An honest look at the Charlotte Hornets | The Athletic NBA Show
Welcome to the slam and jam here on the athletic NBA show be sure to go to theathletic.com NBA show you will get coverage of the NBA where you will not get it anywhere else we have the real story what what’s going on in Milwaukee you want to know the real story go check
Out Eric name Sam am sham Shania they break it all down it’s one of like the most inside stories that you’ll get in the NBA today go check that out today uh with me as always is my good friend Alex Spears Alex tell me what happened in the NBA this
Week well Andrew it all started last Friday night with one of the biggest wins of the season the Denver Nuggets went into Boston and beat the Celtics 102 to 100 after Jason Tatum missed the potential gamewinner with three seconds left why was it one of the biggest wins
Of the season because it was Boston’s first loss at home after starting the season with 20 straight wins at TD Garden all hope is not lost for the Celtics however for one they still have the best record in the league at 35- 10 they actually followed up that loss to
Denver with three straight wins but also the all-time record for home wins is 40 which is still possible however their next home game is a doozy this Saturday against the RedHot Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday the previously red hot Utah Jazz began to sputter a little bit after
A loss to OKC at home the Jazz followed that up with a one-point overtime loss in Houston 127 to 126 the Rockets who have been sputtering themselves were led by alrin shenon who scored a career-high 37 points to go along with 14 rebounds for the season shenon is averaging 229
And five now it has been a rough patch for Houston they are two- seven in their last nine with the only other win coming over the Pistons and one of the losses being a particularly rough one to the Blazers at home who are on a backto back
Houston is 20 and 23 on Sunday the Suns continued their recent Rampage across the league winning their fifth in a row this time against the new look Pacers with Pascal cakam Kevin Durant scored 40 points in the game and the Suns big three combined for 91 of their 117
Points Katie Booker and Beal are now up to 262 minutes together and they have a plus 17.8 net rating in those minutes the Suns would continue to win after this game and are now on a seven-game winning streak moving all the way up to the fifth seed with a 26 and 18 record
For the Pacers they eventually got their first win in the seaka later in the week an impressive 134 to 122 win over the Sixers on Monday all hell broke loose in the NBA first Joel embiid scored 24 points in the first quarter against the Spurs and while it was cool it was easy
To wonder whether the Spurs would be able to keep it close enough to to leave embiid in as the game went on well shout out to the Spurs who did their job which gave NBA fans the chance to see Joel embiid go for 70 points including 24 of
41 from the field and 21 of 23 from the line and one single three-pointer these 70 points were a franchise record for the Sixers and as that game is going on NBA fans find out that Carl Anthony towns has 44 at half against the Hornets could he go for 80 upst aging Joel
Embiid well he could have and he arguably tried but he fell a little short finishing with 62 in the game more importantly especially if you are wolves coach Chris Finch Minnesota ended up losing that game to the Hornets 128 to 125 and after the game Finch said quote it was an absolute disgusting
Performance of defense and immature basketball all the way through the game this is what happens when you have this type of approach finally the other thing that happened on Monday which seems like a blip in comparison Kevin Durant scored 43 against the Bulls including a game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds to go
On Tuesday we got some news first a trade Scary Terry roier was traded from Charlotte to Miami for Kyle Lowry and a future first round pick the expectation is that Lowry will be moved again before the deadline the other news was a doozy bucks head coach Adrien Griffin was
Fired despite leading the bucks or at least being in close proximity to them to a 30 and3 record and I hope you’re sitting down because his replacement might shock you that’s right Joe freaking pry actually he’s just the very brief interim coach the Bucks next head coach will be none other than podcaster
Doc Rivers the first podcaster turn coach in NBA history now a lot of our younger listeners might not know this but before becoming a podcaster Doc Rivers was a head coach in the NBA led the Celtics to the 2008 Championship he led each subsequent fan base whose team
He coached to the brink of Despair after collapsing in the playoffs on Wednesday the new look heat with Terry roier made their grand debut by losing to Vince Williams Jr GG Jackson and Scotty Pippen Jr three of the leading scorers for this current iteration of the Memphis
Grizzlies the Grizz won 105 to 96 continuing to be a pesky team despite half of the roster being injured and for the heat it was their fourth loss in a row which would become five later in the week after being walloped by Boston on Thursday night 1 143 to 110 the heat are
Now 24 and 21 falling into the playin at the seven spot and finally on Thursday night to celebrate a week of things we never thought we’d see the Knicks Nuggets game in MSG ended with an extended clip of coach Tom thibo smiling and laughing as he sat down at the
Postgame Podium now why was this normally Gruff man so happy because the Knicks with the addition of ogn and and Obi are starting to look like a real tibs team again since the OG trade the Knicks have gone from the 19th rank defense to the second rank defense per
Cleaning the glass and on this night the Knicks held the reigning Champs to 84 points beating them 122 to 84 and OG had a team High 26 points and six steals the Knicks have won five in a row and have moved all the way to 28 and 17 they are
Now only two games behind the Sixers for third in the East also on Thursday the 2024 NBA All-Star starters were announced in the East we’ve got firsttime starter Damen Lillard Tyrese Halbert Jason Tatum janisan DMO and Joel embiid and in the west we’ve got firsttime starter Shay gilas Alexander
Luca donic Kevin Durant LeBron James and Nicola jokic All-Star reserves will be announced next Thursday what a week it was Andrew now Andrew uh before we jump into to the main event I did want to update the listeners on something we uh at slam and jam have uh for the last two
Years been looking at Championship Contender resumés yes this is something I did I went back to uh when did I go back to the 70s sometime in the 71 1971 I looked for qualities of the teams that eventually won a ring uh so for instance uh no Champion has ever had
Worse than the ninth best odds in preseason so that that immediately ruled out teams like Dallas the Knicks Minnesota Sacramento Cleveland I guess I have to say OKC now they wer weren’t on my list at the beginning of the year when we did this um no NBA champion has ever started
Out one and four or 0 and5 and no Champion has ever had fewer than four wins in their first 10 now that that knocked out Miami and the Clippers wow that’s kind of interesting in retrospect wow so the next one we got to update it though because it’s been been half a
Season and I did go back to 1971 and look at how many wins these teams had after 41 games and what you find is that in order to be a true champion you cannot win fewer than 24 games so you have to go at least 24 and uh whatever
It would be so and and the two teams that did that actually it’s it’s that goofy Washington team from 1978 that were by all accounts and then the 2006 heat that was the other team interesting so anyways this also knocks off two more teams so say goodbye to uh this won’t sound that
Crazy now but say goodbye to the Warriors and say goodbye to the Lakers see you later wow that leaves us with only five teams Andrew who still have a championship resume and that is Boston Denver Milwaukee Philadelphia and Phoenix who Phoenix pulled it out there just in this last little stretch I think
They’ve won like seven in a row got them to 24 wins they’re Now 26 and 18 they’re still there hanging on so they still have that Championship resume um okay moving on to the main event which is the midseason slammies the mid-season slammies this is our yearly award show
That sometimes I did uh for the first trimester and then forgot to do it the rest of the year sometimes we only remembered at the end of the year this year we’re start we’re starting off in the middle of the year which I actually like better I like doing it after 41
Games um this this won’t this isn’t your dad’s uh award show okay we we came up with some fun Awards to give out and we’re gonna start with Andrew and you can you’re welcome to go first unless you chose my same stat and don’t steal it from me uh the most shocking stat
Award so this is the stat from this first 41 games that when you found it it shocked you terrified you frightened you what was it yeah I found this today and I I still I’m having a hard time even comprehending it oh great and it’s and I
And I like kept sorting it over and over again like that can’t be right Kevin Durant in the restricted area is shooting 84% wow 8 84 there’s like nobody else like I I so the first thing I saw was kawh Leonard who was shooting 79% in restricted which I thought wow
There can’t be another forward doing anything close to that because it’s an absurd stat but then I found Kevin 84% it’s like he’s stealing percentage points from the mid-range because he’s just he’s like 45% from the mid-range which is like way down from where he normally is so this is specifically in
The restricted area in the restricted area on three attempts per game that’s usually like only guys who dunk that’s like all they do yeah usually it’s like DeAndre Jordan or something like that yeah to compare guys on his own team Yousef nkit 59% yeah in the restricted area Drew
Eubanks who just basically dunks only 71% I mean it’s it’s a wild stat like pick a pick a big man that you think this is just a dunker man they do uh I’m actually looking at some big men right now Dereck livley who I think of is like just lobs yeah I he’s
Shooting 80.4% yeah Kevin is better Jared Allen thought of as like a a dunker 73% which which by the way is good very good but it’s not 84% that Durant is I mean that just that it blew my mind what what he’s doing and they stricted even like Giannis is
Another one that you think of you know who just Absol abolutely destroys in the restricted area and Durant is just an absolute killer there I mean I just that I mean it just blew my mind that he’s shooting that good Giannis 77.9% which is really good and it’s on
Way more attempts it’s like four times the attempts you know that Durant is you know he’s 12 attempts per game so it would make sense that it would be less than 84% and maybe if Durant could still get to the hoop with more regularity it would be wouldn’t be as good but boy
That just it blew my mind shout out to me uh now that I’m looking at it Derek livley is like the next guy basically on on those same amount of attempts on that yeah uh well that’s great because you’re talking about one end of the spectrum
I’m going the other way at The Rim among all players in the NBA who take at least two attempts at The Rim per game you filter out the guys who only played a game or two so we’re talking over 200 players still Tyler hero is dead last in in Rim percentage at 42.1%
42.1% now there’s a couple uh things that make this stat so interesting first let me read you the same stat for Tyler herro in every other season of his career last year 64.6% the year before 61.5% keep going back 64.5% his rookie season 56.4 okay
Finally it dips a bit but still for the last three seasons Hero has been incredibly consist at the rim and then all of a sudden it falls off a cliff yeah and that’s that’s just the first thing that is interesting the second thing that’s interesting is if you step
Back a few feet into what nba.com calls in the paint non zone so we’re in the paint but not in the restricted area of the 32 players in the NBA who take at least four attempts per game in that range kind of like the floater range Tyler hero is ranked fourth at
52.6% behind only Nick yic Luca donic and kawhai Leonard he’s ahead of guys like SGA Booker KD embiid he has simultaneously been the worst finisher at the ri Rim this season while also having one of the best seasons from floater range it’s incredible and that’s why he gets this award most shocking
Stat award so congratulations very shocking shockingly bad shockingly bad shockingly bad uh okay next Award fine I was wrong award which goes to the preseason take we are reluctantly giving up um and for me it’s uh Yousef nurkic because uh listen I understood the argument for why it made sense to trade
DeAndre Eon you know things were Beyond repair with DeAndre and on the court nurkic was going to provide more passing ability which the Suns needed but I was still extremely dubious Andrew that nerk was going to be the level of player that the Suns would need I had real concerns about his
Durability well through half of a season the only Phoenix Suns player to play in every single game has been you guessed it YF nurkic all 42 games and while his scoring hasn’t been amazing he’s shooting under 50% from the field not great he’s rebounding the ball great
He’s averaging three and a half assists per game and when he’s on the court the Suns hold teams to 8.2 fewer points per 100 possessions which leads the Suns and is in the 95th percentile in the league and if you go over to dunen threes. comom his defensive EPM plus 2.3 the
Guys immediately around him on the list Chad Homen bam out of Bio OG and Obi that’s where that’s where he is with defensive EPM All Things Considered nerk has been an incredibly steady presence for a team that has desperately needed a steady presence through the first half
Of this season and for that reason I’m happy to give him my fine I was wrong award congratulations to Yousef nerkish uh Al we we uh try to pick a surprise Team every year and yeah in the past I’ve done pretty good uh I I picked maybe the most shockingly bad team in
The league like one of the most shockingly bad teams I picked the Wizards to be P I pick has one more win than your team a surprise too I know I can still hold it over you I know and and that team actually has a has a worse
Net rating today thanks to like the big go back go back to what you’re talking about Showdown but the team I picked has seven wins right now so bad negative 9.1 net rating uh I thought they could surprise I thought they could shock the world and and win
More games than than people thought they could but uh no they are seven and 37 currently and uh just did they didn’t fire their coach they uh told their coach promoted him in some ways to take a different seat and having Brian Keefe come in uh it’s not
Good Al I mean almost everybody has underperformed to them um I guess the only thing that’s good is we got Bal kulali you know doing some stuff but other than that it has been rough and I was very very wrong about the zards this is a very uh Niche stat but maybe the
Most like shocking thing about the Wizards is that Jordan P has you can find him on the waivers in some fantasy basketball leagues like that that is truly crazy because coming into the season people were thinking like all right Jordan pull he’s gonna get all the
Usage he wants like he might score a 30 a game who knows it’s been really rough and I did pick him up off of wavers and I keep waiting for it to turn around hasn’t exactly happened yet but he has been slightly better lately um okay next
Award mid season seventh Man of the Year award this is just a dumb award I made up has no meaning I’m not like trying to make a point about anything means nothing but to to pick a person they have to be outside the top six in minutes per game on their team that’s
The only uh qualifier because you know six Man of the Year some of these guys you know they’re playing like 32 minutes a game you know I want to find someone deeper deeper on the bench so I sent you a name of a list of names I went through
All the teams kind of picked out some names I thought could maybe qualify who did you end up going with I have a feeling I know who but who did you go with I feel like this is cheating a little bit because I think this guy
Could actually win the Sixth Man of the Year but I’m going with nas Reed from oh Nas Reed yeah Minnesota Timberwolves he’s been amazing for them he’s shooting 41% on five attempts from three this season he’s a pretty good rebounder he’s a become like even a better playmaker he
He’s he’s like improved his body a lot since he came in the league so he can defend lots of different kinds of players he’s a fan favorite they love love love him in Minnesota and so I gotta go Nas Reed it’s been the year of Nas
Reed uh that’s a great pick I was talking to uh Dane Moore today on The Dan Moore podcast and uh just talking about like how how much that team struggles offensively because of the lack of spacing and having someone like Nas Reed like how important he is even on a team
That still doesn’t have spacing even with NZ Reed but like if they didn’t have nzed it would be so so much rougher oh yeah um so he’s critical to that team um some other some of the other names I sent to Andrew just to to peruse uh Sam
Hower Sam Merrill uh googa Isaiah Joe who actually is who I thought you might take yeah uh pton Watson Kelly oen Jonathan kaminga Russell Westbrook Derek Lively and then the player that I decided to go with now I did come down to this player or Nas Reed and uh I’m
Glad I went with the other player so that we can talk about some someone else and that’s Dante axom now he has been out of the lineup for a bit I do not have a games requirement for my seventh Man of the Year award mid-season award
He has played 31 games um but I I wanted to pick him just because man I I I had thought that I would never think about Dante exom again you know like a great story yeah like I remember that draft and I remember the way that how excited
Like people were about Dante exom because he really was like that Year’s man of mystery was very exciting um and then you know things just didn’t turn out well he goes overseas and I just honestly just kind of forgot about Dante exom and for him to not just show back
Up into my life but show back up and play a critical role on what is going to be a playoff team is super impressive and basically any of the advanced stats like really love Dante exom like the the his onoff numbers for the Mavs have been incredible I went on PBP stats.com so
These are really fun you can you can go and put like you know how many players you want it’ll show you their net ratings with a couple guys off couple guys on so Luca on Dante exm Kyrie Irving off over 500 minutes net rating of minus six Andrew minus six okay uh
Luca and Kyrie on but no Dante exom a minus one well now you add back in exom exom and Luca no Kyrie Plus 5. four this is this one’s really funny now this is only 150 minutes so it doesn’t mean anything it’s small sample Dante xam on Luca and Kyrie off plus
7.36 um he’s just been so important to their offense he’s been like an incredible shooter have you seen his shooting stats I mean that was the thing back then like when he was drafted you know oh if this guy could ever learn how to shoot but uh don’t get too excited
You know probably won’t happen or something he’s shooting 46% from three now he’s only taking two a game he’s only playing 19.5 minutes per game but that’s why he’s the seventh man of the year I just think he’s been so helpful to that team and uh that’s why I wanted
To reward him I also considered Derrick lley who who I was actually surprised was in this range like could could qualify for it but I think Isaiah Joe is a great option Sam Merill I I looked at it hard because he has been crazy over this last stretch but you know I’m
Looking I’m looking for guys who been doing the whole season okay Andrew that’s even the other Sam Sam Hower Sam Hower been great as well uh next award first half League Pass team award now I was debating uh whether to lie when giving this award or actually give it to
The team that I spent the most time watching through 41 games in the non- Thunder category and I’ve decided to tell the truth Andrew okay which is why my first half League Pass team award goes to the Detroit Pistons now there are a lot of factors here first
Detroit’s games are always on first everyone knows this uh out here on the West Coast they come on at 400 pm. and you know I’m usually like wrapping up work stuff I’ll just turn I just got in the habit of just turning on the Pistons games you know I drafted assar Thompson
On my fantasy team he started playing well so I was like oh I need to tune in see how this is how he’s doing it and then there was the streak and that Intrigue that slowly built over several weeks until watching the Pistons became almost as important to me as watching
Thunder games and lowest point besides betting on them against the Wizards which they lost by 19 was the December 28th game against Boston that went to overtime yeah because I was home for the holidays with family that I don’t see but once a year and I was in the corner
Staring at my phone cracked screen simultaneously rooting on but also secretly rooting against a 229 team I’d become as obsessed with watching the Pistons lose as the Pistons were with losing but I wouldn’t trade it for the world Andrew it was a genuinely memorable ride there’s so many great
Pistons accounts on Twitter that I found through this experience I feel invested in what this team does next so how could I not give them my first half League Pass team award uh I’m gonna go with a uh probably a little bit more popular pick okay with
The Indiana Pacers and it was it was one of their inseason tournament games that just was like the first time I was like oh my gosh so when they played the Atlanta HW and beat them 157 to 152 class just like what like what like genuinely what is happening here you
Know it wasn’t they they’ve scored 150 three times twice against the Hawks once against the Spurs um and then I got to see them in person against Milwaukee uh at the inseason tournament in Vegas and they were just electric like they they’re just such a fun team
Halberton is just one of the most fun players to watch and they have a really fun cast of characters around those guys um you know it’s got to be them for me they’re they’re also an East Coast team so we we watch a lot of West Coast
Basketball and so you know to just flip on and like casually watch a league pass team like to me it had to probably be an East Coast team because on most nights we’re watching Thunder basketball um for West Coast time but Indie I just love watching Indie also great uniforms also great Court
Inseason tournament Court I kind of missed the season tournament courts oh uh okay uh next award uh bold prediction for the second half of the Season award so Andrew uh what is your bold prediction for the rest of the season oh man bold prediction this it it’s tough to come up
With something like super bold when you disagree take a look at what’s going on here with the league um but I will say I think the Utah Jazz will finish ahead of the Lakers and the Mavericks in the Western Conference oh the Mavericks okay that’s juicy that’s a juicy one you
Don’t believe in uh Dante exom my seventh man of the year after your after your seventh man speech I’m uh I’m way against it so yeah okay okay I like that um all right so in my opinion for a prediction to truly be bold you you should not feel comfortable saying it
Okay yeah if Lakers I did not feel comfortable saying good that’s how you know that’s bold um so with that my second half bold prediction is that the Detroit Pistons will win more games than they won last year now as a reminder they won 17 games last year which means
They need to go 13 and 25 the rest of the way they have five wins uh right now but 13 and 25 that’s only a 28 win Pace Andrew is that so crazy yeah I’m not I’m not asking them to go 539 that’s pretty crazy no I’m not asking them to go 500
You should be you should be taken as a compliment it is bold uh well there’s some early returns that suggest this team is turning a corner over their last five games in which they’ve gone two and three they have the 10th ranked offense per clean the glass
119.99 100 possessions okay and I know what you’re saying weren’t those two wins against Washington and Charlotte yes but shut up Charlotte just beat Minnesota yeah and Washington uh so Troy weer Weaver finally did the bare minimum and he traded for Mike muscala a guy who most
Would consider a fringe NBA player yeah who also happens to be exactly what Detroit needs right now and this team already looks way more functional offensively and when Kade gets back he’s now coming back back to a team Andrew that is so much more spacing than it did
We got muscala we got Monty Morris he’s back Alec Burks learned how to shoot again he shooting 46% from three since Cade went out uh a sprinkling of Gallow maybe another small trade medium-size trade I don’t know I’m not asking this team to do anything crazy okay I’m
Asking them to play at the pace of a 28- win team the rest of the season that’s it and I think finally once kad’s back they uh have the offensive pieces to put a solid offense on the floor every night and win enough to get to 18 games they
Will finish ahead of the Wizards wow what do you think about that that’s pretty B they’re only they’re actually only two games back at the Wizards that’s not that great yeah yeah yeah that’s that’s not that bold of it but they they also will likely make some
More deals as they get we’ll see I’m I’m I’m factoring that in I’m factoring in so yeah can I wonder if there’s are there like mid-season over unders that you can bet on like is there if if would Vegas put their over under at like 12 12 and a
Half right now or something I don’t know that’s a great question I would I would slam that over I don’t know um all right so that was our individual Awards these next couple awards are group Awards Andrew which means we have to agree on the winner I
Think some of these will be easy for us but some might be tough first we’re going to do the first half major Awards but I have I have a mid-season over under at 11 and a half oh my God 11 and a half are you kidding not kidding oh my
Gosh I’m liquidating my account tomorrow putting it on the Pistons over uh okay first half major Awards the cat is that you can’t pick the favorites so for instance we are going to pick our first half MVP but you can’t pick Joel embiid okay you can’t do it now this one
Let’s be honest we’re going to pick sh we’re Thunder fans we we we think he deserves it we really like him he’s been great they’re the number one team in the west you could make a very compelling case for joic obviously uh but let’s just move along
Because we both know we’re gonna pick Trey okay the coach of the year Andrew say anything huh we don’t even get to say anything I mean go ahead it’s fine no go listen to me on the game theory podcast with San Vini I I make the case to win
It and and also you were uh you talk about him on tampering today as well yeah true yeah quit talking about him okay Coach of the Year you can’t pick mark dagnal thank God uh who would you like to nominate for Coach of the Year Andrew I mean Chris Finch has been amazing
For the Wolves he has and he he is number two in odds yeah may may I make a case for one other guy who I was on BET MGM he’s not even on the top 10 list really will hardy no although that’s a pretty good choice as well yeah JB bicker
Staff oh because this Cav’s team he lost two all I mean I guess they’re not all because MMO’s not made an All-Star game but he’s lost two starters yeah one of whom was an All-Star and he this team has been one of the best teams since
That point it’s true and they are a homecourt Advantage team as of right now I know the Knicks are are very close there as well um I just think he deserves a ton of credit you have to give him some of the credit for helping manage this team but I also think that
The Timberwolves have been one of the stories of this season having the best defense in the league they’ve been very very good and I think that his task I mean it’s very hard coming back from two starters being out but Finch’s task of trying to figure out the goar thing
After what happened last season and finally figuring it out and making it all work I think that is very deserving yeah I mean a lot of people thought they’d have to make a move yeah absolutely to trade goar and then he basically lose asset I mean it’s just it
It could be disastrous but instead they’re you know they’re right there with the Thunder for number one in the west uh next one most improved player you can’t pick Tyrese Maxi uh who would you pick I actually would pick Scotty Barnes okay Scotty Barnes well one he has improved from last
Season to this season I also think Kobe white is like the other like really who who I think has a chance to win it um but Scotty Barnes 15 points to 20 points per game he’s taking on more offensive responsibilities he’s averaging career high in points assists
Rebounds uh and Steals and blocks this season he looks like a player that could be a franchise guy which last season he had taken maybe a small step forward maybe a small step back depending on who you talk to uh I think he’s taken a massive step forward his shot looks
Better he’s making more threes he’s shooting more threes taking five threes per game and almost 37% um which is just really good for a player like that so Scotty Barnes going from like good player to like a guy that you feel like is a pillar of your
Franchise to me that’s it’s a tough step to take and he’s done it this season um he made my final four uh the others in my final four I want to mention shenon because he’s been great but I would argue that a lot of his Improvement was just his team deciding
To play him and his coach deciding he was a good player yeah basically so I don’t like I I think shenon was probably that player last year or close to it he obviously has improve but also they’re running the offense through him they’re doing the things they should have been
Doing this entire time um so I don’t want to give it to him uh Jay duub he’s been great but he’s a seconde player yeah he should get better I don’t want to give it to him so it came down to me to Scotty Barnes and Kobe white the
Reason I went Kobe white is because even though I talked about him in the second half of last year saying oh this guy’s really coming along like he’s maybe he’s making a pre-ap I never imagined in a million years that this would happen in year five for Kobe white
Like there’s a thing with young players and it’s unfair because we’ve seen it with like Mark in where like if it doesn’t happen by year three you kind of check out a little bit and and you like reduce your expectations for that player and that had certainly happened with me
And Kobe white so I just love those stories when a guy like in his fifth or sixth year just explodes out of nowhere like when Julius Randall when it happened with him where a guy later in his career just kind of breaks out where he’s still young like it makes sense
That he would get better but he breaks out to such a degree that it surprises you um his shooting has been incredible his playmaking has been great and the way that he carried that Bulls team for a lot of that stretch like immediately after LaVine went out and has still
Continued to be a good player even as LaVine has come back in the lineup that’s why I opted for Kobe white um what do you think we have to we have to I mean after I mean the last 15 games he’s 215 and five which yeah did you
Ever think he would have a 15 game stretch where he would average something like that yeah let’s give kby White all right Improvement is striking like I think you could have reasonably thought that Scotty Barnes would get better you know Kobe was more out of nowhere yeah
Um next easy one rookie of the year wimy is now the favorite so listen this isn’t even homery we’re going with Chad okay we don’t really have to talk about it talk we’re not going with haime all right we’re going with Chad yeah no it’s a battle between
Those two and it’s man it’s it is it’s crazy because these are both like generational players and I I feel like you can pretty safely say that for both of these guys they’re they’re both incredible and the arguments back and forth have just gotten ridiculous and I
Dipped my toe into that yesterday and boy those Waters those waters are boiling hot Al I’ll tell you that yeah see I I prevented all this by drafting wemi in the second round of my fantasy draft which some thought was crazy at the time but as he gets better I’ve just
Been proven more and more smart so yeah I feel great um okay defensive player the year you can’t choose Rudy goar yeah wonder if we’re going to choose the same guy let’s say his name I’ll say 321 and we’ll say his name okay okay three two one Anthony
Oobi okay I like OG I actually talked to Vini about this too and I and he kind of swayed me away from it and that okay OG just wasn’t that good for the Raptors if it were just like OG on the Knicks I would be totally in on this and may
Even start to try to argue that he should be the defensive player of the year period and maybe we’ll get there if he plays like this the rest of the season but with the Raptors it just wasn’t this good that’s true that’s a very good
Point um the one thing I just did want to mention like it is pretty amazing that he goes to this team and within 12 games they go from the 19th ranked defense to the second ranked defense Le I know it’s and just watching him at his size defending you know all the best
Players on the other teams I mean he is he was like he’s the perfect addition to that team he’s been unbelievable and if and maybe if he does this the rest of the season I think he he’ll he’ll probably make all defense and then probably wind up you know
Second in voting and I think he deserves it but Anthony Davis has been really really good for the Lakers and I think they would be rudderless without him uh the def like he’s got a massive job on defense and he’s been healthy and so I want to give him credit
While I still can because it’s just it feels like because you feel the OG train coming and you know it’s gonna overtake them I mean maybe but also did you see uh we’re recording on Thursday night uh the Knicks beat the Nuggets tonight 122 to 84 OG had 26 points six Steals and
There’s a very funny clip a little 7-second clip of uh tibs sitting down at the postgame press conference like smiling non-stop just like giggling he was giggling he was so happy I mean why you gotta give it to OG for that look what he’s done to tibs he’s made him so
Happy yeah I I will give it to I I’ll give it to OG just because I do believe I do believe in him keeping this up throughout the rest of the season he does have to keep doing it because I mean now it’s been 13 games
That’s still not very many games but if we get to the end of the season and he’s had this effect over like 55 games yeah that would be incredible I mean they’ll be the number one defense in the league yeah they’ll probably continue going up the east standings that that would
Really make his case strong this is a little preemptive maybe he could actually win it too maybe that’d be fun um last one six Man of the Year you can’t choose do you even did you even know that Tim Hardway Jr was the favorite I did know this yeah
I did um I looked looked it up uh the guy I went with is the guy who I thought was the favorite which is Malik monk yeah um I know the Kings have been in a little rough patch um but you can’t deny the the Improvement as a playmaker that
Monk has that we’ve seen from monk this year and he’s just been so huge for this team at a time when so many of their players were going through various slumps you know whether it was like Harrison Barnes not looking good the beginning of the year Kevin herder
Having so many issues Keegan Murray even at the very beginning of the year was really struggling yeah um he has been like so important for them off the bench and in closing games he’s had huge moments I think he’s like your classic six-man you’re Classic six-man he’s
Classic give this a to uh other guys I would consider Norman Powell who’s been shooting like 45% from three or something yeah 45% from three on like five attempts I mean he’s he’s been really really good for them Jordan Clarkson is another one another classic
Six man but I’m with you Malik monk give me Malik monk okay uh the next one we have to agree on master of Illusion award the team whose record is most deceiving so this could go either way it could be a team whose records worse than
You think they are or a team that’s record is better than you think you are they are they are I mean the the easy one is Milwaukee right the easy one is Milwaukee yes we even count that at this point um I mean I didn’t pick them um
Because uh you know docs coming in there yeah docs coming in there maybe they’ll turn things around I I but I agree with you like everyone kind of knows that yeah yeah so did you have any other teams though I mean I thought about Phoenix exactly that’s who
I went with Phoenix yeah they’re 26 18 W seven in a row Point differential does is not anything to write home about I don’t know it’s not it’s it’s all an injury thing because if you like look at the minutes that their best guys are playing together they’re just destroying
Teams yeah and they’re now healthy for the longest stretch and they’ve been unbeatable over these last seven games and they’ve had some good wins in there so I think it’s deceiving because if these guys had just been healthy from the beginning of the season I think they’re in that conversation with like
What we see as that top tier which is you know OKC Minnesota Denver and the Clippers I think I mean they’re they’re at 26 wins it’s not like they’re that far behind those other teams so if they stay healthy I think this team is going
To be right there at the end of the season and as I mentioned they still have their uh Contender resume yeah they do I’m less of a believer I’m I’m almost a opposite believer in the other direction an opposite believer interesting a non-believer I’m a nonbeliever really yeah even even if they’re healthy
I’m not asking you about the the playoffs yeah I just I just don’t they’re supporting Cass I just don’t believe in wow so you almost think it’s a master of Illusion you think their records deceiving as it is now after this seven game yeah I kind of do but
Not unbelievable I don’t know maybe I’m just a hater uh two more two more here we go here we go uh I’m going to do this one first play out to playin Award Team currently outside the playin that we feel most confident will make the playin so the realistic options Brooklyn
Toronto Houston Golden State yeah and both Brooklyn and Toronto lost tonight uh I mean I was tempted to pick Brooklyn just because I think the bottom of the East there like with Atlanta oh like if Atlanta makes a move like they could get worse like Brooklyn could not even be
That great and get into wild that Atlanta is 10th it is wild yeah there there was there people very excited about them beginning of they’re 18 and 26 and they’re 10th that’s what I’m surprised about not even that they’re bad of course they’re bad but the fact that they get they get into
The playin at 18 and 26 yeah get them out of there 16 gam out of First Place 16 so realistically I think you have to go Houston or Golden State yeah um both teams who I think could make a deal at the deadline that could swing this yeah
Warriors give me the Warriors think are incentivized but yeah I’m going to go with the Warriors as well yeah that that one’s a little easy at the end of the day yeah I think it’s just you don’t want to be the one to uh predict the downfall but you know Josh hustus
Already did he did that preseason but I just think they’ll climb back in it I think that they’ll they’ll get back in it and my bold prediction will likely be wrong and that Utah will fall out and it’ll be Golden State Lakers Mavs Kings Pelicans all in that mix yeah would be
My um yes yeah with Houston you know I I think I count I was counting up their wins and losses they’re like seven and 14 in their last 21 yeah um three the last 10 three the last 10 yeah you just wonder if they’d be willing to do a bigger trade like I
Keep seeing uh Rockets fans starting to some Rockets fans starting to be willing to talk about Jaylen green trades and I would be interested to see what this team would look like with someone else in place of Jaylen green yeah um I do think that would be interesting they’d
Be better yeah they’d be better um okay final one second half run award now this is given to a team currently around or below 500 that will make a second half run so you can go as high as I would say the Miami Heat I think they’re 24 and 21
Now if you really wanted to take Miami okay but uh I I’m am very confident about my pick and it is I wonder if the same team Orlando Magic oh really okay yes because listen to this first of all they were great at the start of the
Season yeah and then they started to deal with some injuries frons just came back back in the lineup after missing eight games from now until the end of the season they have the 30th ranked schedule easiest schedule in the league so yes it’s been rough but unlike Milwaukee who Milwaukee’s flipped like
Milwaukee just had like the easiest part of their schedule and now I think they’re like I think they might be number one in terms of hardest schedule rest of the season Orlando’s the opposite so I think if they can get healthy and they’re also a team that has
Some trade deadline Intrigue if they could grab a shooter or maybe another playmaker yeah I really think that would make a huge difference to the magic and with this easy schedule I mean they got three games left against Detroit now I do need Detroit to win 13 games but
Still at the same time still Detroit they have to lose 25 of them Andrew uh so that’s why I feel confident that the magic are going to make a second half run I think it’s Indie Indie are they where are they what’s their record right now 24 20 24 and
20 they just beat the Sixers though that’s cheating know you qualified the heat though I didn’t know I mean you if you you brought the heat into the conversation give me Indie I mean they just got Pascal seaka they want to make a run oh is that is that cheating oh
Well they’re 25 and 20 now now and they just beat the Sixers yeah let let me see what their remaining strength of schedule is they are oh wow 28th so they have the third easiest schedule yeah they have legit like they have like a good team that it takes time
To adjust especially with a player as good as Pascal like it just takes time but I okay so how how confident are you like how high do you think they could go man the East is starting to look so good they could get to four I think
Reasonably only even then like dude the Knicks are on fire eight two in their last 10 one five in a row Sixers are obviously great bucks we assume are about to be I mean they’ve been good but they’ll be even better Cleveland’s gonna get their guys back Pacers are right
There at six good is loaded the heat heat are still good it’s it’s loaded until it’s not well it is right now uh that’s fine we can go with the Pacers get down to like because that’s the thing with the East is that some of these playin teams
Are just not scary at all like Chicago and and Atlanta and those are two playin teams right now yeah look at the wests though like the Lakers are ninth in the west as a playin team yeah Mavs and you know and the Mavs and the Kings like you
Look at the and you look at the top of the West who they’d be playing if they won Oklahoma city in Minnesota and you ask the Lakers are you scared of playing Oklahoma City or Minnesota they’re probably like no no way the the West is ju the depth of the
West like the quality depth of the West is still just insane where like the East it like falls off a cliff it feels like um well if we’re going to cheat uh 25 and 20 um we’ll we’ll choose the Pacers they are they are a better team yeah and
I think yes the seaka move is is going to start paying off I know it’s started off a little rough but they get that big win tonight so yeah that’s a that’s the end of the mid season slammies congratulations to all the winners yes uh a team that we didn’t mention at all
For the mid season slammies is the Charlotte Hornets and we’re gonna talk about them right after this quick break all right Andrew it is time for the wheel of fandom our weekly segment where we spin a wheel it lands on a team and we become fans of that team for the next week
Last week the wheel landed on the Charlotte Hornets and it was a pretty entertaining week for the Hornets who had several close games it came down to the final few minutes overall the Hornets went two and2 the losses were to Philly and Detroit the wins came against San Antonio and the Minnesota
Timberwolves on the road in a game where Carl Anthony Town scored 62 points the Hornets also made a trade this week sending Terry roier to the heat for Kyle Lowry and a future first the Hornets are 10 and 31 13th in the East with the 27th ranked offense and 28th ranked defense
According to cleaning the glass Andrew if our favorite team is the Hornets who is our guest it’s my guy Richie Randall he’s a co-host of the buzzbeat pod on blue wire Richie thanks for coming on the show thanks for having me guys this is a h repeat guest appearance I’m
Excited that’s right yes number two uh Richie let’s start with Brandon Miller who over these four G games averaged 24 points 6 and a half rebounds and nearly three assists on 57 45 87 shooting splits he’s in the midst of the best stretch of his season and we see his
Usage his usage is going to crank up over the next you know few weeks as terroir has gone uh where have you seen the biggest improvements in his game from the beginning of the Season until now yeah I think just you know being more comfortable with the ball in his
Hands I think that’s one thing that that Clifford has talked about since really he’s come into the to the uh to the game as a rookie uh he doesn’t get sped up like he is is very slow nobody can slow you know speed him up uh I think the
Fact that he can play in the middle of the court at the pick and roll he still has got to bulk up obviously in those types of situations because he’s going to get pushed off his path um and I think you know over the offseason when
He had Mono it kind of set him back tremendously in terms of that weight gain and so we we keep pointing to the next off season as okay maybe this is the offseason upcoming that that Brandon Miller put on some weight I think that’s going to be the biggest thing for him
Moving forward but it just just in terms of his overall growth just he just seems so mature out there and you know like I said like nobody can speed it speed him up uh he really is making shots from all over the court above the break in the
Middle of the Court um he’s got to get better at The Rim but I think that will come with time and defensively like he actually wants to defend and this is a team that doesn’t have a lot of good Defenders like Cody Martin might be the
One guy but he’s missed so much time this year and he’s coming back from an injury and try to work his way back in uh so despite the fact that he does have like a wiry frame he actually competes on that end of the court so I would also
Say the defensive side too just kind of showing up on that end and for a team like you know Clifford that coaches a team that is in the bottom five of Defense it’s kind of sad to see but at least he is at least buying in and and
Wants to win and compete on that end and um I think that’s the biggest thing that I’m seeing so everyone saw the scenes of hornets fans just devastated that charlot did not draft scoot Henderson at too I’m assuming that sentiment has flipped and the Hornets fans are feeling
Pretty good about that decision yeah it’s so funny like how you make a judgment obviously on the day of the draft but then too like just in the rookie season as well like I don’t think we’ll know this until two or three seasons down the road but yes the
Sentiment has totally flipped uh the people that were in favor of scoot obviously now are trying to favor Brandon Miller I didn’t have really a strong feeling one way or the other uh but I did see the upside with Brandon Miller and obviously scoot Henderson you know maybe more recently he’s done
Better but he just hasn’t shot the ball well for Portland uh and and Brandon Miller you know is is the pick that the Hornets fans are kind of ring around galvanizing with and uh it’s funny how people you know they they change their tune on these
Things so I want to talk about l because you know partly due to injuries partly due to the team just not being very good he hasn’t been in the spotlight as much as he was his first two seasons and statistically he’s putting up very similar numbers to his previous Seasons
But one area he has improved substantially is in the pick and roll in his first three seasons lamelo’s points per possession in pick and rolls never got higher than 081 which was always below the 40th percentile this season he is averaging 098 points per possession
As a pick and roll ball handler which is in the 75th percenti same number as Donovan Mitchell what has changed in your opinion that has allowed him to become so much more efficient as a pick and roll operator this season it’s an interesting question I did not know that
That was the case um I have not seen anything like noticeable different that might just years of experience and maybe I mean Mark Williams has been out for the past what 20 games or something like that but like maybe playing with a guy like Mark Williams second year under
Their belt having more confidence that he can you know play out of that I think has really turned the reins over to lamelo and you see that usage just go up way up and in previous years especially under Baro it almost felt like the offense was by committee they had a lot
Of different guys ball handling miles Bridges and you know Lamela ball does play well off the ball but I think you know where you see his biggest strength is on the ball pick and roll and he’s just so calm in the middle of the Court he can find you know players does that
Include like is it just him scoring or is also his teammates as well uh I think it’s just so it’s pick and roll ball handler points per possession so I guess it is just points generated from pick and roll yeah okay but yeah I mean I think that the assists come into
Play too but just drawing the attention I think one of the biggest things too is with the pick and roll is the the Deep shooting for him you know when teams go under he has the range on that three-point shot I I would say he’s kind
Of up there with with Trey and and Steph and and Dame and all those different types of players that can shoot from 26 27 ft and uh that’s something that he’s really good at in in terms of uh you know using that screen using the advantage and just pulling up from Deep
So his three-point shot has done really well out of the pick and roll uh and and if those numbers include the passes obviously he’s a very talented passer yeah I saw his usage was like at 35% like almost 36% or something which is like clearly the highest of his
Career yeah I mean it’s they have turned the ball over to him and um they aren’t looking back and obviously with t Rosier gone uh it’s only going to climb up a little bit more higher and you know the biggest thing with lamelo is just kind of staying healthy and uh those ankles
Are just tearing him down and he doesn’t want to wear ankle braces which is the funniest thing to me everyone’s just like okay lamelo you get you go least try them if if they’re uncomfortable first you got to at least try him because you are the star of this team
The star of Charlotte and uh we can’t afford you to miss 25 plus games every year so we talked about Brandon Miller but there’s another rookie who may start to see increased minutes in the second half of the Season Nick Smith Jr who’s been a regular part of the rotation
Since about mid December uh he’s a really interesting Prospect because he was a five-star recruit at a high school number two in the nation but by the draft opinions were just all over the place with him there was some draft Twitter shout out Ben Fifer who were
Still really high on him but he ends up going at the end of the first round uh what are your early impressions of his game and have you seen the flashes of of the high upside potential that were people were talking about with him coming out of high school yeah I mean he
He is very much an Energizer Off the Bench and and I think that translates on both ends of the Court offensively he’s doing really well from behind the arc I did not know that was in his game in terms of just the overall efficiency I think it will probably kind of go down
Over the course of the season in his career uh but he can score off the catch he can score off the bounce like he’s he’s very quick but he’s also not out of control and so when he is running 100 miles an hour he can still stop on a
Dime and pull up from the mid-range area or wherever he wants to get to and in the flashes of that you know the gam that he’s played like it it’s just mostly just like shot making pure shot making he doesn’t have much of an offensive game outside of that so
Hopefully the passing comes in time and then defensively kind of like what I was talking about with Brandon Miller the energy shows up there now obviously he is only 6’2 a little bit undersized but he is very pesky on that end and he’ll get under your skin he will you know
Probably defend maybe just ones and twos at this point uh but he doesn’t mind going up against a bigger guy and and trying to get him you know pushed off the block or or pushed away from the rim as as much as possible and uh as we keep
Alluding to with the trade of Terry Rosier Brandon Miller the melow ball Nick Smith Jr like this is the backourt I wouldn’t say of the future but you’ve got these young guys Nick Smith is going to see a whole lot more minutes moving forward and um it’s funny I asked him in
The beginning of the year and he’s such a level-headed guy about like you know what do you value more going down and getting playing time in Greensboro for the g-league team or would you rather sit the bench at Charlotte and kind of learn from the veterans and he said he
Didn’t really M he didn’t he didn’t care one way or the other and he’s not played at all in Greensboro but the fact that he’s now getting more minutes in Charlotte you’re starting to see that potential and I I believe if I’m not mistaken he and Brandon were aaou
Teamate teammates at one point so connection there oh nice uh so we mentioned the rier trade which happened this week following that trade the Hornets are now projected to have around 45 million in cap space this summer now in the past uh the assumption would have
Been that a Jordan Le team would go out and use that money on free agents to boost the current squad for a playoff push is that still your expectation or do you think we may see like a very different approach from the new ownership group yeah I I think it’s a
Completely different approach this is not a move that you would have seen under Michael Jordan this type of trade where they’re trading Rosier to get off of his salary and obviously Kyle Lowry is just in there to match salaries no one’s expecting to play in Charlotte and
So you know they’re hoping for that that first round pick to convey as an unprotected one in 20128 uh but in terms of using that salary to kind of go after a guy like they did with Gordon Hayward uh this summer or you know using that
Cap space to sign a guy I I just don’t see it I don’t see it at all I think these owners are going to be a little bit more creative they’re going to be a little bit more Progressive obviously it’s just one move under the new
Ownership but I I get a sense that it’s going to be a change up from the previous regime and you almost wonder like Mitch cup like did he have any say in this or the owners pushing this so I I do really like this I do really like
This trade for the Hornets I I’ve been pushing the fact that they need to get off Terry Rosier for a couple of reasons um one because he is extended two more seasons after this so you clear up that space Kyle Lowry obviously expires after this season um but you know you know
Just getting that pairing between lamelo and Brandon that that frees up the space and you know it puts Brandon in a prime position to play in the backourt for the rest of the season but it’s also an opportunity for the Hornets to take on bad contracts and and maybe get another
Asset or two in the form of picks but I don’t see them using it in the way that they maybe have used it in the past trying to sign a guy like Gordon award so um I’m hoping that they’re doing a different you know approach to this and
I think the new ownership hopefully kind of sees that too like the previous stuff just didn’t work the way that they wanted it to have you heard any Rumblings of how different to expect this franchise to look next year like are are you as fans anticipating like a
New coach or a new GM coming in this summer yeah I mean I think everyone thinks that Mitch and and Cliff are on their way out you know I don’t know how much good it does to fire cliff right now especially if you don’t have like a replacement in mind right I mean
Especially someone’s not available um yeah coach Bud if he’s available obviously like you can get him in but I think they’re going to write it out this season but most people are expecting there to be a lot of turnover um people also have um I guess theorized that
Mitch cup might not necessarily leave the organization completely he would just step into a different role but yeah I mean I think there’s going to be new coach new new GM all that type of stuff and I think there’s going to be turnover in the roster as well I think you know
Miles Bridges and PJ Washington I there’s something about the fact that like I don’t they’ve played well together but I almost feel like the roster construction point of view they need to move off one of those players and bridges is on an expiring so if they are thinking about keeping him you know
Considering all the uh the drama that comes with that they probably need to trade PJ and I know his name has been floated out there a couple times you know just just little things here and there feel like the whole roster construction needs to be different and I
Think the owners see that and then it’s going to start with the GM it’s going to start with the coach as well and then for Hayward what’s what’s the expectation there do do is the expectation that he’ll be moved bought out like what’s the what’s the Thought
Right now with with him yeah it’s interesting because him and Lowry are you know expiring contracts $30 million6 million total yeah yeah and so it’s it’s going to be hard to trade both or buy out both and I think with that new CBA rule too where like these teams that are
Above the apron can’t sign players that make more than mle which obviously Lowry and Hayward both kind of fit that bill I kind of think that gives more leverage to Charlotte because you know you could say oh Lowry wants to go to this team well well they’re above the apron let’s
We’re going to trade you to some somewhere else same thing with Hayward the problem with Hayward right now and I don’t know if you view this as a good thing or a bad thing he hasn’t been playing for the past 15 20 games and does that lessen his trade value or does
That protect his trade value I guess you can kind of look at it both ways um there’s been rumors about a buyout but I don’t think both he and Lowry are going to be bought out I think Lowry is almost like the first priority deal with him if
He is in a Hornets uniform after the deadline it’s not because the Hornets didn’t try to trade him uh Hayward on the other hand I’ve got an indication that he likes it here in Charlotte he has a family now he has four kids I believe and they they’ve kind of settled
Here so whether or not you know he gets moved to a contender um I think he will come back to Charlotte to kind of settle I almost wonder like would he be a guy that would be open to taking a contract obviously lesser than he has now and and
Being a veteran to Brandon Miller um or does he really really value winning to the point to where he wants out after this season uh so it’s kind of up in the air I think between Hayward and Lowry but I think Lowry might be the first guy
That gets moved before Hayward is even considered and it’s really hard to judge hayward’s value right now just because he’s been out for so long so I don’t know how you guys view that if a guy’s been injured is that like hurting his trade value or is it more like I guess
His trade value can’t get any worse yeah I mean I don’t think you could get a whole lot for him like we we discussed on our show like Davis bratans has has a pretty attractive expiring contract and then like the Thunder half young guy on their team that aren’t
Playing a whole lot like a Trey man doesn’t play a whole lot and so it’s like hey could could we enter Charlotte in a Trey man with a Davis Berton you know something like that where it’s hey the the Hornets get to try a young player yeah and then you know Hayward
Gets to be on a team that’s going to be in the playoffs like to me there’s there’s something that makes sense there V Sam Vini brought up to me today like the Mavericks as like another possible Landing spot um and Grant Williams being a player that goes back to Charlotte
Which he he said that Charlotte had interest in Grant Williams the summer so like something like that I think might make some sense um for both squads if I’m Charlotte I probably just would rather have more expiring money and younger players than have like a long-term because I mean you already
Talked about it like miles Bridges like having having that problem with Miles bridg and PJ Washington like Grant Williams is kind of the same kind of like tweener player so I don’t necessarily see a match there but I don’t know I don’t know if either of
Those like strike you in any way yeah I’m kind of in the same boat where you don’t want the I’d rather have the young asset versus the the money that extends two or three years that’s that’s kind of the Allure of trading Rosier you get
That money off the books he was not the best pair with lamelo or in my opinion like they were both productive but like when you paired them together you know they don’t scare anyone in a postseason series because they don’t play any defense you know Rosier is is you know
He could play the point of attack defense but like it’s not it’s not great like they they always Target him late in games I just remember this one game in toron where Scotty Barnes ran this pick and roll over and over again and it got Rosier onto Barnes and every single time
It feels like Barnes scored on a drive or a pass so I I think getting off rosier um for that young pick I think that’s the way to go so that’s why I’m always weed about like the D’Angelo Russell trade to uh the to the Hornets because he’s got that player option next
Year maybe he maybe he doesn’t want to be in Charlotte and he’ll decline it but it’s it’s 19 million yeah uh so the Hornets are likely to have another high pick in this draft I don’t know if you started looking into prospects but what kind of player or maybe you guys have
Targeted a specific player um what kind of player do the Hornets need to Target in this upcoming draft I’m not a draft guy so I I can’t speak to specific guys but I I think the one thing when it comes to this roster construction um you obviously there’s three people on this
Roster that are considered like top tier Untouchable players uh Brandon Miller uh Lamela ball and Mark Williams to a lesser extent and so when you think about those three guys like you want to build around those guys and so when it comes to drafting a high player
Obviously you want to go with Talent first but I think there’s a couple things that the Hornets fans or at least in my view that they need to kind of Target skill-wise I think the Hornets need size across the board especially at the wing position like I just said about
The Rosier pairing with lamelo there were some difficulties on the defensive side of the court so they they definitely need size that two and three position I I think they need some guys that have more on ball ability that can that can break down a defense because
Right now lamelo is the only guy and so even though he’s gotten better um out of the pick and roll like Alex said uh there there’s always an opportunity for him to play off ball because he’s a good spot up shooter as well and you know running some off Ball action for lamelo
Is always a good thing so I think those are the two biggest things like size across the board a guy that can play on both ends because of that size and then somebody who can play with the ball in his hands break down a defense and allow
Lamelo to get off the ball sometimes because if you’re if you’re running the offense through lamelo every single time he has to expend all that energy on that end and then defensively um it kind of wears him down which he’s actually better like an off ball Defender because
He has those instincts like those same instincts that he has on offense like he can use it to his advantage on the defensive side but you know it’s almost like you got to hide him on guys because he has this so like this High usage so I
Would like a guy that can handle the ball a little bit more um and play alongside lamelo or or run the second unit as well sounds like a great landing spot for Cody Williams never heard of Cody Williams he’s jdub’s brother from OKC really plays for Colorado
Yeah and uh he he’s shooting up uh the mock drafts could be the number one pick now he’s really good there’s there’s a running in my podcast where you guys could probably list a a draft prospect and I would either say a prospect or not I I couldn’t tell you even like the
International guys you got you probably sound like you’re making up something to me because I just I just don’t follow it that’s probably smart uh because it is it’s a lot of work I seeing like what actual draft people the work they put in yeah as while they also follow try to
Follow the NBA it’s just like absurd to me I don’t know how they’ll do it um all right Richie thank you for answering all our Hornet’s questions but it is now time to play Andrew versus the beat Hornets Edition uh this is our weekly trivia show where Andrew goes
Head-to-head with an NBA beat writer this week the Challenger is Richie Randall from the buzz beat podcast um Richie how this works I’ve come up with eight questions about the Hornets summer e some are very hard just warning you this we two of them are I think are are
Extremely hard um so you’re going to give me a number between one and eight it’ll correspond to question if you get it right you’ll get at least two points you get it wrong Andrew will have a chance to steal for one and we’ll go back and forth until all the questions
Have been asked and answered so where would you like to start Richie one through eight you know in honor of of Rosier being traded I’ll do number three number three okay if Brandon Miller continues on his current Pace he will quite easily set the Hornets franchise record for most
Three-pointers by a rookie Who currently holds that record oh man um I lean towards two okay um don’t don’t say them both because that’ll help Andrew yeah yeah yeah yeah I just thought of that okay um I feel like I’m GNA say the wrong one
I’m going to go with Kima but I don’t feel good about it Kima Walker that is incorrect Andrew you have a chance to steal for one point franchise leader currently recent pick um gosh this feels wrong because I just don’t feel like he was that good with the
Hornets I’ll say I’ll say Malik monk I just don’t know though Malik monk what a guess Andrew that is incorrect uh Richie was that your other name no and now I’m not even sure if my other name is gonna be correct either Devonte Graham also incorrect would you believe please in
Fact the only Charlotte Hornet rookie to ever hit more than 100 threes and Brandon Miller is already at like 72 he’s gonna Devonte Graham no that’s what he just I I didn’t hear him I couldn’t hear him for some reason you weren’t listening Andrew it’s DJ Augustine wow DJ Augustine 108 three-pointers yeah
That was a and that was a long time ago that was a very long time ago pretty cool pretty good uh tribia by me um all right Andrew board is yours very good trivia by me that was on the Bobcats um one oh that is true technically yeah
Well the history carried over we’re good that’s true that’s true thank God okay question number one Brandon Miller second Brandon Miller question is in the midst of the best stretch of his career scoring 20 plus points in four straight games since the 2021 draft only eight other rookies have had a similar four-
Game stretch where they scored 20 plus in each game and we’re going to name them all so how this works Andrew will give me name then Rich will give me name we’ll go back and forth to one of you stumbles so again this is since the 2021
Draft it has to be a rookie who had a similar four game stretch scoring 20 plus in four straight games all right Andrew who do you think car a great guess that is correct all right Richie since the 2021 draft since the 20 including the 2021
Draft yes I’m gonna go Evan Mobley Evan Mobley that is incorrect which means Andrew gets the point now uh the easiest one there potentially wama yeah Victor I think of this yeah uh Shaden sharp Jay dub did it Benedict mathine oh Jaylen green Davon Mitchell that was one I
Would have not not gone there and uh Kade Cunningham which that one makes sense too yeah um yeah Davon Mitchell Davon would have been a that’s a wild one that would have been amazing PLL by anyone uh okay Richie board is yours all right let’s go number six question number six according to
Cleaning the glass the Hornets defense holds opponents to 5.3 fewer points per 100 possessions when this player is on the court best on the team who could it be I guess like sample size be damned with this question right too like I I mean it’s it’s probably yeah I I
Wouldn’t choose anyone who like has only played like a 100 or 200 minutes so it’s it’s it’s a rotation guy man might go oer here um I will go with I will go with Mark Williams Mark Williams that is incorrect Andrew you have a chance to steal tell me the question
Again uh I mean basically when this player’s on the court the defense is uh great good better better than any anyone else is on the court you know plus 5.3 I guess minus 5.3 for the opponents points per 100 possessions what about Cody Martin Cody Martin uh no Andrew no how
Many minutes has he played uh played he’s played 311 minutes I guess that would have counted but no would you believe it’s JT Thor JT Thor JT Thor wow is I think he’s regressed defensively this year so that’s really yeah I do interesting great name though yeah gotta
Th okay Andrew uh the board is yours by the way we haven’t even gotten to what I thought were the really hard questions okay Andrew this is real bad uh number two question number two what is Frank Nina’s career high in points for a game now Andrew you get to choose who answers
First you can make Richie answer first and you go higher or lower or you can answer first and then Richie can go higher or lower 27 27 points is the bar that Andrew has set for Frank Nina’s career high in points Richie would you like to go over
Or under that my initial thought was 29 so I’m I’m going to go over I’m just going to stick to my guns over you guys have amazing thoughts about Frank nilina as a score because his career high is 20 points it is 20 points wow weird things happen Robin Lopez has
Like 30 something points as his career high so I don’t know and Davon Mitchell had four straight 20 point Davon Mitchell that’s true okay anything can happen now okay well the fact is it was 20 um okay board is yours I just know I’m going to pick one of these hard ones
But I guess doesn’t really matter it could be easy because I’m getting these wrong too um let’s go with number five question number five this is this is this is really hard all right I’m just telling you up front being real with you uh long twos are considered the worst
Shot in basketball but Charlotte does not like you taking them in fact Hornet’s opponents only take 7.5% of their shots from the long mid-range which which is the second lowest percentage in the league which Eastern Conference Team allows opponents to shoot fewer long twos than Charlotte so basically they’re they’re
They’re not letting teams shoot long twos which ideally you would want teams to shoot long to um but their second worst so who is the worst it’s a Eastern Conference Team I’ve narrowed down to 14 teams for you when you say this is hard it’s almost making me think that it’s
Like a good team because I I’m thinking of the bad team okay um oh uh no it’s just because like I don’t know how you would go about answering it’s like such a specific thing yeah you almost I don’t know I’m gonna go with a good team but a bad
Defensive team in the Eastern conf I’m gonna go with the Pacers very good guess I like your train of thought uh it’s wrong but uh I like the effort you put into uh that thinking um Andrew what would you like to say you can pick another team just you ever have
You ever heard a team like uh we we love cutting down on their long twos that’s our defensive strategy we’re not letting them get a foot within the three-point line We’re not gonna do it it’s so weird I don’t know Raptors I just have no clue
It is now when I say it maybe it’ll make sense the Atlanta Hawks kind of believable when you hear it yeah sure all right Andrew number number four question number four oh I like this one Mark Williams is currently averaging 9.7 rebounds per game if he finishes the season at 10
Rebounds per game he will become only the eighth Charlotte Hornet in history to do so who was the most recent Charlotte Hornet to average 10 plus rebounds per game for a season oh my gosh the most recent Hornet to average 10 rebounds per game for a season for a season oh my
Word who would this Be not not a good rebounding team over the years feel bad going back this far but it’s not Al Jefferson is it Andrew it is not Al Jefferson which means Richie has a chance to steal who could it be I I’m not going as far back as that
But I don’t I don’t even know if this guy he was a scrappy player but I don’t know if he got 10 rebounds a game I’m gonna go Cody Zeller Cody Zeller uh not Scrappy enough now it was someone after Al Jefferson okay from the 2017 18
Season averaged 12 and a half per game played in 81 games oh gosh I I think I know who it is who was this Dwight yeah Dwight Howard oh my gosh what a goofball oh man Hornet is weird Hornet team that was a weird Hornets team Richie there’s two questions left I
Said there’s one hard one left but looking at them now both pretty hard so which would you like to go with uh let’s go eight question number eight all right Charlotte has 20 Twan lineups that have played more than 300 minutes together only one of those two-man
Lineups has a positive net rating with a plus 3.7 who is in that lineup now you do get one point per correct answer so they have 20 of these two-man lineups that have played a lot of minutes together only one of them is a positive who is in
That lineup do I guess one person at a time or or do I sure sure yeah yeah just do one at a time um I’m gonna go lamelo Richie oh my goodness that is incorrect Andrew you have a chance to steal uh I I want to mention leaky
Black just because of the name it just keeps popping up in your brain in my brain yeah just a Harry Potter character randomly clopped on the uh Charlotte Hornets um Mark Williams good guess that is correct oh um other name miles Bridges no Brandon Miller Brandon Miller Brandon Miller Mark
Williams that’s good though you hello Brandon I should have gotten Brandon first then um okay Andrew last question uh first dibs as long long as Kyle Lowry is on the team by the way this is the question I thought was also the second hardest behind the Atlanta question okay uh as
Long as Kyle Lowry is on the team the Hornets have two players Kyle Lowry and ish Smith who are listed at six feet tall there are only two other teams in the league who have two players that are six feet or shorter which teams are they
Two players that are six feet or shorter that’s right so you got to think of some short teams Grizzlies uh no I know who what you’re thinking of Gillard yeah shortest guy in the league but no one else is that short I just uh it a good guess it a good guess Richie
Any names you want to throw on here feet or shorter um let’s go I’m I’m literally just pulling one out of the Hat here uh let’s go Kings Kings uh I bet Davon probably is I can’t remember uh but they don’t have a second um any
Other names you guys would like to throw out um all right I mean I don’t know man let’s go through the league uh the first the first team uh Minnesota Mike connley Jordan mcgoffin oh okay tough really tough H Houston Fred Van vet oh van and Aaron
Holiday oh okay yeah yeah that makes sense that makes sense h so Andrew you win Hornets week congratulations yes some I would say some of my hardest trivia questions it’s like I’m just I’m leaving trivia confused I don’t feel like I won I don’t feel like I won anything I I
Would say that the Hornets lend themselves to harder trivia questions in my experience having done these trivia questions totally this this is what I could come up with you know and the Bob Bobcats era kind of confuses people as well that true great Point yeah thought
It out hey did you guys see that uh uh Richie did you see that you you may have no it wasn’t you who posted it there’s a uh there’s a triple autograph card on eBay right now and it’s Dwayne Wade Jay-Z and Adam Morrison in a bobcat’s
Uniform all autographed on the same card the guy’s trying to get a thousand dollar for it and I’ve been I’ve been eyeing it I don’t have a thousand dollars but what a card yeah you get get more if Morrison wasn’t on there but I could trim it after I get it resell
Morrison hey go listen to the buzzbeat Pod uh it’s a it’s it’s the best Hornets pod is the source for Hornets news go check it out uh Richie thanks so much for coming on the show thanks guys all right Andrew that was Charlotte week uh we still have 21 teams left to choose
From a lot of a mix of good teams we got some terrible teams real bad teams in there but a lot of lot of good stuff in there still yeah I wouldn’t mind getting Dallas I feel like things are getting juicy in Dallas B McMahon so funny um yeah funny okay so
We’re gonna spin the wheel and see who we get this week on the this real Phantom team will be the Los Angeles Clippers the Clippers cers that’s a very interesting team very good team yeah that team is awesome who are they playing who are they playing who are
They playing they are awesome oh we we get oh they’re on a wow they’re on a uh seven game Road Trip right now or they’re about to start we’re gonna get the beginning of it at Toronto at Boston on Saturday how is that not on national
TV what a treat at Cleveland on Monday another good one and then we wrap it up with our favorite at the zards get to see the Wizards again second week in a row wow and if we hang on for Friday we can watch Detroit again too Detroit
There we go won’t be hanging on for that but should be should be a fun week uh get our guy law Murray on here to talk about the Clippers hey please leave us a five star review on Apple podcast we read it on the show um we would very
Much appreciate that hope you guys have an awesome weekend enjoy the basketball we’ll talk to you guys again next week
Slam & Jam on The Athletic NBA Show discuss:
0:00 Intro
9:09 Midseason Awards
49:16 Charlotte Hornets
4 Comments
Damn that thumbnail is so ugly 😆
AD should get credit for his defense. Lakers guards are traffic cones. OG is perfect for Thibbs.
Don't see the Pistons making the over
Lamelos pick and roll numbers are better because they worked all off-season on lamelo keeping the dribble alive under the basket. Steve clifford talked about this alot early in the season, they watched alot of Steve nash keeping the dribble alive under the basket