Hornets on the Clock at No. 4: Best-Fit Debate – Bailey, Edgecombe, Maluach, Knueppel or Johnson?

Hornets on the Clock at No. 4: Best-Fit Debate – Bailey, Edgecombe, Maluach, Knueppel or Johnson?

in this episode of the locked on NBA big board podcast Lee Chuling is going to share his thoughts on the Charlotte Hornets best options at number four [Music] big big shout out to each and every person that has made the Locked On Big Board podcast your first listen of the day i’m your host Rafael Barlo along with my co-host the man that watches more college basketball than anyone else Leaf Tuling and today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel right now new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins and if you’re not subscribed to the YouTube channel please subscribe like share comment and click the bell so you can be notified every time we drop an episode leaf and I just recorded an episode earlier where we talked about Jeremiah Fierce or VJ Edge the consensus online is pointing towards VJ Edge but Leaf and I we kind of lean a little bit more towards Jeremiah Fears i mentioned some of the the the dialogue that I’ve had with NBA scouts and even college coaches about the two so if you missed that episode be sure to check it out and this episode is all about the Charlotte Hornets i think Charlotte has a very interesting decision to make at number four obviously their decision could depend on what Philadelphia does at number three and what trades are made i think that there’s going to be some trades i think there are some teams that are aggressively looking to move up in the draft charlotte is a team that I haven’t heard much chatter about them as far as moving their pick but I have heard that they are possibly looking to package 33 and 34 in the second round to move up to pick later on in the first round but let’s just get right to it the Charlotte Hornish at number four in your opinion who should they take at number four and let’s just say let’s just go with the consensus from a week ago before the Ace Bailey news that dropped today came out and let’s just say that’s all smokec screen philadelphia goes with Ace Bailey at number three who are you taking that for i would take Trey Johnson i uh would be devastated for my Utah Jazz in that case but but if I were the Hornets I’d take the best player available and I also think there is a fit here where you could see the dynamic ability of Trey Johnson coming off the ball and LaMelo Ball’s gravity creates great shots for who I deem to be the best shooter that will go in the first round so I would take him i don’t think that allows Trey Johnson to be the best version of himself as the roster is currently constructed because I see him as someone with the ball in his hands but the way it’s built I think you’re taking the best shooter and I think you’re taking a guy who’s got athletic upside and someone who could score 25 points a game in the NBA and Charlotte’s got issues with taking a lot of athletes and they’ve talked about taking these different athletes and how uh they’re going to take these longer wings and and then people say the opposite of oh they need to take an athlete so everyone slotted VJ Edge come in but I think Trey Johnson is the best of both worlds as someone who’s skillful and and athletic and so I would take him i don’t hate the idea of taking a coniple fit-wise but I’m a best player available believer and I think it’s clearly Trey Johnson at this point so I would take Trey Johnson i the rumors are telling me it’s VJ Edgecom though if he’s there at four yeah I mean there are some rumors that Edgecom can go as high as number three one of the things I’ve consistently heard over the past two weeks is that Charlotte is going to really really really really value character and intel and I think Charlotte is hard to judge because naturally you want to naturally you think of the Charlotte Hornets as the team that has made some some crazy picks over the last five or six years but this is a totally different front office the front office that whiffed on the 2021 draft is gone it’s actually a new ownership group they shouldn’t be judged off of Charlotte’s recent drafts this is again this is totally different but with that being said I think that maybe they’re being penalized a little bit because of the previous group which had some players that ran into some some character issues i don’t need to go by the names and so on and that could be the reason why why they are rumored to really really value Intel and from everything that I’ve heard like Khan Canipples Intel is like A1 like I mean just like clean as clean can be and then in the range they’re saying like VJ Edge is like super likable he has great great intel so with that being said do you think that is the right move for Charlotte based off of you know some of the picks from the past their reputation because I want to say like two years ago there were some teams or some agents that I heard that didn’t want to send their clients to Charlotte just because they felt like I got a young kid he’s 18 or 19 and I don’t know if that locker room is the best for him to maximize his potential and and develop just because they had I mean they were a team that just had some young guys that that really like enjoyed the NBA lifestyle a lot so with that being said do you think it’s fair for Charlotte to have to maybe overvalue Intel because of the past ownership group or the past front office yeah you can’t outrun the uh the sins of the the predecessors so to speak or you know there’s a lot of cliches that that are spoken about in sport and there’s a lot of cliches and in shows and they talk about like rewriting history to correct the the the past wrongs and I think that’s what what would might happen here like if Charlotte were to take Coniple it may very well work out to be a fine pick i don’t see the reason you’d take him over some of the players that have a higher upside as as potential stars like Trey Johnson to me can be an all-star someone who can score 25 a game and I think he’s an even better shooter than Khan so the reason would be because of A1 intel and I don’t think that there’s any bad intel on Trey Johnson at least none that I’ve heard it would just be that he’d be plenty happy to play that role and I think drafting for role and fit and intel-based gets into making safe picks and I don’t think that scared money is going to make money in the sense of the way that the the Hornets are set they’re not a well-built team yet like yes they have talented players in the likes of Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball but neither of those guys have proven anything to say this is the guy who’s going to win us a championship why why take a guy to you know compliment them uh and just make him two games better if that and so I don’t love that idea uh the Edgecom idea is fascinating and I’ve been on the records critical of Edgecom and and it’s critical in the sense of I don’t see him as a top three value pick i don’t see him as a top five value it’s not against that that he’s good like I I see what the traits people are saying it’s just like if you’re picking on solely traits then that’s a dangerous proposition i think Charlotte’s made that mistake many times and so I am and even though it is a different regime they’ve taken a lot of tremendous athletes that have been lacking the requisite skill and it hasn’t worked and and all of those cases it has not worked so I’d be very curious to see why uh the intel is so strong that he is so far ahead of uh like if he makes it out of four I think it was on ESPN i read today if he makes it outside of four everyone will be stunned meaning he’s going to get picked by Philly or Charlotte uh that shocks me and because like that’s a mistake that Charlotte has made and so if you’re trying to pick Intel over you know these low character guys that have cost them before the high athleticism even even if they have been high character haven’t worked particularly well so I uh I have my qualms with Edgecomb to alto together but I think Charlotte if they were to make their pick solely based on correcting their wrongs that that becomes a very interesting uh way to justify a pick yeah I actually heard this this comment from an agent who doesn’t represent anybody involved in in the process and he said there’s just a total difference of philosophy between Philadelphia and Charlotte he said Daryl my is not a guy that cares a whole lot about Intel long as you’re not like you know a crazy criminal or everything daryl Mory is like can you play can you hoop we’ll figure everything else out as long as you’re just you know not disruptive in the locker room or just there are more about buckets in basketball and can you play but I’ve heard like I said Charlotte is in a situation where they’re they’re going to they’re going to really value the intel so I have a question for you when we return and I’m going to give you a second to think about this let’s say VJ Edgecom goes number three and Charlotte is at four but the guy they really like is Khan Canppel do you see a way that they can work out a deal with the Pelicans who are rumored to like Ace Bailey where the Pelicans can move up to four get Ace Bailey and then Charlotte is able to get the guy that they like who actually kind of complements what they already have if they should trade down to get Khan Canppel so I want to hear your thoughts on that there’s nothing like the NBA playoffs the intensity the buzzer beaters and the fans losing their mind it is the kind of atmosphere that you must experience live and this year’s NBA Finals have already delivered and if you want in Game Time makes it easy and fast to get seats even for the biggest playoff events like the NBA Finals prices on the app are actually dropping closer to tip off and they have killer lastminute deals panoramic seat views and no surprise fees and Game Time is a total game changer what I love about the app is that I can see my exact view of the seat before I buy so there’s no surprises the app is very simple a couple taps and you’re done and with the game time guarantee 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up to get Ace Bailey the Pelicans just made a trade where they picked up the 23rd pick from the Indiana Pacers so do you think it’s a situation where Charlotte could say “All right we’ll move down to number seven we’ll pick up 23 and then we can get the guy that we like that fits what we’re doing in Khan Canppelo.” Do you think that’s a trade that makes sense it comes with a risk obviously because trading down’s never a popular thing to do in the NBA it’s not as wellliked as it is in football uh and it becomes a question of is Khan still going to be there because it by all accounts he’s moving up the draft too so while your question is to me would would I do it if it worked absolutely I would because I think they probably if they’re valuing intel and the re the recent smoke and all this stuff probably don’t want to take Ace Bailey and Ace Bailey and Brandon Miller are a bit redundant even though that is kind of what the NBA is so I don’t actually have much of an issue with it like you want long wings so why why if you have two that are similar and have similar deficiencies but are very skillful is that an issue uh if he if he’s there you don’t really necessarily want him vj’s the guy you want he’s not there you don’t want Trey Johnson you don’t want common Malawatch trading down seems like a a prudent move to me so I’m on board with it it comes with the risk of if he’s not there then who do you take um and what value do you get by moving down and letting other teams leaprog you um but if you can get the same guy that you wanted anyway trading down is a great move so I would I would consider it um you just have to be very in tune with what other teams are likely to do and then I’d be very curious if the Pelicans were to swoop in uh and take pick four what they’d do because I I I think that’s not an obvious decision either yeah i mean I think if the Pelicans move up to four I think they would go with ace james and I talked about it they’ve had some success even though again it’s a different front office but they’ve had success with Trey Murphy trey Murphy was I love Trey Murphy 17th pick in 2021 he averaged five points a game as a rookie what year four 20 points per game and if you think that Ace is better than Trey Murphy was as a rookie then you I I could see how a team could say we’ve done it with Trey Murphy if we can make a better version of him who’s also younger then that’s worth the risk in my opinion Charlotte needs to really take a long hard look at common Molly watch now I understand he may be a high risk highreward guy it may not be as safe they took a swing for the fences with TJ Salon last year and some people in the fan base may say “We can’t do it again we can’t take a a guy that’s a risk.” But Charlotte fans are I mean they know more about Molly watch than they knew about TJ Salon just because he played in their own in their own backyard i think Charlotte needs help at the five i said it time and time again you can’t bring Mark Williams back after you traded him and then whatever happened i still don’t even know what happened in that trade i don’t know if the Lakers decided that they don’t want to do the deal so I I don’t know exactly what happened but there’s some issues there i don’t think you can bring him back and then with Yousef Nerkage I mean he can’t be your five he doesn’t even fit their timeline so I think they should take a long hard look at Molly Walls with that being said do you think because TJ was such a a reach according to some and he was so raw that they can go backto back drafts by taking like a really high high upside swing or do you think Molly W is not too much of a risk i I like the idea especially if you can get something back for Mark Williams i’ I’ve mentioned that before as well that Malawatch seems to make sense for Charlotte and I think he does a lot of things very well that Charlotte would be appreciative of and I also would would contend you know you’d say Derek Queen has a high ceiling and maybe maybe a high floor but like if you look at Malawatch he should be the more more of a project between those two but I’d argue his floor is higher right off the right off the bat because defensively he’s going to be impactful and offensively he’s a 99th percentile uh pick and roll man and he’s able to play at the level of the screen and defend the glass as a as someone who’s recovering he can play as a drop guy and I think yes there’s a lot of improvement to be made but I think too much is being spoken about of the ceiling which is implying that there’s not much production immediately and I think there’s going to be growth certainly but I think for all bigs there’s this natural learning curve and his learning curve has been so steep he’s he’s been at number at 14 years old to 18 years old has improved so much that I I think he’s actually a far better basketball player than people say like I think if you were to watch game film of all the top prospects and you choose their best game his game film is better than just about everyone’s when he plays Alabama watch him defend Mark Sears in space watch him impact the whole way they ran their team and I can see a world where one his ceiling like you alluded to is so high that it ends up being worthwhile but I also could see a world where his immediate impact is solid and he’s able to block shots he’s able to finish things and he gets better and his improvement accelerates and it’s an expedited process so I’m not anti- Malawatch at four i don’t think it would necessarily be my pick but I actually see the vision there particularly if you can figure out what to do with Mark Williams before picking Malawatch and then saying “Well we got both so would you want this guy?” I think that’s kind of handicaps them all right you talked about it before with some redundancy with Ace Bailey and Brandon Miller just paint the picture of how it could possibly work if Charlotte were to select Ace Bailey at four if someone like VJ Edge ends up going number three to Philly well you get a guy who can shoot the ball you get a guy who’s long and the NBA really is prioritizing defensive or size and versatility i think he’s able to uh score the basketball and you could have your choice of which one of those two skinny wings is the guy you want to build around more offensively later and that’s never a bad thing to have too many that you can have be initiators of your offense uh I think he has more defensive upside than I felt about Brandon Miller speaking of Ace Ace is younger and he’s and he’s longer and he’s uh someone I think can protect the rim as a secondary rim protector and I don’t think they are mutually exclusive they can play together because one can play a two one can play a three and you could even if you could even go small if you really believe in your rim protection and you go you could have them play three and the four in time not quite yet because they’re both uh slender builds but I think you could in time have that happen you play next to a big uh rim protector whether it’s a Malawatch type or in this case Mark Williams and you have LaMelo Ball uh alleviate some of those risks of the ball not swinging that either of those guys are not great passes passers LaMelo Ball can play and alleviate some of those concerns and you get a chance of a guy that has the comparisons that were drawn to him at the beginning of the year the Paul Georgees the Trace McGradies and those those may be outlandish now especially considering that there’s been this drop but let me remind you like as of three weeks ago if you said who’s One two three when the lottery came out who’s one two three everyone’s saying one two three is going to be Cooper and the two Ruckers guy so if you’re to get him at four five six wherever it ends up being I feel like teams should still believe it’s a steal and because he’s got the talent that put him in that top three contention for years and years and I do think that some of the stuff really does matter the intel matters the upside concerns do matter his length not being as high but every team knew that so I think part of this is smoke and if you were to get them at four there should be no qualms ollipop is a new kind of soda it is made for people who love the classic taste of soda but want something that supports their health and with just 2 to 5 g of sugar and 9 g of prebiotic fiber in every can Lollipop is re-imaging soda in a way that is better for your gut that’s because these traditional sodas are loaded with sugar for example there’s 39 grams of sugar in a regular Coke or 44 grams in an orange Fanta with Lollipop it totally flips the script with just a fraction of the sugar there’s no artificial sweeteners and it has gut friendly ingredients like Alismart a blend shown to support digestive and overall health it is a soda that tastes like the real thing but actually does something good for your body so what flavor would you try first would it be cherry cola classic grape or maybe even Dr goodwin which is like their Dr pepper dupe here’s what makes it cool you can get a free can of lollipop all you have to do is buy two cans in a store and they will reimburse you for one so head to drinkalipop.com/lockedonba to claim your free can and you can find Alipop nearest you but you have to go to drinkallop.comlockonba that is drinkallipop.comlockednba so what would that mean for T John Salon because basically they’re taking another wing is it like hey buddy you didn’t show much get in where you fit in or is it a situation where you’re like you knew he was raw in the first place so why draft him if you’re going to draft over him the following year what’s your thought on that i don’t think there’s anything wrong with drafting over people unless unless you’ve seen like this dude is unbelievable and he’s going to be untouchable and he’s ex absolutely uh explicitly said is in the future plans um then then what’s wrong with taking a player that’s best player available that you think could be better and I think I watch Tan Saloun shoot uh in the first row watching him shoot warm-ups and it just doesn’t look good so what’s wrong with taking a guy like Ace Bailey and Tan’s got a big body like there’s a world where you could have all those guys still play together if he does pan out so I don’t really conform to the idea of oh you just drafted a young guy and therefore you shouldn’t draft another young guy at the same position like basketball’s becoming more and more positionless and I know part of that’s overstated but I think those guys could line up two through four if it if Ton Sal gets better Brandon Miller stays like a promising prospect and Ace Bailey plays well I think you could have those guys play a jumbo size two through four and it’d be great or you have two of them start and one come off the bench these are good problems to have in my opinion all right you’re the GM of the Charlotte Hornets you have the fourth pick in the draft and Philadelphia took Ace Bailey at number three what direction are you going in who are you moving just you’re you’re in total control what’s the first move you make i would ask about the what the market is for Mark Williams like that that is probably the first thing that I would be doing presently if I were there i’d ask about that and I’d consider common malwatch i’d consider trading down even for common malwatch or con caniple but I think I’d end up just taking Trey Johnson because I believe very highly in him and if I get a guy like Trey Johnson there’s going to be some suitors that would say maybe I’ll trade up for him maybe LaMelo Ball becomes a person that has more and more belief around the NBA but I think you just take the best player available he can slot in as the two guard and be very good you can give him some staggered minutes between he and LaMelo Ball and see if he can play the point guard and I I think you’re handsomely rewarded for picking the best player available because he also fits in positionally and in the timeline so you would take Trey Johnson at number four regardless if I mean honestly what I do is I trade him with the Utah Jazz though i I I’m for those of you listening I am a diehard Jazz fan but but uh but the uh the honest to goodness thing is I think he’s the best player available so I would take it in your opinion why haven’t you heard much about Charlotte and Trey Johnson i haven’t heard anything about that that that match i don’t know but it makes me nervous because it’s somehow going to happen and really ruin my draft night so I I don’t know i I don’t know why because I I think he fits in nicely you could have him play off the ball and at the worst you’re kind of getting like an Emanuel quickly in in uh coming off screens and knocking down jump shots and and attacking and when you give him extra minutes he can be the primary option and at the best maybe you get the the Devin Booker side of things or a Bradley Beal side of things where he comes off the ball and is an assassin off pin downs um so I I really like the fit actually and I think that he should have the ball in his hands and that’s the best usage of Trey Johnson but it’s not like the only usage of Trey Johnson he could play with LaMelo ball and that’s what concerns me if I were Charlotte I I’d be very very happy to I wouldn’t say sprint to the podium but I’d run to the podium yep do you think it’s a situation where they’ve probably done something secretly i don’t even know i’d have to check and see but it’s just weird how it just seems like it skips over like it’s you know you you hear the names but when it comes to Charlotte the names I’m constantly hearing are VJ and Khan vj and Khan and Trey’s name has hasn’t been mentioned which could be one of those things where you’re like maybe that’s what they’re doing maybe that’s who they they really really like i mean you think about it orlando and and Ban Carol was something that you hadn’t really heard much of everything was pointing towards oh they love Jabari they love Jabari oh they love I didn’t believe that though i don’t know that makes me nervous as I was speaking I started getting nervous that saying this is going to happen because the fit’s pretty so uh I really hope they don’t listen to this and sway themselves into taking Trey Johnson well that wraps up this episode of the Locked Thorn NBA podcast once again check out the earlier episode where Leaf and I we talked about VJ Edgecom verse Jeremiah Fierce and obviously this episode we talked about the Charlotte Hornets can’t make any promises but we may go live later on tonight whenever you’re listening to this but we will have a few more live episodes late at night before the 2025 NBA draft but once again thank you for making this your first episode or your first listen of the day we are out of here [Music]

On the latest Locked On NBA Big Board podcast, host Rafael Barlowe and analyst Leif Thulin dive into the Charlotte Hornets’ options at No. 4 in the 2025 NBA Draft. They spotlight top prospects like Tre Johnson, VJ Edgecombe, Kon Knueppel, Ace Bailey, and Khaman Maluach, noting that the Hornets are placing a premium on both character and intel behind the pick. Rafael challenges Leif to strap on his GM hat and name his ideal choice for Charlotte—while also probing whether the Hornets might trade down to accumulate extra assets or grab a player they believe could still be on the board later in the lottery. Leif outlines which player he’d select and evaluates the feasibility of a trade-down scenario.

1:22 – Charlotte being quiet in the rumors
1:54 – Teams possibly looking to move up in the draft as potential trade partners for Charlotte
2:04 – Who should the Hornets take at number four?
2:25 – Tre Johnson
3:47 – VJ Edgecombe and Kon Knueppel and intel
11:20 – Kon Knueppel at number four or trade down to get him
14:18 – Khaman Maluach
17:30 – Ace Bailey
20:59 – Tidjane Salaun
22:12 – Leif plays the role of GM of the Charlotte Hornets

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NBA Draft analyst Rafael Barlowe from NBA Draft Junkies and current author of the NBA Big Board newsletter is joined by Richard Stayman (@MavsDraft), James Barlowe, and Leif Thulin to breakdown the NBA Draft. Rafael & Team gives passionate NBA Draft fans a deep look into the NBA Draft with great guests, Mock Draft, player rankings, and of course BIG BOARDs. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network.

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