Hornets’ SHOCK Draft Intel | Fears Still an Option?! | East WIDE OPEN for Charlotte to Win Now

Hornets’ SHOCK Draft Intel | Fears Still an Option?! | East WIDE OPEN for Charlotte to Win Now

it’s draft week we got the latest draft intel there’s a name that we haven’t mentioned at all like even less than Tan Salon last year that I guess now is possibly going to be selected by Charlotte plus another mock draft you know how Doug gets down on draft week especially it’s going to be a good one folks locked on Hornets ahead you are Locked on Hornets your daily Charlotte Hornets podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day in a minute cuz we live [Music] it’s here baby it’s it it’s it’s almost here it’s draft week more so than it’s draft day but only a couple of days away before we find out what the Hornets are going to do in the selection process locked on Hornets thanks for making us your first listen we’re free we’re available anywhere you get your podcast that does include YouTube there’s Doug Branson you can find them on his Substack every Hornetsboxcore.com you can also listen to the other podcast Locked on NBA Matt Moore Hayes alongside him you got a trio over there doing good stuff breaking out the NBA Finals maybe we can even give our thoughts on it after what happened last night i’m Walker Mail you can listen to me WFNZ every weekday from 12 to 3:00 p.m back in the normal time after filling in for Kyle last week so I’m right back there wesson Walker 123927 FM this episode is brought to you by Monarch Money take control of your finances with MonarchMoney use code lockon NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year how are you feeling Doug week of the draft it’s been hard to get a grip on this thing there’s been rumors swirling about it feels maybe a little more smokeokc screeny than I can remember other drafts or at least more rumors like reports smoke screens i don’t know what to do with all the information I’m getting that’s what this week feels like more so or this draft feels like more so than I feel like it’s gone the last couple of years well no I would disagree i think it’s just as smoke screeny i think that because last I’m just living in the moment i I you know look it’s radio we try to exaggerate for the people in the present maybe I’m trying to do that no well no i think that if you look at last year everyone thought they were going to go for you know center help or they were going to go for the older wing who could help them contribute immediately and then they went completely in a different direction so that has everyone thrown off this season do they react against the Tan Salon Raw project pick and get somebody that’s more ready now do they trade back uh and then if you go back obviously to Brandon Miller Scoot it was all smokec screen all the time we just had no idea uh what they were going to do there until the very last moments and even you know even in Well that was Shawn doing his best that that was Sham doing his best it was crazy yeah but it it it felt like the Hornets always wanted Brandon Miller and and the writing was on the wall to a certain degree and then Shams was like I don’t know hey check out FanDuel odds guys it just changed because of this drop that I had no we we always wanted Scoot but no you’re right there there’s always the rumors swirling about i think the Ace Bailey stuff makes all of this interesting and because of us talking about how many options are on the table for the Hornets I think that’s what makes it so interesting maybe there are more pathways which invites more rumors and that’s why I feel this way because you could trade down wouldn’t be surprised about it at all it’s the most likely tradeown scenario in a draft that we’ve had in a while they could draft Khan Canipple Trey Johnson or VJ Edgecomb and I wouldn’t be surprised at all they could trade up to secure drafting VJ Edgecomb and I would understand it so I I don’t know if it’s it’s not a 33% split between those three options of Stan Pat trade down trade up but all of them are very realistic and so here we have the latest intel before I get to the latest intel do you want to save phony Gavon and Jeremy woo for a little bit later into the show or do you want to do the draft intel stuff right now you tell me oh I live in the present i mean this is the freshest mock draft uh possible just released a few hours ago from ESPN.com their first draft week mockd draft and they have the Philadelphia 76ers at three selecting VJ Edgecomb so they pass up on Ace Bailey what do the Hornets do do they take Ace Bailey with the fourth pick and figure it out later no they do not according to Gavone they take Khan Canipple out of Duke and but there are also some other interesting things here should Edgecomb come off the board at number three Charlotte will likely be choosing between Trey Down scenarios or picking among Canipple Jeremiah Fears No there’s the name Bailey and Trey Johnson the fact that fears and Bailey have not worked out for the Hornets doesn’t appear to be a significant hindrance in their decision-making process rival teams believe the Hornets will ultimately prioritize Caniple’s strong perimeter shooting as well as a strong fit with the likes of LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller okay so what’s funny is we’ve had we’ve had these discussions trying to prep for a possible Tan Salon scenario who’s the guy we haven’t talked about that we need to be discussing we even had a blind spots draft just last week colin Murray Boils maybe could you go trade back and get a Thomas Sorber did they fall in love with the big guy i don’t know all of these names we’re just throwing out Nick Clifford we’re just throwing them out there the name that we’ve discussed the least on this pod it is Jeremiah Fierce i in terms of who the Hornets could select we know him he’s not hiding like Tan Salon was like that we know about Jeremiah Fears we know he’s a smaller guard at Oklahoma he’s a paint touch his film is exciting like he can get to the rack whenever he wants to the shooting isn’t there he’s he’s he’s a fun player but we’ve never talked about him alongside LaMelo i feel like that’s the pick despite hiding in plain sight that’s the one that would have me the most surprised i think you and I even had it as like the the biggest shock scenario either two weeks ago like we just don’t even bring him up right uh but look phony gavone whatever you want like it it’s here now it’s it’s the first time the Monday of draft week the first time that we’ve ever seen any sort of whatever link between Jeremiah Fears and the Charlotte Hornets if we see Fier’s name come up on the you know the little ticker as the Hornets making that selection it could mean a couple of things it could mean that they have a trade in the works yeah and they’re working with maybe Utah utah wants to move up to make sure they get fears that they’ve they’ve successfully smokeokescreen and say “Hey we could take anybody.” You know they’re they’re the uh uh they’re the it’s the Batman scene uh where Michael Keaton breaks a glass and says you know let’s get crazy like let’s get nuts you know they just make everybody think they’re going to take everyone and then they trick Utah into trading up one spot or it means that they’re going to work on a trade for LaMelo Ball that they do want to move on at the point guard position and they’ve selected their point guard for the future or it could mean they’re holding on to LaMelo Ball they’re drafting fears regardless of whether he wants to be there or not and in that scenario I would say I’m not sure they know what they’re doing or maybe they have like a you know 10 to 15 year horizon when they’re thinking about drafting and they have no real regard for uh using all the available tools to compete now I don’t know uh but that that would be a very surprising name i I hope it wouldn’t be the scenario that we always run into which is like this can’t be it right this has got to mean it’s another move and it just ends up not being Oh yeah i love it that that that’s my favorite that that’s an underrated uh part of the discourse for draft season or trade season oh they’re definitely going to make another move and that it actually is that but no I I’ll always remember calling the Jaylen Duran trade like I know the Hornets too well to think that they’re just going to roll with Jaylen Duran as their pick and sure enough they trade him five minutes later sga who just won everything in the world after capping the season off of the Finals MVP last night yeah they they drafted him and they traded him five minutes after it could be that it could be that they trade Jeremiah Fears or whoever it you know moving past Fears i’m with you on all that by the way i There are guards that I think can play well with LaMelo i think a lot of the reason I think guards can play well with LaMelo is because LaMelo is so good like I think he’s a lot more malleable than people give him credit for i I just think we haven’t had anybody that we can trust with the ball in his hands i I don’t like fears alongside LaMelo think that’s different than my idea for Scoot two years ago for my idea for what Dylan Harper would be if we didn’t kind of lock him into the second pick already that’s what I would feel about Jeremiah Fears what What else you got and he’s a to me he’s a risky pick i mean even if Oh yeah for sure because I mean look he’s 6’4 6’5 wingspan body still developing shot 28% from three on uh almost four attempts there’s a lot of question marks there so if you’re telling me that the Hornets want to move on from LaMelo Ball who does have a lot of question marks in terms of his health there’s no doubt about that but I got no question marks about his ability to shoot three-pointers i’ve got no question marks about his height uh relative to the rest of the guards in the league like you know it just would be a be a huge dice roll i just don’t buy it i’m more right like if I if I’m buying anything I’m buying that they’re just trying to make people think they’re going to do anything and then move down you know and and there was some reporting from Mike Lette of Queen City News and he said in a a tweet on June 19th “My understanding is Hornets management wants BJ to help transform their defense however they understand there’s a very strong chance he’s off the board should that happen the gossip I’m hearing is that they’d want to trade down best case scenario one of the three guys remaining either it’s Yakonis it’s Canipple it’s Trey Johnson that makes a lot of sense to me particularly when you wrap in the news that we that broke over the weekend that we haven’t had a chance to talk about either that Josh Green is having or not having had shoulder surgery to address some instability and is unknown in terms of his timeline about when he’s going to return so now they have a big gaping hole even more so than they already had at the wing position well and and the good news is all of these guys that you could justify taking at four they’re all shooting guards conneom Trey Johnson so it’s easy to go with one of those three so if they took with all of that context if they took Beers and they decided to keep him it would be insanity yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah even Ace Bailey you could take and then just have Brandon play the two and Ace play the three in your you know future lineup whatever that looks like with all your first round picks fears it just it it for me it just doesn’t work as much watching fears compared to Harper compared to Scoot some of these other guards that I’ve uh advocated for last thing before we move on Ace Bailey it feels like the 76ers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to trade up scenarios to go get Ace but it feels like Charlotte isn’t too far behind that right and I know they’re just a pick behind Philly but if Philly just stands at three and then takes whoever not Ace Bailey I I do wonder if then the the asking price comes down a little bit for your Washingtons for your New Orleans or Brooklyn if if they feel like they don’t want to give up what it would take to move up to three but they will give up what it would take to go to number four i do wonder if there’s an enticing enough package for the Hornets right there if Ace Bailey is still on the board when the Hornets are on the clock then do those teams feel more comfortable with the package it would take to move up to four than three that’s very real possibility too it’s all here Doug i don’t know i don’t know what they’re going to do i really don’t my prediction is that either Philly takes Ace Bailey and says we’ll figure it out in the in the off seasonason if we want to trade him if we get him here if we finally get a meeting with him and it seems like we can make it work then we’ll just go into the season with that and if not we’ll move them then or some other team trades up takes Ace Bailey at three and the Hornets take VJ Edgecom at four i mean I know it’s it’s a boring outcome but I think it’s to me the most likely outcome this episode is brought to you by O Lollipop it’s a new kind of soda and it’s made for people who love the classic taste of soda but want something that supports their health with just two to five grams of sugar and nine grams of prebiotic fiber in every can Lollipop is reimagining soda in a way that’s better for your gut traditional sodas are loaded with sugar like 39 g in a regular Coke or 44 g in an orange Fanta lollipop flips that script with just a fraction of the sugar no artificial sweeteners gut friendly ingredients also Olly Smart it’s a gut friendly ingredient and it’s a blend to support digestive and overall health it’s soda that tastes like the real thing but actually does something good for your body i’ve gravitated to a new flavor lemon lime is still my favorite but the orange cream soda too god man they’re hitting on a bunch of different flavors and there’s a billion to choose from like there’s so many different flavors to choose from so get a free can of Lollipop just buy any two cans in store and they’ll reimburse you for one head to drink.com/lockdown NBA to claim your free can and then find Lollipop near you that’s drinkallipop.com/lockdownnba more Lockdown Hornets ahead [Music] are you still sticking with the vintage cola lollipop or have you tried any of the other flavors vintage cola for you keeping it simple i try I’ve tried them all i you know I I’m an explorer i tried them all um but yeah I gravitate back towards the vintage cola and when I when I eventually refill my stock it’s going to be vintage cola all the way i think if if the Hornets don’t take Vintage Cola with the fourth pick it’s going to be a disaster ah man but not not as much upside not as much upside as some of these other flavors though look it’s it’s coniple of this draft if you take Vintage Cola i’m just telling you but Strawberries and Cream that’s Ace Bailey wow okay that could be amazing or you know could be a little dicey but it hits which by the way I’m not going to be mad if the Hornets take Coniple you know at this point if EJ goes three and they take Khan Caniple at four I’ve just in in what I’ve watched from Khan Canipple and and he’s been doing the media rounds what I hear from this kid with the Josh Green injury with the East being wide open particularly after what happened last night with Tyrese Hallebertton popping the Achilles East seems wide open right now Kevin Durant stays out west i mean like if you’re telling me you’re gonna take Coniple and he can come in and fill in for Josh Green and and start immediately I’m not gonna necessarily argue with that because my perspective is not hey you must find a superstar with the fourth overall selection my perspective is hey you’ve got LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller and if you’re serious about committing to those two players then get them to the playoffs as soon as possible coniple helps you do that vj Edgecomb can help you do that and so I would be fine with both of those picks tyrese Hallebertton goes down with an Achilles injury last night just all sorts of sucky seven minutes into the game and it felt like Tyrese was here for the moment hits three threes uh what was it did he finish up with just those nine points i mean still a deep three like it looked like we were about to get a showdown between SGA who was the only Thunder player playing well at that point and Tyrese Hallebertton and that’s how it should have been and then he tries to explode downhill pops it classic KD calf reverberating everybody can tell immediately what the injury is especially with the reaction from Tyrese and then everybody cir circling around him it just sucks man so Bill Simmons I thought put it well last night it’s the first championship run that it feels like the story is actually the team that lost it feels like the Pacers this postseason is the team I’m going to think about more so than I’m going to think about the team that actually won the championship and it ends in the weirdest way the the the guy that we all geared up to go see if he was going to do it is he going to be the leader of a squad that pulls off I think the mo the most improbable finals run that that I would have seen had they completed this i I think it was more crazy than the 04 Pistons i think it was crazier than the 11 Mavericks and pick pick your team i think it would have been crazier and then he goes down with that Achilles injury okay it’s crazy that we also immediately move to next year and think my god the how is it possible that the East is going to be worse like it it happened it happened last night like the the Pacers with all this continuity it it felt like well okay maybe you can just slide them right into a healthy Cavs team and those are going to be the two favorites but now it’s Cleveland as what has to be the clear favorite in my opinion and maybe some Nick stuff there and then it feels wide open as you mentioned it is you know what do the Hornets do here like is it crazy enough to think maybe the Hornets can make a little noise in a wide open East it’s only crazy if this franchise decides not to try like I get wanting to be patient i get I I understand conceptually you know or philosophically why you would want to construct your team such that you could compete in the playoffs for multiple years instead of being one year flash in the pan but if the Hornets pass up on an opportunity to compete in a weak Eastern Conference if they say “No we’re actually we are in the second inning we’re on a five-year plan.” And then five years from now the East has completely reloaded young players uh blossom and now the Hornets are it it just feels like the Hornets are always competing at the wrong times and then not competing at the wrong times yeah and I just wish they would just understand the context of what is happening here damen Lillard probably out for the entire year tatum out Tyrese out um and Kevin Durant decides to or well Phoenix decides to move him to Houston so Miami misses out on an opportunity that was one of the teams that was on his preferred list so yeah the the East loses talent and then the Knicks situation yeah they’ve got a lot of talent but now they still have a head coach so you don’t know how all of that’s going to work out that they could hire Taylor Jenkins and that not mesh right and it’d all be a disaster so yeah it it is it is it would be inconceivable to me for the Hornets not to look at this whole draft and off season as an opportunity to hey let’s see if we can get a few more guys to fill out this roster and actually go for this thing with a core set of players and LaMelo Miles Brandon like there’s opportunities to trade with Washington to pick up a shooter from them to trade with Brooklyn and pick up Cam Johnson like there are opportunities if the Hornets are brave enough to actually finally compete in a situation where you could compete so this this brings me back to the Desmond Bane point because I I I do wonder the the case to be made for the Hornets trading for Desmond Bane you start to break down that trade okay four first round picks it’s a monster hall but so many people are quick to point out that one of those first round picks was likely to take on the KCP contract okay so now you dwindle that down to three first round picks in exchange for Desmond Bane and everything else is just salary filler right if you’re talking about the Hornets then there isn’t a contract like KCPs you do the Miles Bridges who is worth on the court what his value is right the the contract is not bad for Miles and it’s descending and so either way does it make you rethink at all the Hornets maybe making that trade for Desmond Bane especially if it only cost three first because we could do this timeline thing if you wanted to that he doesn’t fit the timeline but he’s also only 26 years old he plays a position that I do think is actually he’s going to age better with the shooting ability he’s like one of the best shooters in the league and that’s not an exaggeration he’s also a good defender and will help your back court immediately he slides into a position of need as we’re talking about all of these shooting guards in the draft and if we’re talking about the Hornets taking one of those risks then this would have lined up pretty well now hindsight 2020 is Tyrese getting hurt but one player goes down and now it’s wide open no man it was it was wide open another team comes down now closer to the pack it’s pretty wide open before then so when we’re talking about these big moves we bring up a Cam Johnson a lot of people are discussing it because they have the eighth pick maybe the Hornets move down to eight they collect Cam Johnson but I think Cam Johnson’s going to call for more than just the fourth overall selection so you get four salary filler cam eight the Hornets are going to have to add what at least another first i would I would say two i really do think Brooklyn’s going to be asking for that sort of thing and if not hey great negotiating but then if you start adding on the fourth and then the Nets profit two first round picks well now you’re not all that far away from Desmond so like if if Cam is the guy then fine like that makes some sense but to me it’s just maybe we go back and think about that Desmond Bane trade a little differently yeah with the hindsight 2020 thing being a benefit to us but if we’re going to do it for Cam and then lose two second round picks maybe it wouldn’t have been all that crazy to go for Desmond Bank i don’t think I don’t I don’t think it makes me rethink it because I still have the same opinion which is which is that you haven’t seen enough of this current roster to make that kind of significant risk like Orlando knew enough about the Paulo France combo to understand like if these guys if these guys remain healthy it’s not maybe we can compete in the playoffs it’s no we had the we had one of the best defenses in the entire NBA uh before some of these injuries started to compound and then also we’re going to add Jayen Suggs back to this equation as well so they just knew a lot more than the Hornets know right now so it doesn’t make me rethink that i think the same thing which is that they should take smaller calculated risks to build some depth and give this LaMelo Ball Brandon Miller Miles Bridges combination if you want to invest in that really invest in it make sure that you give this team every opportunity to get to the playoffs particularly in an Eastern Conference now that looks significantly weaker get them that experience you don’t have to that doesn’t mean you have to take a giant like four pick swing it could mean you make multiple deals that that bring in multiple depth pieces uh so that you’re not at the end of the season relying on guys that you’re plucking out of the G-League again so and do you think so basically I guess what I’m trying to pin it down to do you think Cam Johnson is the line because you you brought up hey you got to go all in we’re like we’re being hard you don’t be scared right you you can’t act scared but but don’t don’t give up the four that That’s a little All right now I’m scared but don’t be too scared so Cam Johnson if they profit two first from the Hornets that’s still a big that’s still a big haul what if it’s the Miami first and the Dallas first no it’s not you know those aren’t as bad no so fair i’m with you like I actually right that that’s where that’s where I think like the the I think trying to thread the needle on how we talk about the Desmond Bane trade to how we to demand that the Hornets take a risk and go all in on a wideopen East i think that that’s a that’s a thin line like to to cross over into one and say Orlando knows what they have which is 100% true Cam like yeah for sure you could have given those two first to Memphis and then get gotten rid of one because remember one of those contracts was to take on the K or picks was to take on KCP so now would you have done it for Desmond if it only cost three and you could have given the Miami and Dallas miami might be really valuable by the way i might you know that might be Yeah that might be valuable as valuable as the original pick i’m just trying to figure out like what kind of risk we would be comfortable taking if we wouldn’t be comfortable giving up the three first for Desmond and then we don’t have much cap space so it’s like I Yeah it’s tough for me to figure out man well it’s you know do you make some moves around the draft to prepare yourself for a possible run at Miles Turner can you get your can you get your books in a position to absorb that because if you’re Indiana now with this Tyresese Hallebertton injury situation you might be looking at a gap year next year and if you’re going to be in a gap year does Indiana really want to pay big bucks for Miles Turner he might be available do you go to the Cavs who still need to get un they’re still in apron territory do you do you look at Jared Allen do you look at Isaac Aoro i mean there are just so many opportunities and routes that the Hornets can take i’m not really even advocating for one over another the only thing I’m advocating is Hornets please try please try everything possible to get this thing into compete mode because the Not everything possible right like not within reason I guess is what you’re asking yeah well try every route possible yeah yeah exactly i I think I’ve been pretty clear on this like don’t Yeah doesn’t mean go for you know go nuclear and and and rip all your assets away to to make this thing happen because you don’t have enough information but you know do anything at this point because I don’t think the commitment has been there in previous seasons because it had the communication and the reality on the ground has been we’re going to take our time and evaluate and we’re not ready to compete right now well it doesn’t matter if you’re ready or not the East the Eastern Conference is asking you is asking Washington is going to be asking all of these Eastern Conference teams that didn’t make the playoffs the Bulls they’re going to be looking I think they’re going to be looking to compete and the Hornets can either get in on that or they can just find themselves in Chicago again with with frowny faces because they didn’t win the lottery again all right I got more thoughts coming up next on the Locktown Hornets podcast this episode is brought to you by Monarch Money ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go between dining out online shopping and entertainment it’s easy to lose track that’s where Monarch Money comes in your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app it’s a complete financial command center you can track all your accounts investments and spending in one place so you stop just managing your money and you can start actually building wealth they give you surprising insights when you start using Monarch you can realize just how much you’re spending on food delivery especially me they’re speaking right to me on that and then you can budget smarter after learning that and then save more plus it provides allin-one convenience instead of juggling multiple apps you can use Monarch to check your finances track spending and even plan long-term goals take control of your finances with Monarch Money use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year that’s monarchmoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year more locked on Hornets ahead [Music] okay the way that this is a negative outcome is the situation we were in 3 years ago if the East is wide open does that mean that everybody has the green light to go compete which means everybody is either somewhat successful or they reach the 50th percentile outcome on what they were hoping to achieve this past off season and eventually somewhere you finish in like the six seven eight range and the Hornets are in the situation they were a few years ago where Doug they actually are somewhere above 500 right they were I think three game they’re four games above 500 three years ago and they were also in the playin tournament and they eventually didn’t make the playoffs so do we have a situation developing like that i I think the the way that that doesn’t happen is that East was actually good right so the the records wouldn’t be as high but are the records like so close together that everybody has the green light to go compete except for your Cleveland’s and your and your New Yorks and your Orlando and then like Atlanta Miami uh you know I even Philadelphia God knows what’s going to happen with them chicago as you mentioned i just wonder is Charlotte going to make the playin because they’re going to be exactly like one of those teams and then you know god forbid we see another 30-point blowout i I hope that doesn’t happen after the Tyrese Hallebertton injury last night well I think the whole organization and and what remains of the organization cuz like you know Plotkin who’s one of the the new owners like he was there for that time so he understands like what was fundamentally wrong with those teams was that they were built to score as much as possible but not defend at all and so there’s been a complete counterreaction to that since rehiring Steve Clifford to find players and mentalities such that you could survive a playin game without getting blown out by 30 points so I think it would I think it would be different uh you know maybe they don’t win 40 plus games maybe you’re right that the the records are worse but I think they would be in a better position i think they already are i mean they’re adding guys like Musadate uh Grant Williams players that that would would help you win those kind of games on top of a great LaMelo ball performance on top of an hopefully improved Brandon Miller uh all of that’s going to mean better things I think for the Hornets in the in that one game for your life scenario uh but it would require it it would require continuing to build up this roster and not just saying “Well no we think you know another year of LaMelo Ball Miles Bridges Brandon Miller that all of that’s going to work itself out.” No it’s like continuing to construct a roster such that they could survive that scenario no you know I don’t know what kind of outside help they’re going to go after they’re going to they’re going to select somebody in this draft unless they make a surprising move trading it for somebody else as a veteran and then just get out alltogether i don’t think that’s going to happen but maybe you just rely on internal improvement with somebody that hasn’t been on the team very long like a Trey man in fact NBA teams now can begin negotiating with their own free agents after the league year ends with the championship uh NBA teams again now beginning negotiating with their own free agents this includes Trey Man who’s a restricted free agent for Charlotte Seth Curry UFA Taj Gibson unrestricted free agent as well so the Trey man one is the interesting one with the injury history he’s been working out with the Hornets we’ve seen him he’s been involved social media wise like I think I think the Hornets put some clips out of him i know he’s working out with some of the guys um over at Queens and we we’ve seen that before so yeah just an update there on what maybe the Hornets could be uh doing here with their own guys on the roster um you ready for some mock drafts got something else for us or did you just want to use the the phony Gavon and and Jeremy Woo one i only promised one a day and I I fulfilled that promise with 58 we’ve got a couple more to go here Tuesday Wednesday and then Thursday we’ll have something for the second round uh the final mock draft will be on the second round so yeah and they’ve got second round opportunities too at 33 and 34 you can you can get very good players uh there to help you uh defensively particularly I think at the center position and I think one of these centers will you know cross our fingers here and hope that Caulk Brener or Reo or somewhat someone can be there that can help them uh round out their center rotation and you’ve got Mark Williams sort of floating in this like do they do they utilize maybe they’re not going to get a firstrounder but do they utilize Mark Williams as an opportunity to restructure this roster or restructure their books such that they could make a little bit more of a run in free agency uh than they would have initially thought and the other thing I would say is that as much as I think they’ve been committed to adding more physicality and adding players that are defensively focused do they retain Josh Aogi there’s sort of a non-G guarantee there and they’re obviously waiting till the draft because you don’t want to guarantee it before the draft because that is an opportunity to trade a Kogi to someone else that may want to drop that money off the books but they do need to find whether it’s in this draft and VJ Edgecomb or someone in the off season they do need to continue to find players that are going to help transform this this defense because you obviously you want Brandon and LaMelo to improve defensively i think they’re going to make improvements but you still need players that are fundamentally focused on the defensive end and a loss of Josh Green for however long to begin this season you know for all of the criticisms that I’ve laid on him about his offensive aggressiveness there’s no doubt that defensively he helped the team last season and so they’ve got to figure that out as well it’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said by leaps and bounds about if that defensive player could you know get to the rim take more than two shots you know score more than two points that would be fantastic as well there you go there you go i had to we had to end on that you have any final thoughts before we end the show what you saw over this postseason thunder Pacers game seven what are some Doug Branson thoughts yeah I want to be Indiana i want to be Oklahoma City i want to use every opportunity every tool available to improve my team indiana decided to win when everyone said they should lose they just decided to keep winning for years and years and years and built solidarity and built playoff experience even if they got bounced in the first round and the second round you know they they built playoff experience over and over and built a culture of winning i would like Charlotte to do the same thing and five years from now when Luca Donuch is winning his third straight title for the LA Lakers if we look back and say damn the NBA was in a moment of parody where small markets can win and now they’re not and the Hornets did not take care did not take advantage of one single opportunity to be involved in that party it’ll be a shame all right drive it back baby hopefully hopefully we can bring the Hornets to the promised land somehow someway and it starts with what happens on Wednesday we got draft week here it’s It’s here folks we got a few more mock drafts to get to as well 58 of 61 my god I I never thought I’d see 261 staring right back at me on the bullet point that will do it for Locked On Hornets thanks for making us your first listening we’re free and available anywhere you get your pods doug Branson every hornets boxcore.com locked on NBA i’m Walker Male listen to me on WFNZ every weekday from 12 to 3:00 p.m have a great rest of your day we’ll be back with you tomorrow [Music]

Is Jeremiah Fears really in play at #4 for the Hornets? Doug and Walker react to the surprise mock draft buzz, break down Charlotte’s top options, and examine how the wide-open East reshapes their urgency to compete now.

With the NBA Draft just days away, the rumors are reaching a boiling point—and this Locked On Hornets episode dives into one of the wildest yet: ESPN linking Jeremiah Fears to Charlotte at #4. Doug and Walker weigh the shocking possibility and debate how much smoke versus fire is coming from this late draft buzz. Could Fears really be the pick, or is this just a strategic smokescreen?

The guys also react to ESPN’s latest mock draft that has VJ Edgecombe going #3 to Philly, leaving the Hornets to choose between Con Knueppel, Trey Johnson, and Ace Bailey—or perhaps trade down entirely. They examine how Con Knueppel’s floor spacing and fit with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller could offer immediate payoff in a weaker-than-ever Eastern Conference.

With Tyrese Haliburton’s injury and several Eastern stars sidelined, Charlotte has a real chance to strike while the window is open. But will they risk big on a rookie or push for veteran help like Cam Johnson?

Doug questions whether it’s time to move on from patience and take advantage of rare Eastern parity, while Walker revisits the Desmond Bane deal as a missed opportunity. Plus, updates on Tre Mann’s status and second-round center targets round out a jam-packed episode.

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Top 35 Hornets Nicknames of All-Time According to Doug Branson: https://hornets.substack.com/p/the-top-35-nicknames-in-hornets-franchise

Top 35 Hornets of All-Time According to Walker Mehl: https://hornets.substack.com/p/the-top-35-players-in-hornets-history

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