Hornets at DEFCON 1

[bLACKpANTHER]

With the current situation (flying at a 90* angle, straight into the earth surface), I believe we are coming to a crossroads as a franchise.. we have no identity as a team yet are built to Win Now... BUT CAN'T FUGGIN WIN!!! and lately, not even being competitive.. Oh, and now going to visit Golden State...

So - If we keep it "steady as she goes" and hope things will turn around after the Allstar break - that will be such a disaster of a gamble.. In my opinion, We Only have 2 viable options moving forward: (1) Bolster the roster with a trade and hope the new player(s) can help turn it around OR (2) sell high on some of the assets we have and start the tank job all over again.. Ugh..

That second option seems so terrible after such a promising start to the season - but we have to be realistic.. the nucleus of Kemba-Batum-MKG is not going to win you anything.. So we have to, HAVE TO make a trade at the deadline - and not just a trade for a bench role-player that will be a spark for a week or two then fizzle out down the stretch.. We will have to make a REAL trade - for a REAL player with Real talent that will change the look and feel of our team without giving up our two KEY assets in Kemba or Batum..

Everyone will say - Trade for Butler, or Melo, or Boogie.. but we all know those are pipe dreams Cho and his clown car would never be able to pull off.. we don't have the assets.. bla bla bla - get to the point bP......

Alright, we should trade for Rajon Rondo.. WTF!!?!?
Hear me out, he has pissed off enough people in Chicago and it has become toxic enough that they will probably give him away for a bag of chips and a soda.. Our best team was formed last year when Lin and Kemba were both able to operate the offense and create alongside each other as well.. We have had success with "troubled" players before (ie. Captain Jack).. NOW, I know he is a potential locker-room cancer and all but we have nothing to lose.. this squad is so garbage right now it makes me sick.. I would not stop that to be honest and try and bring in Gallinari from Denver.. and/or Ibaka from Orlando.. all 3 have TALENT, which is something our current roster really lacks in.. it is just so tough to watch lately that I have spared myself.. I haven't given up completely, but am fuggin close..

[Chaos]

Get Cousins at all cost. I think he and Kemba would be a dynamic duo.

[SOJA]

I'd rather trade our players for picks and bottom out this season 

[Carl Spackler]

Bench is more like Defcon TRASH

[Eazy-E]

Lets wait until we get Cody back before completely freaking out. Team is like 1-11 now without him in the lineup. 

fug tanking. You have just as good of a chance to get a potential superstar at pick 21 than you do pick 1. Just blame the NBA for allowing the forming of superteams and blame youth basketball for developing a bunch of entitled pussies. KD going to Golden State is all you need to know about the current state of the NBA. 

Make a trade or two at the deadline for a back up PG and I wouldn't mind a guy like Ibaka. If we somehow could land a guy like Butler or Cousins awesome. 

Lets get healthy and see what happens after the All-star break before going into full panic mode. 

[AppHeel]

The thing with tanking is it isn't guaranteed that you're going to land a superstar in the draft. Given the franchise's recent draft struggles, it's definitely not a given.

When you don't have a superstar, the next best way to be competitive is to have roster continuity (which we have in our core) with an all star or two (we have Kemba). 

What we also have is a horrible bench. The only two redeemable bench options on our roster right now are Marco and Frank and both have been up and down this year. Frank has gotten more criticism, but I do believe that when he's paired with the right personnel he adds value (aka not with Hibbert) and he's still young enough to figure it out.

I think the Hornets will be safely in the playoffs, if they make a move to bolster the 2nd unit. We can package a combination of Lamb, Spencer, Sessions and Roy (maybe a 2nd round pick) to find a reliable bench player that fits our system better. Has to be done.

Worst comes to worst, we miss the playoffs, shed some expiring deals, use our draft pick in a deep class and pursue some better talent with freed up cap space and an attractive core in place to compete.

I don't think bottoming out is the answer, but it will be unacceptable if Cho just stands pat and rides it out.

 

*I do think this team will turn it around eventually, but I hope it's not too late

[Eazy-E]

43 minutes ago, AppHeel said:

The thing with tanking is it isn't guaranteed that you're going to land a superstar in the draft. Given the franchise's recent draft struggles, it's definitely not a given.

When you don't have a superstar, the next best way to be competitive is to have roster continuity (which we have in our core) with an all star or two (we have Kemba). 

What we also have is a horrible bench. The only two redeemable bench options on our roster right now are Marco and Frank and both have been up and down this year. Frank has gotten more criticism, but I do believe that when he's paired with the right personnel he adds value (aka not with Hibbert) and he's still young enough to figure it out.

I think the Hornets will be safely in the playoffs, if they make a move to bolster the 2nd unit. We can package a combination of Lamb, Spencer, Sessions and Roy (maybe a 2nd round pick) to find a reliable bench player that fits our system better. Has to be done.

Worst comes to worst, we miss the playoffs, shed some expiring deals, use our draft pick in a deep class and pursue some better talent with freed up cap space and an attractive core in place to compete.

I don't think bottoming out is the answer, but it will be unacceptable if Cho just stands pat and rides it out.

 

*I do think this team will turn it around eventually, but I hope it's not too late

I want to trade Frank for Ibaka. Don't know who or what else we would have to throw in but I don't think it would be too extreme. Frank if not scoring at least 15ppg is worthless. He can't rebound even at his size and his defense is non existent which is part of the reason our second unit gets so abused. Ibaka would add more consistent scoring and a shot blocker we could really use. Not sure if he or Marvin would start but I feel Ibaka would pair really well with Zeller.

[AppHeel]

40 minutes ago, Eazy-E said:

I want to trade Frank for Ibaka. Don't know who or what else we would have to throw in but I don't think it would be too extreme. Frank if not scoring at least 15ppg is worthless. He can't rebound even at his size and his defense is non existent which is part of the reason our second unit gets so abused. Ibaka would add more consistent scoring and a shot blocker we could really use. Not sure if he or Marvin would start but I feel Ibaka would pair really well with Zeller.

Ibaka would definitely be an upgrade to Frank. If Orlando requires a 1st round pick at all I'd be out though.

Only upside to keeping Frank instead of trading him for someone like Ibaka is cost and length of contract. Ibaka will be a free agent this summer and would be expensive to retain. Frank at least has 2 years of cheap team control left after the season. I also don't think Ibaka truly propels us to conference finals contention this season.

So the question would then be, if we retain this year's 1st round pick and know that there are better PF/C prospects than Frank available to us in the mid 20's and we really want to push to win a series this year then I'd say do it.

[rico6]

 At best the schedule gets somewhat easier after the ASB, but the stretch leading to it is going to be BRUTAL. At BEST I see a final stretch desperation playoff push from this team getting us to 7-8 playoff seed, and LOL at the thought of this team pushing the Cavs to anything more than 5  in a playoff series. 

This team DEFINES treadmill, and we're cap strapped for the foreseeable future.

I gave Cho serious poo this offseason for the make-up of this roster. I really wish a more serious attempt at D12 could've been made or one of Marv or Batum were resigned.

if we're gonna treadmill let's at least resemble a semi competitive treadmill team (Atlanta Hawks) with movable talent. 

[rico6]

1 hour ago, Eazy-E said:

I want to trade Frank for Ibaka. Don't know who or what else we would have to throw in but I don't think it would be too extreme. Frank if not scoring at least 15ppg is worthless. He can't rebound even at his size and his defense is non existent which is part of the reason our second unit gets so abused. Ibaka would add more consistent scoring and a shot blocker we could really use. Not sure if he or Marvin would start but I feel Ibaka would pair really well with Zeller.

Ibaka would pair tremendously well with Zeller. 

[Eazy-E]

With our injuries and lack of talent at the 4 and 5 I really don't understand why Clifford isn't giving Wood a shot. He may be raw but he could probably get away with pure athleticism, something our other big men are lacking, in limited minutes.

[Eazy-E]

1 hour ago, AppHeel said:

Ibaka would definitely be an upgrade to Frank. If Orlando requires a 1st round pick at all I'd be out though.

Only upside to keeping Frank instead of trading him for someone like Ibaka is cost and length of contract. Ibaka will be a free agent this summer and would be expensive to retain. Frank at least has 2 years of cheap team control left after the season. I also don't think Ibaka truly propels us to conference finals contention this season.

So the question would then be, if we retain this year's 1st round pick and know that there are better PF/C prospects than Frank available to us in the mid 20's and we really want to push to win a series this year then I'd say do it.

If Ibaka is willing to resign on a deal that works with the team (basically meaning we can't afford to give him the max or anything close to it) I would 100% trade Frank and a first. His shot blocking alone would be worth it. Marvin would have potential to thrive with the second unit, something this team desperately needs.

[Wundrbread33]

I think this gets back to the error of signing Jefferson, prematurely taking us from poor to mediocre.

Also if the NBA doesn't gift NO with Anthony Davis, we could be looking at a different team as well.

 

But the past is the past.

 

The positive side is Kemba has taken a leap, due to his extended shooting range. Batum is amazing, and then underwhelming and frustrating. He needs to step it up. We need another quality big that can take some of the load off of Cody. 

I like a lot of our pieces. I think they are good guys. But without a shake up of some kind, we are no better than a first round loss yet again.