Charlotte Hornets Draft Kon Knueppel & Liam McNeeley | Mark Williams Traded Again

Charlotte Hornets Draft Kon Knueppel & Liam McNeeley | Mark Williams Traded Again

what’s up and welcome to the Sam Dracula channel My name is Sam I’m a Hornets fan and we’re talking NBA draft The NBA draft first round of the NBA draft was last night It is the next day The second round is tonight And I want to make a video just discussing my thoughts summarizing my thoughts about last night and expectations and talk about my expectations about tonight for the second round If you’re just seeing this I live streamed during the entire first round with my friend Mike That’s on the channel if you want to go check that out See my reactions in real time to Kanipple to the Mark Williams trade to Vasame potentially coming back Uh and uh Liam McNeely being selected with the 29th overall pick Um it’s four hours of stuff feel free to jump around But this video is going to be kind of a a summary of my thoughts of last night with a night’s rest in between with some clarity and and also after listening to what GM uh Jeff Peterson had to say about draft night Um so let’s get into it I’m going to try to do break this up into sections So I’m going to talk about my expectations going into last night Then I’m going to talk about the selections themselves Kanipple and Liam McNeely Then I’m gonna talk Mark Williams trade and then talk about my expectations for tonight in the second round So going into last night what needed to happen for Charlotte is they had to replenish the young talent pool within this roster because they’ve whiffed on so many draft picks the last few years that you look at the guys on rookie deals currently it gets dry really fast There’s a steep drop off after Brandon Miller and that’s concerning for a team especially that doesn’t have a lot of cap space a team that’s doesn’t have a lot of wins The the saving grace is future draft picks which which they do Hornets own all of their picks plus some other teams picks So check plus right with that But you also hope to have at least like bed of young talented players that you can kind of hope that will develop into something special And that talent pool is really dry Was really dry going into last night Right now guys that are 23 years old and younger still on rookie deals you’re talking to John Salon Nick Smith Jr Brandon Miller and KJ Simpson Now KJ’s on a two-way Nick Smith Jr has this season and next season to kind of prove himself Brandon Miller solidified to John Salon has a lot to prove still it that doesn’t wreak of a lot of confidence of young talent and high-end potential from that group of guys Okay it it it’s not great So that had to be addressed last night And then on the court just from a basketball needs point of view they needed everything And they needed shooting they needed playmaking they needed defense on both on both perimeter defense and interior defense They needed rebounding And then from like a trait point of view they need guys that are tough strongminded competitors because there’s not a lot of them on the roster We there hasn’t been a lot of them on the roster recently And anyone and we know this front office likes it Like in the short period of time under this new regime we’ve seen guys every guy they’ve brought in Josh Green Dioate even Tajan Salon are all strongminded uh competitive work rate high work rate high engine type of guys And if if this team ever starts winning and really has a true strong identity it’s going to be built around that Like that is the goal here Um from what I’ve seen as a fan So with that being said let’s talk about who was selected how those needs were addressed And starting off with my first point about addressing the lack of young talent on the team Them adding two rookies in the first round addresses that in a big way And they’re both younger players too Like Dalton Connect who they tried to trade for much older prospect These guys are one and done guys young players who still have a lot to learn and grow into which fits with the long-term vision of what we got going on here Right So let’s talk Khan Canipple Um I give that selection a B+ That that for so many reasons For so many reasons Even though I wanted Ace Bailey Canipple can start for this team right away Okay he can push Josh Green to the bench where he belongs not watching as a spectator but as a sixth or seventh man which is what he they did in Dallas and we saw the best from him Josh Green is not a starter in today’s NBA on a good team and that’s the end goal right To become a good team So getting the most out of him this makes so much sense addressing that spot um whether it was Edgecomb or Trey Johnson or Canipple addressing the guard wings spot and putting Josh Green in a different role in the rotation even though you know I know he’s coming off an injury but I fully expect him to be part of the team and healthy at the start of the season but uh Green in a different role in a less impactful offensive role is is crucial and it fortifies a potential backcourt duo of Treyman and Josh agree Like when you’re just talking about building something and and checking boxes you have your offensive and defensive specialists coming off the bench that that’s a good place to be as a Hornets fan when you’re trying to just build out the rotation um from next season and beyond So Canipple can do that He’s a big-time competitor He’s super smart He’s been Batman He’s Ben Robin and will fit into this this nucleus of LaMelo Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges Like those three guys haven’t played a lot of basketball together and we still don’t know if that really works works works Um but when you’re talking timeline Canipple fits the age profile with Miller and LaMelo as a trio that you can look forward to growing together right I don’t know if Bridges comes back or not Uh I I do know I I I’d be shocked if Bridges got traded this offseason Same with LaMelo Like I I just quick aside quick tangent Um I think they’re they fully expect to start the season with those four dudes and Nerkage or Diabate as your center and just kind of run with it Canipple has the size he has the strength he doesn’t have the lateral quickness and and athleticism you like Like there’s the team isn’t going to be better defensively because they drafted Khan Canipple They have a chance of being smarter defensively but you’re not going to find a prospect that checks all the boxes at four typically right You hope to do that with one or two in the draft At four you’re hoping to have that just to cover the most ground as possible to address a real need And this does because the shooting on the team is terrible Like I was looking at the shooting statistics from last season and I know there were a lot of injuries or whatever blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Um I don’t care I don’t care about the injuries the stats are the stats and the team was and the team wasn’t designed to be good either Like I’m convinced they were trying to tank since the John Salon selection but anyway the stats are the stats and if it wasn’t for the Orlando Magic the Hornets would be last in a lot of categories So shout shouts to the Magic for holding it down Conanipple addresses the shooting in a big way which means you know you have LaMelo Brandon Miller Canipple those are real threats from distance Miles Bridges is an average three-point shooter He can get really streaky but like if you’re defending Miles Bridges and he has an open look you’re not you’re not dying to close him out cuz like you’re more if if you’re playing against Bridges you’re more than cool You should be fine with him taking as many shots as he wants and you’re trying to prevent Miller ball and now Canipple from lining up from distance And then you know none of the centers are shooters I know like Nerkage God bless his soul he he will take them They don’t look great there It’s not it’s not something we’re trying to rely on either right So the when you’re just kind of mapping out the floor shape and the width available to it LaMelo Brandon Miller nipple big upgrade especially considering Josh Green was afraid to shoot Uh Trey man is a scorer for real Like he’s a he’s a legit player Uh Seth Curry who knows if he comes back right Grant Williams is coming off an ACL injury like the shooting the real shooting options it gets it there’s a big drop off real quick with some guys with question marks um in that zone so that with Canipple alone fully addressed and will help everything else out Canipple isn’t the cure all to all the Hornets woes but he will help the team now and in the future and so I’m more than okay with it that’s a real B+ he carries carries the traits like he carries the mentally strong trait He carries the high work rate trait and the engine like he he fits into what they’re trying to build out from an identity point of view Um thankfully he has a skill set to match it right Tons has the work rate has the the mental strength but he doesn’t have the skill set that Canipple does right now Maybe one day when you have a guy that has it up here and he could produce you got to take him at four So let’s talk Liam McNeely next So he was selected with the 29th overall pick and you look at a lot of big boards and mock drafts it’s quite a fall for him given what he was projected to potentially go So when the Hornets select him and their other centers available it is a bit of a like it does raise your eyebrow a little bit But then we just kind of take a step back and think about well they the Hornets pick at 33rd and 34th tonight There are centers available at that range that they can address Then Lee McNeely feels like a complete value pick Um I understand folks who say it’s a bit redundant after taking Caniple but what I just said about the state of the roster and the lack of depth when you talk about shooting available shooters and scorers the Hornets needed McNeely So yes he is I think a really nice value pick um and will be a good pro Um he also addresses a need and it’s great when those two things or three things can can mash up I was listening to and reading some stuff about him earlier and everyone is kind of on the same page where his his shooting numbers aren’t really indic like an indication of what he can really do as a shooter Uh given the fact he was coming off of like two I think two major ankle injuries and pneumonia Um I believe which kind of affected his play Um with all that still won Big East freshman of the year So salute to him for for powering through but he carries the same thing the competitiveness the mental strength the engine The Hornets are are are sticking true to that archetype or those those character traits with the guys they’re selecting So Hornets fans like as long as Peterson’s in charge I think we can this is becoming a a trend and we’ll see how it plays out tonight with the second round and how how we go into free agency But when you look at the guys the Hornets have moved on from Mark Williams and that who have who they’ve brought in Caniple McNeely um who they’ve extended Diamate what they really value and it’s hard to find fault with it like it just makes sense guys who who love basketball and guys who want to bust their ass to be better and to compete in games So going back to McNeely specifically he has all those traits So check he has good size for the NBA Check Like similar to Canipple you don’t want him like putting the ball on the floor a ton but can do it you know shooting off screens shooting off u off the catch Like all the these guys both those guys both Canipple and McNeil have that in their bag Um but truly like it just it fortifies that second unit Now the defense like a nipple not going to improve things but it fixes it addresses a real need that the Hornets have and every team in the NBA looks for is competent reliable shooting And to get Canipple and McNeely yesterday or last night is an incredible bit of I guess uh of talent acquisition And so yeah they took a guy 29th overall um who won’t start for the team and that’s fine because you need a rotation Ask the Knicks about that You know what I mean You got to have guys you can turn to and you got to have depth especially with the injuries Somebody’s going to get somebody’s going to get hurt at some point It’s going to happen You just hope it’s not for too long right You got to have depth and the Hornets are building depth in uh through the draft as they should So just kind of talking about where McNeely would fit into the to this in in my view before the second round starts Um obviously LaMelo Brandon Miller Canipple Miles Bridges Nerkage as your five your bench you know Trey Man as your so assuming Trey man comes back Trey man as your primary ball handler and scorer right Josh Green as your defensive perimeter specialist Liam McNeely as your shooter like your shooting specialist uh Grant Williams assuming he’s back and healthy and all that stuff as your defensive anchor right Um and Diabate as another defensive anchor and rebounder Um and Grant with some shooting um help as well So like yeah that’s not like a we’re not talking this team’s going to be a six seed or anything like that with that grouping but that’s a really competent second unit And then you go you throw in Nick Smith Jr right You throw in Tan Salon as your 11th or 12th men at that stage that’s that’s not a bad place to be Let’s get into Mark Williams The reason the Hornets had the 29th overall pick and had an opportunity to draft Liam McNeely What did I say at the beginning of this video about what this front office likes and targets when they look at building this roster They want guys who love basketball guys that are competitors guys that have high engines guys that are dogs Mark Williams is a super talented young man I think he will play in the NBA for a long time I don’t think he’s a dog And uh it sucks because with his size he should be He really should be All I needed to know about him what did it for me was how passive he was against the Lakers after the trade got cancelceled The rescendant I needed him to punish Vanderbilt and Jackson Hayes to show the Lakers what they missed out on And he was so differential to those guys on the low block It was frustrating as hell man Offensively his skills I think are are what what you’re if you’re a Suns fan that you find this video this is what you should expect Like he I think he’s really skilled offensively around the paint We saw some little baby flashes of him extending his range Um he’s a good free throw shooter so like you can you can kind of see it I think there is a scenario where Mark Williams starts hitting threes um at some point in his career not anytime soon but I think he has that in his bag in in his potential because defensively he’s just prone to getting bullied man With his injury history with his back and his feet it’s probably not the best idea to put on a bunch of weight but he needs to So like it’s a kind of a catch 22 because he’s not strong enough to play or slow down or defend bigger players bigger centers Guys like Gaffford or Sar are gonna eat him alive Valenunis like anybody any big body center like anybody 250 up is going to give Mark Williams a long day on the glass And that’s an issue That’s an issue And it’s something that doesn’t mean he’s not a good NBA player It’s just something you have to address with the rest of the roster Like Mark Williams coming into the league he compared himself to Robert Williams And Robert Williams succeeded best when he had Al Horford next to him And you need that secondary post presence that can be your defensive anchor and allow Mark Williams to be that helpside guy like Robert Williams was used or how he was used with Boston uh back in the day And you need that secondary guy And so for Phoenix is what Phoenix is doing is insane Just blanketly put like everything they’ve done since Ishbia bought the team has been crazy So prayers up for y’all Suns fans But the fact that that they have Mark Williams and Nick Richards is so nuts I’ve seen it You’ve seen it here in Charlotte They’re trying to do it over there in Phoenix What are you doing It doesn’t work It hasn’t worked And they also draft Malawatch It’s craziness What are they doing Someone explain it to me Mark best of best of luck to you I hope you enjoy your time in Phoenix and the trade goes through and you get you get a fat second contract I I want I’m wishing him the best but as a Hornets fan I’m glad they’re moving on because I’m I was terrified of the idea of having to pay him and being in the Mark William Mark Williams business long term It it was time to move on and I’m glad they they traded him for the second time What I’m not happy about is this on stream when this came up Okay but I’mma just do this before I talk about the picks All we knew was that Mark was traded for two first round draft picks Didn’t know how they were going to make the money work So like I was I assumed a player would have to come back the other way Um didn’t expect it to be meage and I felt like I wanted to cry Like if anybody is really upset about the coniple selection and they’re frustrated about it or wanted somebody else Trey Johnson Ace Bailey whomever I that’s how I feel about Meech coming back That’s how I feel That’s how I feel about him coming back here Now he may not come back at all There’s there’s reports about him going to Fenerbachce which best of luck to you Uh he should go over there He was a beast in Europe He’s not an NBA player Um worst case scenario It is just a one-year deal Um I’m not sure if it’s fully guaranteed right now anyway but Meeich God bless you Uh I’m I have no interest in watching you play basketball for the Charlotte Hornets ever again So I just want to put that out there and put just put a bow on that So something to monitor and uh hopefully that they reach an outcome a good outcome with all of that So with this the Hornets get back into the first round And at at at that stage I’m like this trade happened so earlyish in the night that I was like could they get into the mid to late teens They didn’t do that They held they held right where they were Took Mcneel like I just talked about Good Really solid And then this the 2029 first round draft pick least favorable between Cleveland Utah and Minnesota Now Cleveland and M Minnesota should still be very good in 2029 Utah who the hell knows So that pick isn’t going to be incredible Most likely everybody bottoms out somehow um by then but who knows That’s four years from now But you add that to the Miami pick the Hornets have the Dallas pick the Hornets have and then there’s another one from the Nerkage deal Um but I’m not even sure is it like a Kings pick or a Suns pick It’s a weird one Um it’s one similar to this where it’s like bracket bracketed But the Hornets have now I think four three at least three maybe four first round picks from other teams and they have all their own So when the day comes the Charlotte Hornets are ready to go for it They have picks to leverage to package to go get somebody whether it’s to move up in a draft or to acquire a veteran or a fringe all-star or hopefully maybe one day an allNBA level guy You know we saw Desmond Bang go for four four ones you know if that one guy that’s is missing to complete the puzzle like Mikuel Bridges was meant to be or Bane is hopeful to be for Orlando when the day comes Charlotte has that ammunition to go get that guy if they want to whenever they’re ready to do that I think we’re still a ways from that happening but it’s in the cards Like I said it’s it’s a possibility And for them to even still get two first round picks from Mark Williams cuz that was what they’re supposed to get from the Lakers deal plus Dalton Connect You know in totality they have Connect and two ones from the Lakers That was the initial package Now it’s McNeely One other pick It’s It’s a pretty decent value So moving on to tonight The second round of the draft starts at 8 PM I’m not gonna live stream during it but I will make a video or just go live talking about it either tonight or tomorrow So stay tuned for that Make sure you like make sure you subscribe uh so you don’t miss that The shooting need has been addressed with Canipple Though my expectations going into tonight right with the second round Hornets are picking at 33 and at 34 They got to address the bigs Nerkage Diamate that’ll get you through a year a year where there’s low expectations right But you need a developmental big behind behind them because uh Nerkage seems to be primed to be traded at some point too as a salary dump as an expiring contract and an opportunity to gather more like future draft assets So I I doubt Nerkage finishes the season with Charlotte Um and this is a scenario where he doesn’t even start the season with Charlotte too But um I’ll be shocked if he’s if he actually rides out the entire year here without getting traded for some future stuff um while taking on more contracts But anyway that’s whole different thing but they got to have a center to learn and to develop behind those two guys So that needs to happen And then with with the other pick you can go point guard right They still have to address the backup points point guard spot KJ Simpson Vasameichi on coming back you know what I mean It it’s it’s pretty it’s pretty dry Like Trey man isn’t a playmaker in that regard for other people Uh Nick Smith Jr isn’t that guy So there’s there’s no one occupying that space really um that I feel comfortable with uh right now So if they can have take a shot at a point guard in the second round and definitely take a shot at a center in the second round I’ll be really happy with how both rounds played out including the Mark Williams deal So for me I want the Hornets to take uh Ryan Cal Brener from Kraton with one of those picks He can shoot a little bit He’s a smart player He’s a high effort guy It kind of fits with what they have going on here and he’s an older player too Um so maybe he’s more NBA ready right as a second round pick You kind of I I think it’s worth taking the guys with some seasoning because they’re less of a risk and have a you have a you have a chance at getting real good like um value from from a guy who’s a contributor on a second round draft pick contract So I would go Cal Brener with one of those picks and I would take a fly at Nemhar’s brother from Gonzaga Uh his name Ryan Yeah Ryan He’s he’s really small He’s really small but he’s a really good playmaker And you may you may catch some magic in a bottle so to speak with an undersized point guard coming off the bench Like I wouldn’t hate it especially given where the Hornets are right now Um and I I would think that’ll be pretty complete unless another deal happens where they they trade off Josh Green or trade off Miles Bridges or trade off I don’t know Nick Smith Jr I don’t know I don’t know But largely I think once they take these picks I expect them to be done for the night But we’ll see We’ll see Someone can come calling Do you need two high second round picks Like maybe they can fall back a little bit I don’t know Uh but I’ll be watching with great interest and hoping for the best like always So that’ll do it for me for now I’ll be back again later um at some point either late tonight or tomorrow talking Hornets basketball talking NBA draft and looking ahead ahead to free agency because that’s right around the corner here coming soon Big Treyman decision coming up Hopefully he returns but more on that later Anyway I appreciate y’all for hanging out Let me know your thoughts on the draft class right now I Oh I didn’t give a grade I would overall I’m giving the whole thing a B+ like just across the board Canipple McNeely the Mark Williams Hall just from the f first round I give that a B+ if they take a center with one or both those picks Um it could it could reach a territory for me as a whole holistic twoight combo But we’ll see what they do tonight But until then I’ve been Sam You’ve been great Peace

– Charlotte Hornets Fan Channel –
Topics:
Intro: 0:00
Draft needs: 1:18
Kon Knueppel thoughts: 4:30
Liam McNeeley thoughts: 9:45
Mark Williams traded: 14:37
Second round preview: 22:11

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By: Sam Dracula