Everything Charlotte Hornets’ Fans Need To Know About Liam McNeeley

Everything Charlotte Hornets’ Fans Need To Know About Liam McNeeley

what’s going on everyone trust the Buzz here if you’re new to the channel I make Charlotte Hornets content so if that interest you make sure you go ahead and hit that subscribe button down below if you cannot tell by the thumbnail title of this video in today’s video we’re going to be talking about the 29th pick Liam McNeely now we got this pick by trading Mark Williams for this pick and a 2029 Suns first I believe which is the worst i think we get the worst pick between the Suns Cleveland and Minnesota that year it’s something like that but still another pick nonetheless um and very similar value i mean obviously we’re missing the Dalton Connect of that trade but I mean with this draft you could see like it kind of makes sense why we kind of went the way we did considering we didn’t get Dalton Connect but still I think pretty good um return for Mark Williams but we’ll talk about that in another video this video we’re obviously talking about Liam McNeely 67 freshman from Yukon so this is the thing i personally am not very high on McNeely i mean he was seen he he was supposed to be like this shooter and it really quite wasn’t that at Yukon and Yukon has have had used guys like Jordan Hawkins is the biggest one I think of is you know how he was used like coming off screens and being moving off ball like Liam shares a lot of those similar traits to me very very similar he just wasn’t hitting and I he just felt a little uncomfortable it felt like there was more that needed to be there kind of there for his game to really you show what he can do um but at the end of the day I I do feel like it will come around i think I do believe in the shooting i feel like it’s going to come around i just don’t know like will it be good enough to justify a lot of his other weaknesses um athleticism being one um just his ability to kind of get to the rim like there’s a lot of things that I feel as though McNeely could possibly work on but at the end of the day I mean all these players have something to work on i just don’t know if I’m too high on I wouldn’t even say the fit because I I’m not looking to draft for fit right now like we’re we won 19 games it’s just more so I don’t see how I don’t know i see okay like for example I’ve always said we got shooters or we got guys who can shoot but we need shooters got Liam McNeely who’s supposed to be a shooter got Kippo who I know for a fact will be a shooter even though he wasn’t my first choice with Liam with Liam McNeely it just felt as though as I mentioned I didn’t really feel like he could really get comfortable at Yukon he did have that injury i think he shot a little better in conference play i believe he shot like 35% in conference play compared to like his 32% in um for the season that doesn’t tell the whole story like 35% isn’t even that much but there was times he just missed an open shots and I feel like he felt rushed a little bit so it just felt like he never really could find his place and I think it was just maybe too much movement because that’s what they did with Jordan Hawkins as I mentioned he was he got a you know he came off a lot of screens and just there was a lot of actions ran for him to get open and he cashed those with Liam McNeely it just didn’t feel as authentic and just didn’t feel as natural to him but a lot of the things that made Jordan Hawkins so lethal coming off those screens and moving off ball I think Liam shares a lot of those traits it’s just something in the middle between him moving and like the catch and then him shooting there’s just it’s just something off there um but I I could see how it could work for the Hornets is if if they could kind of just put him I wouldn’t necessarily say in the corner because he’s so good at moving off ball but just letting LaMelo do what LaMelo does creating space moving the defense boom find McNeely moving off a screen we obviously need to find a screen uh someone to set those screens because we’re missing we don’t have a center well we have Musa and Nerkage right now so we don’t have a center um as much as I like Musa but yeah so we need to find someone to set those screens i think that’s going to be huge i think that’s going to be very very huge in what we’re going to do i don’t think that you can pick up a center that is not setting very good solid legal screens because if you don’t I think the all this falls apart so it’s just is going to be very important that they do that and I almost would value like the level in which that center can set screens over just his overall performance because that’s is really going to open up this team and give them a shot because this is looks like what we’re doing here we’re going to just take all the threes but yeah as for McNeely um I think obviously the biggest thing is that you want the shooting to come around i like him in terms of a competitor like he’s the kind of guy I like i I’ve mentioned this before like normally I go for guys like VJ Edgecom who like is seen as this like defensive competitor and he’s not saying Liam McNeely is anywhere near VJ Edge but those are the kind of guys I usually go for like I like that competitive edge and then you know we can go we can work with the rest but McNeely even though he has that competitive edge I don’t know where the rest comes from I think he’s a pretty good rebounder I think he averages like six rebounds a game which is something that we need to do because we’re a team that you know team rebounds uh we don’t necessarily it’s not the way we play you know the way we get rebounds is not necessarily our center getting 15 rebounds and everybody else has three like no we have games with LaMelo with seven Miles Bridges with 14 Brandon Miller with eight like that’s just kind of how that’s just kind of how we do it so him being able to contribute in that way I think is going to be big but that’s something I really liked about Ace was that you know you offensive potential and then the way he can uh get rebounds i think that was something that was really underestimated with Ace is just how good of a rebounder he is um so Liam McNeely does kind of have that underrated rebounding ability just obviously not at the rate of Ace Bailey but still I think it’s there um he’s going to he’s going to play hard he’s he’s going to he’s going to get open it’s just a matter of him hitting i would like to see him once again get to the rim more it’s not like he really has any moves and it’s not like he really has his own creation so there are things I worry about that but I feel as though he will thrive against thrive with having someone like Lamelo Paul i as much as I you know I would have preferred like Rashir Fleming Noah Penda U Maxim Renault might maybe even Ryan Cogbriner um I can see I this is this is this is just how I’m going to put it i would prefer this front office and this coaching staff to go out swinging in what they believe in instead of trying to do something they don’t it’s going to suck i may not even agree with everything they do but at the end of the day there will be no questions of whether oh well they didn’t have this guy and they didn’t have this no like you’re literally building what you want it does kind of make me wonder about like last year with um Ton i feel as though that makes that draft a little even more questionable but still I rather them go out swinging do what you do if this is how you see it then by all means build it this way but you you got to hit like you got to you know have have this work in some capacity i don’t need Liam McNeely to become the greatest three-point shooter ever but I need him to be solid and I need him to provide something else but as as I’ve you know as we continue to talk about McNeely I I I can see where it can work it’s just I needed to be a little more consistent one thing about him he doesn’t get to the free throw line as you can see his free throw rate is um in the 58th percentile he only you know 40 41% he doesn’t turn the ball over which I think is good he is good handling he has a good connective passing and that’s one thing that I So this is the thing right now with the finals well the finals are over but with the finals we saw a lot of guys that they quick decision makers connective playmakers could handle the ball a little bit and play defense liam and Khan are quick decision makers supposedly can shoot and handle the ball and pass they’re missing the defense part even though I think Khan has higher defensive upside than most people believe but still um so we had that part figured out i think we just need to figure out the defensive part of that that’s where I’m thinking Theiero if I’m pronouncing his name correctly from Arkansas will he be a good part in this rasher Fleming as I mentioned Jir Watkins Javon Small who who else I’m thinking of there’s some other guys as well um I think that you know they might not be so great offensively but we’re you know we’re trusting McNeely and Khan our first round picks to do that all right now let’s get like the the rough rugged second round guys cuz that’s that’s what OKC did that’s what the Pacers did a lot of those guys they have played that rough defense of course some of them are are lottery picks but some of them are just guys that fell in the second round or late first round or something like that so if you prioritize that it makes me feel a lot better about this um just because of the fact that it’s he adds a lot of creativity offensively in terms of just us being able to run screens for him like uh he can be able to set a screen pick and pop and I love to see that with LaMelo he has size so just because he’s not this great defender his size alone is going to be enough and I think he has like a 68 wingspan so he’s not he’s just not going to be necessarily a punk and he plays with this aggressiveness that I think that a lot of people on our team lack it’s just that he doesn’t have the physical ability to beat the guys to you know guard you 90 feet up the court but still um either way I I’m just iffy about the pick i see how it makes all the sense in the world if we want to be perfect and think about the system and the scheme and just how how much they can thrive like specifically McNeely can thrive off having someone like LaMelo because they didn’t have that at Yukon so how much McNeely can possibly thrive just being in a more like uh spot up guy instead of like this movement shooter I really believe that there’s something there and I believe that it could it could hit because it’s really just I I think it’s just more mental after a while especially after his injury especially just after the fit with Yukon just may not might not be the way you know he kind of was hoping it would be but he was a five-star recruit for a reason he was a dyn look at his high school film he was a dynamic offthe-ball shooter the same way Trey Johnson was so there’s something there i think it’s just up to this team to find it if they want to be the development staff then by all means find it do I love the pick not necessarily i like I said I could see how it works like technically X’s and O’s wise which I guess is good to finally talk about X’s and O’s but at this at the end of the day I do feel like there’s still some defensive things we need to focus on there’s still some paint touches we need to focus on and I and obviously the center position I’ll say this I think the center position should be handled through a veteran of some sort i don’t I don’t necessarily want to have to use one of those two picks on a center and then um I think what we should focus on is the is the maybe like high potential second round maybe defensive stalwart prospects i think that’s where we should look after drafting Khan and Liam McNeely we’ll see but if they’re if they’re trying to build a team like like the the Boston Celtics which is so obvious that that’s what they’re doing it was obvious from day one if they’re trying to do that but then like build it in the sense of the way OKC built their team then I would highly highly expect them to make this type of first round this is very typical of what you’re trying to accomplish and then all right now we’re loading up on high you know high high potential in in a way of you give them a role they’re going to excel at it that’s kind of what I mean by high potential high potential physical guys because we still don’t have a point of attack defender wouldn’t want that to be Brandon Miller um and we still just don’t have guys to kind of be like another Miles miles has talked about as being the next trade candidate which I think he would if anyone would on this team were to get traded of significance it would be Miles what are you going to do for that because I don’t think you know we I still believe Miles is a small ball four doesn’t necessarily matter because like the East is weak and there’s a lot of other things going on with this team that we should focus on but I think you should have a predecessor to Miles because you know his deals he got two years left on his deal you have Grant Williams who’s coming back from an injury and I know that you know his game’s not athleticism based but still at the end of the day I would like somebody to kind of be in that role and I think that like guys that I mentioned could be that so I don’t know let me know what your thoughts are on McNeely down in the comment section below overall I think he he ra once again he raises the floor of this team i it’s there is a little more of a project here than with Khan but I feel as though we kind of you kind of know what you’re getting into there’s not like this for for McNeely i think he’s shown you everything he is it’s just a matter of making it more efficient i don’t think he becomes anything more than what he is right now um and if he does if like if you think “Oh I didn’t expect him to do that.” It’s just more so you weren’t just that familiar i think everybody familiar with him knows what he can do well and sees the vision the thing is having belief that it’ll get there and I I don’t know i I don’t know is literally this staff’s job to do that that’s that’s what they were brought in here for would I have liked to see them use that for Trey man and I Trey Johnson and Ace Bailey of course but at the same time you have guys who have high floors and if you can make them to be the most optimal version of themselves these are no doubt NBA helpful players that could play significant minutes in a playoff in a playoff game it’s just a matter of them getting there um but yeah that those are my thoughts on McNeely overall I think he you know moves up ball well good connective passer plays with effort plays with passion um good rebounder uh doesn’t foul too much doesn’t turn over the ball too much just a very very I would say reserved player but those are the kind of players that you need off the bench we don’t need like wild cards especially when you’re trying to be a good team so I would like to think that this draft points us in the direction of winning i don’t you’re doing everybody a disservice if you put Khan Canipple out there with and Liam McNeely not I don’t think they’re going to play too many minutes together unless injuries but I don’t want to see Liam McNeely playing 20 games without Lamelo Ball i don’t want to see Kona playing 20 30 games without Lamelo Ball or Brandon Miller like I don’t think you can do that if if they’re really really hurt then fine but this whole like trying to play the lottery and tanking thing I don’t I don’t know you will be doing your previous first round picks talking about Khan and McNeely you do you’ll be doing them a great disservice if you go out there and only win 20 games because LaMelo didn’t play if if LaMelo plays and we just win 20 games then so be it we just suck fine it it’s part of the process but purposely tanking or sending guys out and then having these guys just go out no because their their most optimal selves come from playing off guys like they feed off these guys um and it makes it just makes them better and and they’re not trying to get their own they’re not trying to do their own thing they’re literally there to support the star that that’s how they play that’s literally how they play so being able to work with that and have LaMelo Brandon whoever Trey man even there I think is going to really help us see what these guys can be but I I I feel like these are win now moves i I know people may say the 2026 draft which I think there’s still room there to to be you know made as far as us getting a top pick in there but I don’t know i just don’t see how you make this draft and then say let’s let’s only win 20 games next year but let me know what your thoughts are down in the comments section below and I’ll see you guys next time paste

The Charlotte Hornets drafted Liam McNeeley with the 29th pick in the 2029 NBA Draft. What can McNeeley do along side LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel? In this video we break down everything fans need to know about McNeeley as well as what could this possibly mean for the future.