shot, I think
a guy like Nick Smith Junior can flourish here, especially
with a guy like Charles Lee who that immediately has credibility.
And if you watch Summer League, they went out of
their way to feature a guy like Nick Smith Junior.
I think really intentionally.
Speaker 1: Drop twenty one on the Nuggets that one game.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm, Like there's they went out of their way
to do that. They only do you only do that
for a reason. I think there's there's a significant role
for Nick Smith Junior once he gets the defense down.
Speaker 1: So you we kind of touched on this a little
bit before, but you mentioned that this organization seems like
it's kind of structured to be like react to what's happening.
And so if this is a team that's fully healthy,
I think they're going to be better than people expect
if that happens. Are they a candidate to lean into
it and or even just let it play out, or
could you could you even envision a scenario in which
they are healthy, they're winning more than you might expect,
but they still kind of steer out of it and
prioritize the long term.
Speaker 2: I can see them prioritizing the long term, but I
also would need to see what, Like, let's say there's
something there's a I can't say no to for Miles
Bridges deal. I can see them doing that. Like I
can see a scenario where Miles Bridges plays extraordinarily well
some team I don't know, maybe the Lakers offers something
like a D'Angelo Russell plus expire plus other expirings and
shed more salary. I can see a scenario where that happens.
But I also, excuse me, can I also can see
a scenario where they just don't make any trades and
they're like Let's just wait till the sun Let's see
what we have. Let's stress test this entire roster. Make
if we make nine or ten and we end up
with a top five pick, great. If we end up
in the lottery in the back of the lottery in
a loaded draft, that's also great. I think they're just
going to be flexible. I don't think they're going to
lean anyway, like We're not going to know where they
lean until games play, and I think that's the best
way for this for this organization to go for right now.
Speaker 1: I think I would agree based off how they're built.
And I would also agree just based on the fact
that in this particular landscape, when you look at how
there's one team out west we know that doesn't care
about winning at the moment in Portland. They could stumble
into some wins based off the talent they have, but
they're clearly invested in the long term. There are some
truly bad Eastern Conference teams, yes, right now, and so
if you're not going to be bad or organically prioritize
not winning however you want to phrase it, out of
the gate, there will be less of an incentive for
you to go that route. In the middle of the season,
and so I almost feel like the most likely outcome
for this team, barring a catastrophic injury that changes their trajectory,
is that they mostly just stamp pat and let this
play out. And there's there's nothing wrong with that when
you look at what's in place, there's enough long term
even if you don't think some of these guys are
in there for the big picture, there's enough prospects, enough
long term equity on this roster has currently constructed that
you can stand pat And that's perfectly okay.
Speaker 2: The other thing you got to remember, losing game intentionally
losing games does not help you. It doesn't help you anymore.
This lottery, the way this lottery goes, you're better off
trying to figure out exactly what you have for seventy
games rather than try and intentionally lose. Because, hello, Detroit,
you've intentionally tried. They've intenseally tried to tank. What last
three years, they've only had one real one player to show.
Speaker 1: For it, really there, and it's their situations all sorts
of fucked up though. But like when you're in if
you're the Hornets and you have an injury like LaMelo's, Okay,
I get it, but when you already have, first of all,
they have two players that could technically be the guy.
There's just like you're not necessarily in search of your
north star at this moment. So I would understand it
more if you pulled LaMelo and Red and Miller off
this team. But they're already there. It's like, that's why
Detroit there was the Kid Cunningham injuries. But they're all
sorts of messed up, but.
Speaker 2: They are they are. But again, win it again. Intentionally
losing games does not help you. We saw two teams
that tried to win as many games as they possibly could.
That was Atlanta, even though like they were a dysfunctional mess.
And you had a team like Houston that was trying
to win as many games as they could and they
looked up into the third pick. It's better to see
what you have and win as many games as you
have because the basketball gods and the odds will favor you.
Because at this point the lottery has shown it doesn't
give a damn about your plans. Got It's much more
about do the best you can figure it out and
basically treat your fans not in bad faith. For the
entire season, And I think that's a very important point
going forward, is that for the Charlotte Hornets a lot,
it's very easy to say, Okay, wait for the draft
next year and have the draft basically be lucy to
your Charlie Brown. At the same point, like I just
like this team needs to show some good faith and say, hey,
we're trying to win as many games in the eighty
two as we possibly can because we know you're sick
of us not trying for half the season and something
like that. It would be a show of good faith
to do that. And so I do see them incentivizing, hey,
we're gonna go figure this out through eighty two, no
matter how much like in his initial statement Charles Lee
mentioned lean years, this might be one of those lean years.
It might not, we don't know. But at the same point,
I think it's important to try all eighty two to
figure that out.
Speaker 1: I also think it helps, even if you're not trying
or if you're not winning, when there's a clear direction
and it does feel like the groundwork has been laid
in Charlotte more so in years past, over the past
twelve months or.
Speaker 2: However you want to frame it, Absolutely like that's the thing.
That's the other portion of this, Like a lot of
this already has the framework of guys, this is going
to be we want to build a sustainable product where
we're like they're doing again the infusion of money. The
practice facility is going to be improved. They're building a
new practice facility quite literally right next to the Spectrum Center.
This is going to be a completely new district similar
to what you've seen in like Milwaukee and in Toronto
Jurassic Park, a lot of that stuff. So you're going like,
it's very much gonna be very different. And there again
the influx of investment. They're choosing to invest in this team.
I think they're in choosing to invest in player development
guys like Josh long Staff, got a lot of Guy
Lamar Skeeter, guys that were responsible for guys like Laurie
Mark and then figuring it out and everything else like that.
I do think that it kind of matters at this point.
So I do think that this is going to be
much more. We're gonna invest, we're gonna play all eighty two,
and we're gonna all figure it out at the same time.
Speaker 1: Are you ready for the Cookie cutter portion of the post.
Speaker 2: Let's let's do it. Let's do it.
Speaker 1: What does the top ten rotation look like for this team?
Speaker 2: Top ten? Ball ball Bridges Williams, both Williams at this point,
ball bridges, both Williams. Me chicch man. I'm not going
to put Cody Martin in there because Cody Martin's got
to show me something health wise.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that stings, Richard.
Speaker 2: Trust me like me and you are like the last
two on Cody Martin Island like that.
Speaker 1: I was when it looked like he might have been
healthy for a minute last year, I was begging for
every contender to trade for him.
Speaker 2: Dude, Well, we talk about people that don't necessarily trust
the training staff. He might be one of them, and
he might have shut it down early. So again, if
they traded for him and he ended up being healthy,
he might have been healthy. I don't know, but I
would I would point out that. Okay, so where was
I at? I was at, man, let's see, let's see
ball bridges.
Speaker 1: So I have for me Pennsylton is the starters, LaMelo,
Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams and Josh Green.
Speaker 2: I would say that's probably very safe to go with.
I would, I would, I would tell you that's safe.
Everything everyone after that is like william again, Williams, Richard's
man Mitridx is right there. And then I think that
that last one is between Nixonith Junior and Seth Kurry.
Speaker 1: And so you mentioned you're leaving Martin off until he
proved something healthwise, so you don't really expect at least
until maybe the second half of the season for Salon
to factor into that.
Speaker 2: I don't, Yeah, I don't, not not right now, not
right now, And that's okay because I think they that's
a long term project and if if this team doesn't,
if this team goes sideways and in any sort of
form of fashion, then he'll start playing in you anywhere,
and then he'll start figuring it out together.
Speaker 1: This is to some extent matchup dependent, and it could
be you could default to what you think the starters are,
but what do you think will wind up being their
most used or most effective crunch time unit.
Speaker 2: Health dependent, it's going to be Ball, Miller, Bridges, Williams, Williams.
Speaker 1: So it's basically yeah, So really it feels like that
last like the let's call it the Josh Green spot
is going to be sort of fungible where they see.
Speaker 2: Very very fungible, and I could see Green closing games.
But I can also see a scenario where you're going
to need the shooting, and as you said, Josh Green
provides it in some spots, but not really. And I
also think that Miles Bridges has kind of earned that
benefit of the doubt when it comes to closing games
at this point.
Speaker 1: Is there a weirdo, quirky, unconventional lineup you would like
to see them roll out at some point next season?
Speaker 3: Williams Salon, which Williams is this h Grant Williams et Centa,
Grant Williams Salon, Martin Miller, Curry.
Speaker 1: So I have the exact same one, except I wanted
it to be like it's small, but it's really all
big at the same time. So I have Grant Williams,
Miles Bridges, Cody Martin, Brandon Miller. And I was debating
on like, I guess LaMelo just because he is six seven,
But I wouldn't mind seeing message with that group either
or you go with Josh Green. I don't know if
there's enough playmaking there, then.
Speaker 2: There's not there's not like like that's the thing. That's
where I would think, like that's putting a lot on
a guy like Brandon Miller do playmaking. And I'm not
sure he's there yet, but I do think that, come on,
he's team he's proto Ta Mac. He's not fully actualized
that this battle station is not fully operational. Dan, like
we got to remember that, so like we gotta like
we gotta slow roll a little bit with him. But
at the same point, I really do think that this team,
Like I think there are a lot of fun lineups.
I think there's a lot there's an eighty bitty Bugs
lineup that would like with a big LaMelo like you
can do LaMelo man, Nick Smith Junior or Seth Curry,
Bridges Williams and do and just cause havoc and have
five out at some points, which really does kind of help. Like,
I do think there's a lot of different fungible lineups
that can be thrown out there. And it's gonna be
really interesting to see what Charles Lee chooses to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd be curious to see if he does downsize
in that way, just because of how much he values defense,
and I guess the way Grant Williams works is fine,
but who do you trust as kind of the the
big man guy in that's area has to be Grant Williams.
Then he's going to be your five and I don't
love him in those matchups. I will say one of
the things that impressed me about Brandon Miller too wasn't
all the time, but just like the number of contests
he ended up having around the basket too, which is
constantly thinks he was doing on defense. Hold me, I
know we're not on Brandon Miller anymore, but no, no.
Speaker 2: No, but but that's the thing like Brandon Miller, Like
Brandon Miller could be a culture changer in terms of YO,
you got to show up every day like I'm working.
You got to work too. So it doesn't like a
lot of the stuff Brandon Miller did last year went
under the like went by the wayside because Wenby was
so awesome and it may happen again this year. But
like Brandon Miller is a number one pick in any
other draft other than the one he was in. And
the fact that the Charlotte whenets ended up lucking into
that is something that you taken on.
Speaker 1: Well, they deserve I think they deserve credit for taking
him too, because that wasn't a no break like if
you have the number one pick, okay, it's Wemby like
done deal. But you didn't have the number one pick,
and there was a natural decision to make at number two.
And the decision they made was widely panned.
Speaker 2: It was wily panned. But also it was because the
guy of the guy who made that pick, remember that
was that was not that.
Speaker 1: Was It was like people considered and they there's no
reason to think. Again, it's been one year for Scoot.
He dealt with injuries. There was a weird role in Portland,
but he was billed as generational, like people thought he
was gonna better than John Morant basically, so like to
pass on that even though you have Lamello, I think
it takes a level of golf that in his case
really worked out for them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's and the one guy that's capable of
doing that is the one that made the pick. It's
Michael Jordan because again I think and I think I
told the story like Michael said the pick was Miller
and has had said the pick was Miller for two
weeks and everybody come and find out everybody signed off
on it, like LaMelo signed off on it, Clifford signed
off on it, like a lot of.
Speaker 1: Mello signed off on someone who doesn't, you know, play
his position. That shocks me.
Speaker 2: Well, yes, but also at the same point, like and
I think we made this guy. I think I think
we talked about this last year. My thing is, what
if scoot? What if Scoots just Stefan Marbury like a
very good like has a like super super super like
first five years, and then the league figures him out
and he ends up eating Vasselin on a U stream somewhere.
Speaker 1: Or saying that Lebron is in on the same level
as Kobe. I don't know if you saw that recently.
Speaker 2: Well, I've learned to ignore Sefan Marbury since two thousand
and nine, and most like I was like the NBA,
I chose to ignore him after a certain point in time.
I wish everybody else did.
Speaker 1: So they're over under as we record this is said
it twenty nine and a half lower than last year,
which I found surprising. Are you taking the over and
under on that? And how many wins would you predict
them for?
Speaker 2: As a This is gonna surprise you I don't trust
them health wise, no, yes, but also but also that's
why I'm taking the under. I want to take the
over so bad because this feels like an easy over.
If they're healthy, I just don't know they will be. Like,
I think it's gonna take some time for this new program,
this new regime, all these guys come in and do everything.
I think it's gonna take a year for everyone to
get comfortable with one another. So there may be a
couple of scenarios where guys take a little bit of
extra time to like, you know, not come back or whatever.
I think it's gonna take some time. I think that
is going to be a bridge that takes a little
bit of time this so next year, like I can
see them being under, but I also think it's going
to be probably health related more often than not.
Speaker 1: I think that's a fair stance, and we will do
our Me and Michaels Grant will do our over unders later.
This is a team that I feel like I might
smash the over on. But if they do hit the under,
I know you mentioned health, there's that, but I'll even
say if it's because of health, I really do think
then it's also what will contribute to it is they
are going to sell off some of their players because
this is not a thirty This is better than a
thirty win team on paper. If they're even a semblance
of healthy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that's the thing. Like if they they quite
quite seriously, if they end up with ten wins by January,
Miles Bridges is somewhere else, and then it depends on that.
If if Miles bridge is gone, then is try mangn
is Seth is Seth Curry headed somewhere like they're gonna
They have a lot of pieces that are easily move
offable and are and can be can help a good team,
a good playoff team solidify their bench going into the playoffs.
So I think there's a legitimate scenario where this team
does hit the under and it's also health, but it's
also them selling off players as well.
Speaker 1: Cut Is there anything any one something about this team
that we have not discussed. I didn't ask you about
that that you think we need to to chit chat about.
Speaker 2: Honestly, this the biggest thing is like it's a new
day in Charlotte that you had the Charlotte owners have
two owners that are willing to spend more and it's
the first time pretty much ever. And if you look
at the history of the Charlotte Hornets, so when you
start talking about like teams that again we start talking
about influx of talent, influx of cash and everything else
like that. This is going to be. This is not
going to be the Jordan Hornets where they're too cheap
to do stuff. This is gonna be much more of
the mid tier team that is going to spend money wisely,
but at the same point make a couple of bold moves.
We just don't know what those moves are just yet.
Speaker 1: Ganada, this was great everyone. The link will be and
the handle will be in the podcast and YouTube description,
but go follow Kanada at Nada describe. Thank you so
much for your time, man. I always appreciate you being
so generous with your time and insight. This is always fun, dude.
Speaker 2: We're going on a half decade of this. Next year
we go for number six.
Speaker 1: That'll be wild. That'll be that's the Jordan Bullsier. It's
not a stick feet.
Speaker 2: Though, exactly so, Like dude, I love doing this anytime
we get with the chance to clear ups of narratives
about the Charlott corn Is. Naturally, I thought love giving
it