Making Sense of Last Night...

[bLACKpANTHER]

#1 - We were never going to keep both 1st Rnd picks. We have too much young talent on the roster and we are approaching the Cap.

#2 - We are trying to re-sign Miles to a larger contract. We need to shed salary from certain players (Hayward).

#3 - Because we traded a future 1st rounder last year to the Knicks for Kai Jones - there are stipulations that prevent us from trading any future 1st rounders.

#4 - Trading #13 away for Denver's 1st Rnd pick next year, allows us to package that with Hayward to clear some more Cap room and re-sign Miles.

#5 - Look for us to package Hayward + 1st rounder + a few 2nd rounders = for a player once FA starts, then re-sign Miles

#6 - If you are upset at the package we got in return for Duren (#13) - I understand.. but we wanted draft capital (and basically to kick the can down the road), not acquire player contracts in return.. Mitch said he had "contingency deals on the clock that maybe could have been better but its pretty hectic and you have to take what's there" - I think he took the best offer that was available without adding contracts

#8 - If you are upset we took Mark Williams over Duren - I understand.. but I trust in Mitch's evaluation - he has earned my trust over the past few years.. Mitch said he felt "Williams fits our needs better and it wasn't an easy decision -- people on our staff have worked with him in high school"

Edited June 24, 2022 by bLACKpANTHER

[frankw]

Fine with Mark Williams I'm happy to see what he and LaMelo can do together. But discarding lottery picks like you're at a flea market because you don't want too many young players is something great franchises can do. This is not the case with the Hornets.

[Daddy_Uncle]

Summary: Poor decisions bite us in the ass. The story of the Hornets

[Stingray3030]

This franchise has a rich history of horrendous drafting - bad trades, bad picks, bad luck.  We have about as many busted picks as Duke has busted players over the last 18 years.  The consistency of "bad" makes this year look worse even if it could make alot of sense.  I appreciate the explanation - makes sense if it works out.  

[bLACKpANTHER]

This is more about being able to package a future 1st round pick to get off Hayward's money THIS offseason - so we can re sign Miles..

IF we did not acquire a future 1st round pick - we would have to hope another team would take Hayward at face value OR attach Bouknight or some other asset so we can get off Hayward's contract..

[OldNorthPowell]

Dumb move no matter how you spin it. 

[bLACKpANTHER]

So how would you spin it?

Draft Duren at #13 and then the best available wing at #15? Then struggle to find a team to take Hayward - have to give up a real asset to take him? (ie. Bouk or PJ)
Or maybe we can't find a dance partner to take Hayward and we then don't have the cap to sign Miles and we lose him in FA?
Or maybe we draft Duren at #13 and try and trade #15 - which - would have less value than #13?

I don't know - but paint me a scenario where everything turns up gold for us?

[rippadonn]

You know, like others have said, having slept on it. I'm ok with it now...

[rippadonn]

They got who they wanted. They didn't value the other pick enough not to get something in return for it.

Maybe nobody wanted to swap for 13 and 15 at the top of the draft or maybe the guy THEY wanted would be there at 13 or 15 and they knew it.

[rippadonn]

7'2" 245lb DPOY seems like exactly what we need.

Play Kai as a PF and Williams at C. LaMelo should be happy this year as long as his road dog gets his too.

All of a sudden we're a big team. Still got Mason Plumley.

Edited June 24, 2022 by rippadonn

[Prowler2k18]

5 hours ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

#1 - We were never going to keep both 1st Rnd picks. We have too much young talent on the roster and we are approaching the Cap.

#2 - We are trying to re-sign Miles to a larger contract. We need to shed salary from certain players (Hayward).

#3 - Because we traded a future 1st rounder last year to the Knicks for Kai Jones - there are stipulations that prevent us from trading any future 1st rounders.

#4 - Trading #13 away for Denver's 1st Rnd pick next year, allows us to package that with Hayward to clear some more Cap room and re-sign Miles.

#5 - Look for us to package Hayward + 1st rounder + a few 2nd rounders = for a player once FA starts, then re-sign Miles

#6 - If you are upset at the package we got in return for Duren (#13) - I understand.. but we wanted draft capital (and basically to kick the can down the road), not acquire player contracts in return.. Mitch said he had "contingency deals on the clock that maybe could have been better but its pretty hectic and you have to take what's there" - I think he took the best offer that was available without adding contracts

#8 - If you are upset we took Mark Williams over Duren - I understand.. but I trust in Mitch's evaluation - he has earned my trust over the past few years.. Mitch said he felt "Williams fits our needs better and it wasn't an easy decision -- people on our staff have worked with him in high school"

Initially I was frustrated but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Your breakdown just crystallized it. Nice job….thanks!

[Eazy-E]

Williams was clearly who we wanted and better fits our timeline as he should be able to contribute right away. Duren is about as raw as Kai Jones. Getting Williams at 15 instead of 13 also saves us some cash that we will need to resign Miles and get a backup PG.
 

I wanted Duren and Williams but understand we probably won’t be able to move a guy like Hayward until around Free agency time and we’re going to need picks to make it happen and we didn’t have a first next year.

Not the greatest trade but it makes total sense and I still trust Mitch and what’s he’s trying to accomplish.

[Prowler2k18]

2 hours ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

So how would you spin it?

Draft Duren at #13 and then the best available wing at #15? Then struggle to find a team to take Hayward - have to give up a real asset to take him? (ie. Bouk or PJ)
Or maybe we can't find a dance partner to take Hayward and we then don't have the cap to sign Miles and we lose him in FA?
Or maybe we draft Duren at #13 and try and trade #15 - which - would have less value than #13?

I don't know - but paint me a scenario where everything turns up gold for us?

I think we sort of painted ourselves into a corner with the Hayward contract. I never liked the decision to give him that ridiculous contract - good player but too injury-prone at this point in his career. Pretty much makes all these moves necessary to keep Bridges and sign other FAs.

[frankw]

If you guys can talk yourselves into making sense of the trade I'm eager to hear how you feel about bringing back Steve Clifford after moving on from Borrego.