Charlotte Hornets Off Season Preview
what is up everybody Welcome to talking BS I’m your host Stephen Zamora you can follow me on Twitter at Zamora BSD today I got an offseason preview for one of the worst teams in the league record-wise but one of my favorite teams to keep up with that is the Charlotte Hornets now uh one of the reasons that they are one of my favorite teams to follow is because lamelo ball is one of the most entertaining players in the league uh they just drafted a young kid I really really believe in in Brandon Miller and they got a good Young Center in Mark Williams so heading into the 2024 off season we’re going to try to build around those three and we’re going to try to fix a lot of the things that were kind of plaguing the Charlotte Hornets in this past season one of the things we can’t really fix is the fact that you know Lamela was hurt for quite a bit of the season I know Mark Williams missed a significant chunk of the Season as well um but Brandon Miller looked good I’m pretty sure he made all rookie first team and you know you guys got a lot young Talent over there and you know a new head coach which is exciting you uh got the six pick in the draft but we’ll get all into that um if you do like this I ask that you please please please like And subscribe um it really helps the channel out it really help me U you know grow the channel and and really you know get this whole thing bigger and reach a bigger audience and you know I want to bring more content like this to you guys every day so you know without further Ado let’s get into it the Charlotte Hornets what we’re gonna discuss is some weaknesses that um need improvement from Charlotte we’re going to look at some of the tools they have to get better like I said that six overall pick some must dos some stuff in this off season that Charlotte kind of has to ride off before they can continue moving forward we’re going to look at the draft we’re going to look at some of the um young prospects and some big boards and see who’s the best option for that sixth pick some trade options right there’s always three facets to improving your team every year and one of them is the draft one of them is trades and one of them is free agency so we’re going to look at all three of those options and we’re going to look at a final rotation so once we’re all said and done I’m G to go through and we’re going to put a rotation together 10-man rot rotation that I think that the Charlotte Hornets could really you know feel good about heading into the next season so there are some significant things that the Hornets need to improve on they were 28th in the NBA in points per game with at 106.6 they were 30th in rebounds per game at 47.3 25th in the league and assist per game 28th in opponent field goals made 29th an opponent field goal percentage 26th an opponent three-point percentage and 30th an opponent shooting efficiency now what that tells me is one you had a talent deficiency right you were almost last in points per game assists per game and rebounds per game three of the most important aspects to any team in any season that tells me that you guys just simply had you know not as much talent as some of the other teams big factor in that was the injuries to the team which is you know something I can’t really blame you guys for 28th in the league an opponent field goals made in uh 29th in field goal percentage 29th in opponent three-point percentage and 20 and 30th in opponent shooting efficiency all those have to do with the defense and something that I think Charlotte significantly needs to look to upgrade this offseason um so we’re goingon to look into ways to do that for you guys so some ways that the Hornets can get better this offseason you have the sixth overall pick in the 2024 draft you also have the 42nd overall pick in the draft you could have up to $25 million in cap space if they decide to let miles Bridges walk Davis bton as a trade chip or you know free up money uh Seth Curry as a trade chip and you also have nine total first round picks that are tradable up until the year 2030 now some things that Charlotte has to take care of before they go any further in this process you need to figure out which direction the new ownership wants to head in it’s a very significant thing is lamelo ball a Cornerstone to me I think this is kind of ridiculous I’m a l like I said I’m a lamelo ball fan and I think he is an actual Cornerstone I don’t know if he’s capable of being the best player on a championship team but I do believe he is worth building around he’s shown a lot of potential he’s already one of the best uh Playmakers in the NBA so I think he’s an absolutely a Cornerstone so I don’t want to get too much further into that but that is something that you know the new ownership they didn’t draft in something that they might have to look at move on for Miles Bridges personally this is what I would do if I was the GM that’s why I just have it like this I think you just have to get rid of the dude um just the history behind him I understand that there’s players that are fans of him and and think he’s a good leader still and everything um but to me I I just wouldn’t move on I just wouldn’t want anything to do with the history of that guy I want to find guys who fit Charles Lee Charles Lee’s style of play your brand new head so you definitely want to upgrade that defense that is definitely a significant aspect of building this team in my belief and lastly you need to get to you need to help get this team to their first playoff appearance in 22 years it’s been way too long for Hornets fans way too long so we’re going to look at some mock drafts here on the left we have CBS on the right we have tanon and in the middle here is going to be the ringer and as you could see there’s not a ton of top end talent in this draft right this draft does not have a Victor wanyama this draft does not have like a Zion Williamson um aade Cunningham you know anything like that uh you do have the sixth overall pick which does kind of suck because you guys were slated to have I think the third overall pick so he dropped significantly uh which kind of sucks like I told the Detroit fans you know if there’s one draft for you guys to fall back in it’s probably this draft because at the end of the day you know just look at the mock drafts I have in front of you right every one of them is completely all over the place there is not a a home run can’t miss talent in this draft and on top of that you know the six overall pick has has come up with some really good players in the past so you know can’t be too mad at it so if I was Charlotte and I was like I said if I was the GM of this team this is who I would go after right 6 fo6 69 wingspan 11 points per game four and a half rebounds three assists a game 47% from the field 27% from three and a 1.9 assist to turnover ratio his Pro Comp is Markel folz and Anthony black he has a nice silky jumper uh doesn’t always drop which is one of the negatives is his actual shooting percentages but he is a clutch shooter he had some pretty big buckets in the uh in the in the tournament he is a great defender um one of the things is though is that you know on the negative end he’s not an elite athlete and he’s not particularly um Elite anything um he’s not like an elite playmaker right he’s not an elite athlete you know uh he’s not uh an elite he’s close to an elite Defender but he’s he’s a very good Defender uh from all you know all reports he also did have a miniscus injury in the latter part of the season so that is something to keep an eye out for but yes Stefan Castle I don’t think I said the name I said the name at all but yeah Stefon Castle the thing is is he might not fall that far okay I’ve seen some mock drafts um I think even one of those like the CBS one or something had him going number two overall uh I had I have a video similar to this that I did yesterday so if you have a chance and you like the Wizards go and check that out I also have one for the Detroit Pistons but um I did one for the wizard yesterday and they have the second overall pick well I drafted Stefon castle for them as well he is just such a great fit for a lot of teams um if your team has a guard that you know kind of has the ball in his hand a lot right a playmaker or you know somebody who you know was a bucket getter like a Jordan pool or you know even lamalo ball safon Castle is a wonderful piece to pair up with that guy but like I said this draft is all over the place he might be able to fall to you guys some trade targets okay we’re done with the draft we drafted Stefan Castle let’s look at some guys who are potential trade targets at the very top of the list I got Brandon Ingram right he’s got one year left at $36 million I think he’s a good option there Kyle kosma at three years and 64 million I got Isaiah Stewart there at three years 45 million John Collins is at two years and and 53 million and then at the very bottom I got Zeke Naji four years left at 32 million now what is the thing that these guys all have in common the thing that they all have in common is that they’re all big forwards uh that can shoot and space the floor for you you know if you’re going to have a lineup consisting of Mark Williams in your lineup and if you draft Stefon Castle it is spacing you’re going to need some more spacing lamalo Bal is a great shooter he’s a volume shooter he’s willing to put him up you know efficiency wise he’s not always there but he is capable of shooting and making big buckets Brandon Miller has shown that he can space the floor out you know sometimes Brandon Miller is not going to always be the guy to get every bucket for you because he’s young and he’s going to be inconsistent so so let’s get you know a partner out there you know the Hornets could really use um as far as like scoring and getting buckets and you know spacing the floor out and letting the other guys cook the perfect perfect option to go after here is Kyle kozma I’m a big stickler for having length and having guys with you know long arms who are tall who can you know create havoc on defense if you go and put miles Bridges right let’s say you get him in a signing trade because I realize he has a free agent after this year you get a sign in trade and you add Nick Smith Jr and you trade him for Kyle kusma now you might be able to keep Nick Smith junor because a lot of wizards fans have told me that Kyle kumman is not moving unless they’re getting a first round pick back I think it’s worth it I think it’s absolutely worth it and I think he’s just a perfect fit especially with Mark Williams and Brandon Miller you had a guy in there who has sides and can defend other fours space the floor he’s an athlete you know especially since you’re losing that athleticism for Miles Bridges I think it’s very important that you get some of that back with the addition of Kyle kosma next up we’re going to look at free agency right let’s take a look at the Hornet cap situation you could have up to $25 million in free space I put together a list of rumored free agent targets um that the Hornets should be looking into um at the very top of the list you’ll notice I have two very good three and D guards same idea as Stefon Castle right you need somebody who can take some of the pressure off the M of ball especially defensively so if you go and get a guy like the Anthony mountain or a contavious called W Pope or if you look down the list at a guy like Bruce brown or Josh Richardson right you get somebody in there who can take on some of the you know tougher defensive assignments and you know can still space the floor and you know provide shooting for Lamela ball on his drives and stuff like that I got a couple bigs in there Isaiah hartenstein right Kyle Anderson Jaylen Smith these are all guys that you know can provide some good you know Rim protection and and uh good defense and hustle and play hard and a lot of them are you know good veterans that would definitely help this younger team and then you know some athletes right Obi toppen one of the best athletes in the NBA I mean the guy’s doing between the leg dunks in the middle of playoff games which is nuts and Derrick Jones Jr he was he’s one of the best athletes in the NBA I’m watching these Maverick games in the playoffs man and this guy is like he’s catching lobs that are damn near at the top of the backboard so got to kind of keep keep it realistic because like I said Charlotte doesn’t have a ton of money because of uh you have the lamelo ball extension kicking in next year you also have um you know if you’re bringing in a guy like kma or even resigning Bridges it’s going to be for a significant amount of money let’s look at this rotation right that we put together at the end here you got lamelo ball at the point guard with meic behind him I love meich you know you guys have one of the best backup point guard situation situations in the league if you keep him at the two you got Stefan castle with Cody Martin backing him up if you want you could flip that and you could put Cody Martin starting at the two and have Stefan coming off the bench if you feel more comfortable and let them develop it all kind of depends on what Charles Lee wants to do with him but you know I think that’s a good card really good guard rotation right you got Martin castle meic and B and ball I think that’s as good of a guard rotation as you can get in the NBA you got Brandon Miller at the three and in for agency I would sign Derrick Jones Jr like I said with uh the miles Bridges loss you’re going to be losing some of that athleticism I think if you sign drik Jones Jr that gives you another lob threat for lamelo ball to throw it to and to play with you got Kyle kusma at the four with Grant Williams backing him up you know bring it back into the fold let him do his thing he brings some toughness he brings some you know some tenacity some attitude to this team that I think they’re they really need and I think if you lost that it it’d be pretty significant I got Mark Williams and Nick Richards there as well at your Center position we’re just going to run that back because I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t because that Center rotation is actually very you know really promising now I love how this turned out and you’re GNA probably look at it and be like well it’s basically the same team ran back right with that you know with the addition of Kyle kosma which is you know it’s not a huge thing and this is the third you know record-wise was the third worst team in the NBA the thing that I’m kind of banking on here lamelo was injured for a significant amount of time Mark Williams was hurt for a significant amount of time Brandon Miller was in his rookie year you know and you have a and you had a lot of turnover all throughout the year there was just no cohesiveness um I personally am not a huge believer in Steve Clifford I mean if you really look at it and you have all those things going against you it’s kind of surprising that you weren’t the worst team in the league you know granted like your best player missed a lot of time good big bodies at every position now that can handle stuff defensively you got spacing you got length you got shooting you got athleticism you know you got everything you check a lot of boxes with this rotation and I think it’s one that you can really be H you know hopeful that you’re going to end up in the playoffs next year you know personally with this rotation I’d be aiming for like the five seed at the very least you know just somewhere that five or six seed you know so I’m not in the playing you know in the East that’s that’s doable it really is very doable because there’s not a lot of great teams in the East so you know I think this is a pretty good rotation I hope you guys let me know down in the comments that would be awesome if you guys really like this um and if you do like ite please like And subscribe to the channel like I said I’m a big fan of Charlotte man I love lamelo I I I really want you guys to be good next year so you know if you stick to this game plan you know I think you’ll get there I do so thank you so much for all your time I appreciate you guys and good luck [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music]
Zamora breaks down the off season needs and potential upgrades for the Charlotte Hornets as a part of a new series brought to you by Talkin’ BS and S&T Media group
