Newer Hornets fan here, how exactly did we end up with these bad contracts and in cap hell?

[s1lent_kn1ght]

I do not know much about the history of our team but I feel this important to know. Thanks in advance.

[bLACKpANTHER]

[ECUPantherFan]

We reached like hell and overpaid Nic Batum.  His contract is the real albatross here.

We drafted UNC guys as a ticket selling gimmick.

We overpaid guys like Marvin Williams, and let productive guys like Jeremy Lin & Chris Douglas-Roberts walk.

We *almost* got rid of Kemba.

But it really all comes down to the fact that we have been quite possibly the worst drafting team in NBA history.  Our number of whiffs in the 1st round is staggering, quite honestly.

Just my opinion.

[yasuhara2241]

Problem was that almost all of our players hit the market the same year after a playoff run. The year they hit the market, the salary cap jumped up and all the teams were giving out money like it was nothing. Everyone anticipated the cap to continue to rise but it didn't. 

1. Batum - Some were happy that it wasn't a full max deal like Conley got. At the time, pundits and fans thought it was fair.

2. WIlliams, MKG, Cody: Once again all got "discounts" at first, but since no cap increase they are all overpays. 

What it comes down to it is this: Successful teams got 2-3 Max players and a bunch of role players earning minimum salaries during the salary cap increase. The Hornets paid 4 players over $10m and batum over $20k sooo we went for "depth". Bad idea!

[CarolinaNCSU]

They figured being the 6 seed at best every year would be good enough.  Turns out, they couldn't even be mediocre the right way. 

[bLACKpANTHER]

I always go back to the Biz/Kemba draft:
- Biz was a whift but I don't fault the team for that really
- Kemba was the first building block we got
- That next year we continued the tank-mode and should have gotten the #1 overall pick - we got shived by the league and missed out on Anthony Davis. With the 2nd pick we took MKG over Bradley Beal, Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond.
- We continued to stink and got a decent pick but it was possibly the worst draft class of all-time. We just happen to take Cody Zeller. Not a complete bust - we could have done worse in that draft.
- Next year we get Noah Vonleh to fall in our laps - obvious pick at the time. We let his "potential" hide on the bench and flip that next year for Nicolas Batum. Great trade! We also pick up Marvin Williams at some point close to here.
- We also pick up Jeremy Lin, Jeremy Lamb and Courtney Lee that year. All solid moves. We have our best year in a long, LOOONG time and almost beat the Heat in the 1st round of the playoffs.

THING ARE LOOKING UP for the future - somehow we look like a competent team... BUT

- Lee, Lin, Batum and Marvin Williams become FAs in the same offseason when the salary cap jumps through the roof. Money is being thrown around like crazy - we end up only being able to keep Batum and Williams on bloated contracts.
- We draft Frank Kaminsky instead of trading with Boston on draft night for a SH!T ton of 1st round picks (Jordan loved Frank - we could have had Terry Rozier & Jalen Brown supposedly, maybe more).
- We stink the next season and make a panic move for Miles Plumlee at the trade deadline - possibly the worst contract in the league right now. But magically we are able to flip that for Dwight Howard in the offseason. Things are looking up after a bad year and...
- We then get a gift of all gifts and Malik Monk drops to us in the draft. We take him, passing on Donavan Mitchell, who we would have drafted if it weren't for Monk falling.
- Dwight plays great all year, Jeremy Lamb finally puts it all together, but Monk hides on the bench because coach Clifford won't play the rookie. Batum has worse year of career. Kemba is due for a max contract next year.

That is a quick summary. Bad drafting and TERRIBLE re-signings of players have put us here.

[Eazy-E]

The Boston draft pick trade scenario is bullshit and has been debunked. If you still believe it that mean us along with like 5 or 6 other teams passed up the same trade so it’s a moot point.

 

Batum is the only real problem on this team currently. His contract maybe be the worst in the NBA. If we had his cap room available we could fill a few holes and pretty much be a playoff lock. Draft a solid 3/4 bench player and give Monk minutes and we should be a playoff team. A lot of this is going to fall on the new coach hopefully being the opposite of what Clifford was.

[carpanfan96]

5 hours ago, Eazy-E said:

The Boston draft pick trade scenario is bullshit and has been debunked. If you still believe it that mean us along with like 5 or 6 other teams passed up the same trade so it’s a moot point.

 

Batum is the only real problem on this team currently. His contract maybe be the worst in the NBA. If we had his cap room available we could fill a few holes and pretty much be a playoff lock. Draft a solid 3/4 bench player and give Monk minutes and we should be a playoff team. A lot of this is going to fall on the new coach hopefully being the opposite of what Clifford was.

“In hindsight, the next day, it’s probably a good thing,” Ainge said during an appearance on Boston radio station 98.5, The Sports Hub. “We were probably going to spend too much to do what we needed to do

 

That was a few days after the draft, He meaning Ainge did in fact offer a massive trade to the Hornets that was turned down. 

 

While I dont think it had the nets picks in the deal, I do think it had the four first round picks in it. 

[Eazy-E]

7 minutes ago, carpanfan96 said:

“In hindsight, the next day, it’s probably a good thing,” Ainge said during an appearance on Boston radio station 98.5, The Sports Hub. “We were probably going to spend too much to do what we needed to do

 

That was a few days after the draft, He meaning Ainge did in fact offer a massive trade to the Hornets that was turned down. 

 

While I dont think it had the nets picks in the deal, I do think it had the four first round picks in it. 

He never specified what news outlets were claiming which was 6 picks and 4 first rounders. Rumor was also that Boston wanted Justice Winslow. That means that the Hornets along with 9 other teams passed up that deal. You really think we passed up on that trade offer and Boston said fug it and didn’t offer it to Miami right after us who ended up drafting Winslow?

I’d link it but I’m on my phone. There’s an article from the observer from 2017 by Rick Bonnell quoting ”no one has reported precisely what Angie offered.” 

[bLACKpANTHER]

One thing we can all agree on - Anything is better than Frank. And the fact we exercised his 5th yr option 2 seconds into the year - right after he had his monthly 20pt game he is always good for when we are ready to ship him out on the 1st thing smokin

[ECUPantherFan]

16 hours ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

One thing we can all agree on - Anything is better than Frank. And the fact we exercised his 5th yr option 2 seconds into the year - right after he had his monthly 20pt game he is always good for when we are ready to ship him out on the 1st thing smokin

Thing is... Frank will likely land on a contender somewhere and end up being a huge piece of the puzzle off the bench.

We just can't rely on him for the MAJOR role he was drafted to play.