HORNETS ROSTER GETS WEIRD, Is That Good? | Tidjane Salaun’s BIG Opportunity | Dell & Eric UPDATE!

HORNETS ROSTER GETS WEIRD, Is That Good? | Tidjane Salaun’s BIG Opportunity | Dell & Eric UPDATE!

The roster weirdness. Everybody’s picking up on it. Zack Low is picking up on it. What do we do with this weird roster? Plus, we have more letters from the front line. And what do we expect from Tan Salon this season? All today, Friday edition, Locked on Hornets. You are Locked on Hornets, your daily Charlotte Hornets podcast, part of the Locked Onet. your team every day. In a minute cuz we live. [Music] It’s Locked on Hornets, part of the Lockdown podcast network. It’s your team every day. Thanks for making us your first listen. We are free and available anywhere you get your podcast and that includes YouTube. There’s Doug Branson, every hornetsboxcore.com. Also listen to the other podcast, Locked on NBA with Matt Moore and Hayes. I’m Walker Male. You can listen to me on WFNZ every weekday from 12 to 300 p.m. By the way, did want to tell you that this episode is brought to you by Game Time. Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. I don’t want to sit and just bathe in the game time every single time we do it, but I did want to bring up the one story I saw on the YouTube comment section about one of our listeners knowing us better than we know ourselves with all these episodes that we’ve done because somebody asked us or I think maybe asked you about where does the game time thing come from and there was a listener that described exactly how it happened and and and it was I I did not remember it, you did not remember it to that level of detail. except one of the listeners did and said, “I’m glad somebody brought it up. Here’s how it happened.” So, shout out to whoever that is. I need to give them credit. But it was it’s it’s funny how they know us better than ourselves, Doug. That this these are our people. This is what we do. Well, this show means a lot to a lot of people and that means a lot to us. Perfect. That just a great that that was that that’s that’s true. It is really true. Okay. Uh another show that means a lot to a lot of people. so much that people were clamoring for it to come back. It’s Zack Low. Maybe it’s not the Low Post, but it’s the Zack Low show now, a part of the ringer. And he was talking about the Hornets yesterday. In the previous episode, he teased a segment about the Hornets in the upcoming pod. It’s out. We are aggregation station it right now. We are absolutely going to take what Zach said and we are going to use it for our own content because we aggregate, but we aggregate responsibly, folks. But what I think the thing here is you look at what Zach Low said. Apparently there was like a 15minute conversation. I’m getting this information from Hornets on Reddit Twitter. Hornets Reddit Twitter, which by the way, you talk about the best aggregators in the game. They do it responsibly. They give credit. Shout out to Hornets Reddit. They’re the freaking best. I love that account. Anyways, they put out the clip of Zack Low and Rob Mahoney going back and forth on Charlotte. And here’s what Zach has to say. It’s a strange team. And really, it comes down to LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. I just like to talk about the Charlotte Hornets who have like 14 guys under guaranteed contracts. You look at this team and it’s like what a strange conglomerate of players. And again, apparently there’s a 15-minute combo about it. I listened to a little bit more, but not the full clip. It’s a lot of the same stuff that we’ve been saying here, Doug. It it it’s he goes with we have 14 guys on guaranteed contracts, but then that’s really before you get to the center rotation. Zach did say it’s I for not verbatim but it’s one of the more dire center rotations that he’s seen. Um Mosi Diabate, Ryan Caulk Brener, and Mason Plumbley. He did say the Hornets like Ryan Caulk Brener a lot and he seemed to say that with like some level of intel and so he said they like him quite a bit. That’s maybe something we can touch on also. But it is true. I I think everybody looks at this roster and they think I what is this? What? And it’s not in a bad way. It it’s a glass half full approach in my opinion because they make the Colin Ston move and they go after Trey man and you know us we’ve been really loving what they’ve done this off season. But what is also true is you look at this roster and you say wait this is not normal. This is not what teams do. What what is this? And and it’s it’s going to be it makes me happy. I’m excited to see how it all is going to form. Um but it’s that part is still true. It’s a weird roster to put together. I think what we’re seeing here is not is not a difference of opinion on this team. I I think you’re right. Everyone has the same opinion, which is like what’s what’s going on here? Seems like a lot of guards, not a lot of centers. What’s the there seems to be a balance issue here. What is going on? But I think what we are witnessing is differing perspectives. And the differing perspectives are people that have watched this team very closely for the past several seasons dating back into the Mitch Cupcheck era and I would say even maybe even dating back into like the second year after the playoff season and they’re going okay or at least this is me. I’m in this camp of saying this team has not made sense to me for a very long time. This roster has not made sense to me for a very long time. If you have been listening to this show for a while, you know I’ve been screaming like, “What is going on with the center position for years? This is not an NBA level center rotation. Why am I seeing this?” And they can’t see that this team is like one two injuries and not even like major player injuries, just two midplayer injuries from being a total disaster. Why are they doing this to me personally? I don’t understand. And so the difference now is that I think the roster is as strange, but I think what they’re doing now is iterating. They are trying things. They are actually doing things. And I think the strangeness is a product of the injuries of of them not having the answers that they need to make more fully formed roster decisions. So, I think it’s it’s a thoughtful strangeness as opposed to I would compare this to the team that we that that the Hornets seem inextricably linked to these days, the Phoenix Suns. You take a look at that roster and it’s all shooting guards and centers and you go, “That’s strange.” But that’s not rooted in a thoughtful strangeness. That’s rooted in, oops, we made a bunch of mistakes and now we have to recover from that. and but at the same time we’re also impatient because we want to win now and like all of these different factors converge. So where it’s not a thoughtful strangeness, it’s it’s just like constant chaos strangeness. That’s not how I view the Charlotte Hornets. I I think it’s a little bit different. And again, I’ll go back and I’ve referenced this quote from Zack Low on like three podcasts ago. What he said about weird rosters is you have to just embrace that part of it. If you have something different, then embrace it. Which is why I love what the Hornets have done. And if we’re going with where did this get strange, at what point did we start to think, “Oh, buddy.” Or at at what point did the ball start rolling down the hill? I do go back to the Colin Ston deal. Um because we’ve talked about how that may show that they’re being serious about winning, right? it. I my my take on it is I don’t know if it says anything because it was such an easy deal to make that you just go ahead and make it regardless of what position you’re in. If you’re a tanking team, trade for Colin Ston, he’s a decent enough asset. All you have to get rid of is Nerkage. If he sucks, you have a second round pick, which we’ve already seen. Jeff Peterson value second round picks, but we don’t think Colin Ston is going to suck. We think that there’s a very decent shot of him starting. So, when you trade for Colin Ston, if you have God Almighty, I’m struggling again. Sorry. If you have Colin Ston on your roster and you trade for Colin that way, if he was of that same skill set, whatever at the four spot, you probably make that deal as well. If you have that same skill at the three, you make that trade also. You know what I’m saying? Like, I don’t think they it it’s nice for a backup point guard, right? like it it fills that role. But then Trey man and Spencer Denwitty like Doug, we probably would have come on here without Colin Son on the roster and been happy that you had some guard depth without Colin on the roster and said, “Hey, Trey Mann and Spencer Denwitty. Now we have a couple of guys that can handle the rock in the back court a little bit better than we’ve had over the last 10 years.” And then they brought in overkill with those guys, especially after trading for Collins. So I think that was the turning point. That’s when the ball started to get rolling a little bit more on, okay, we still are going to go after our original plan, but Colin Saxon just landed in our laps. Like, yeah, of course, we’ll take this much better player than the one we’re sending out, and yes, we’ll take your second round pick, please. And thank you. Yeah, for sure. I I Let me add just a couple of other things. I I I agree with pretty much everything you said there, but let me add a couple of things. Asset collection is going to lead to stranges. I’m sure I’m not an expert on the Oklahoma City Thunder, but I bet if you look at their roster three or four years ago as Sam Prey was accumulating every single second round pick and every single first round pick that he possibly could, that that roster did not look like, oh yeah, you can see like they’ve got two point guards, three shooting guards, two small for like it was go it’s going to get weird when you’re making moves not for how do we win game, you know, uh 14 of the NBA regular season and it’s like how do we get this get this ship moving in the right ction, Jeff Peterson. And I look, I am naturally impatient, okay? Because I’ve experienced a lot of pain with this franchise. So, I’m pro and I’ve admitted on this show that I probably am unfair to Jeff Peterson at times in this front office with that impatience. But there is a deep down I understand that like because of all that damage that was done by Michael Jordan and Mitch Cupchack and Rich Cho and uh everybody that was involved in that mess, they have a lot to clean up and turning that ship is not going to happen overnight. What I love though in the Colin Ston move is that they are making moves that seem to be like, okay, we can still turn the ship and also find people to change the culture, find people that can bring competitiveness, bring fire to the rest of this roster and in Tan Salon, bring fire to the crowd. Okay, so I love that. But asset collection will lead to stranges. Also, having a weird star in LaMelo Ball, his game is weird. It’s chaos. It’s jazz. that’s going to lead to a weirdness overall and and a good weirdness, an unpredictability. That’s what you want as an NBA team. Tyresese Hallebertton is weird. He’s unpredictable. That’s what made that was the engine that made Indiana go. And so all of that together, like this is going to be a weird team. You add to that the injury uncertainty that they’ve had the past few years. It’s obvious why they’re weird, but they’re weird in a positive way, not weird in a what are these guys doing kind of way. 2025 Hornets, let’s get weird. That’s the mantra and they have embraced it fully. Coming up next on the Locked on Hornets podcast everywhere. We’re going to go rummage through the Siko satchel for the first time in quite a while. We have a question about Ton Salon in there. We’ll answer coming up next. L. This episode is brought to you by Game Time. Game time. Game time. Have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family? Maybe it’s game day and you suddenly realize you want to be in the stands. Does that sound familiar, Doug? Yes. That’s exactly where game time comes in. Good for you. It’s the easiest way to grab lastminute tickets without the stress. With the money you save on tickets, you can then splurge on food, drinks, merch, or even invite a bigger group to come with you. Game time makes that possible. Game time makes buying tickets fast and simple. Prices on the app actually drop the closer you get to first pitch and you’ve got incredible lastminute deals that you can take advantage of. They have clear seat views for you and they give you a lowest price guarantee that takes the worrying out of buying. Love that. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. Use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account. Redeem code Loca. Locked on NBA for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. More Lockdown Hornets ahead. [Music] Siko Satchel time. We’re going to go to a familiar person that puts the questions in there. A familiar guest in the Siko Satchel. Schumann shout out. What you got for us? Yeah, before I do that, I just have to read the 201920 Oklahoma City Thunder death chart. Now, this team finished fifth in the Western Conference. They were coached by Billy Donovan. before uh uh everything fell apart a little bit. But um Chris Paul, Dennis Shruder, there’s your point guards. Your only shooting guard was SGA. Then your small forward position was Lou Dort Roersonson, uh Hadu Dio, Terrence Ferguson. You had Galinari on that lineup. Steven Adams was still there, Nerland Null, Mike Mscala. That was just a weird roster. Well, I mean, and that’s what led them to say, “Okay, we got to re we got to redo this whole thing.” Well, no. I mean, yeah, kind of. That was the team as I try to clear my throat. Let me do some I’m gonna get I’m gonna get a I’m gonna I just want that drop because you got to be careful on YouTube. You play a little too much of a song and all of a sudden you can’t make any money on your video. But I’m going to get thea I’m going to get that little drop for that moment. Th This is why I respect OKC. the drop would be great. But this is why I respect OKC is because they did a great job of threading the needle of we’ll tank. We’ll be really bad and we’ll get the second overall pick and take Chad Homegrren with that really bad over or with that really bad season and that really good pick, but we’re also going to thread the needle and be somewhat competitive and field a competitive team. And so when you go with Chris Paul, Dennis Shruder, and SGA, remember that was this innovative, we’re gonna play three guards, not like small ball, but just outright. We’re going to put three guards out there on the court all at the same time. And this is how we’re going to win. And not only are we going to win this way, we’re going to compete in the playoffs. We’re going to get to a first round series and actually get to a sevename series with that. So it it’s why I just went on this whole love fest with Sam Prey yesterday on Weston Walker where I I think there’s he’s clearly like clearly the best general manager in the NBA right now. But it’s more so than just identifying talent in the NBA draft. It’s more so than just collecting this war chest of assets. It’s the fact that he’s handled the people part of this unbelievably well. And I go back to what Kimble Walker said during that transition of him just using OKC as a conduit to get to wherever else he was going to because he was sent to OKC in a salary dump. He discusses that organization so highly. Like Sam Prey called me. He let me know everything that was going on right before it happened. He I was in the know. I was allowed to use their facilities for whatever. Like they were here to help me. And he just didn’t have enough great things to say about the Thunder despite not playing a single second for them. And then they also want to go compete even if it’s just a first round exit where oh no that’s purgatory. You’re not allowed to do that. Except they did and they still end up winning a championship because they’re smarter than everybody else in a lot of other ways. So yeah, like it’s just I I went on that whole love fest so I just looked this stuff up. But yeah, man, they were innovative because they had a weird roster. So, they embraced it and this is the way for the Hornets to maybe not get to the playoffs, but to be competitive, competent, all that stuff that they haven’t been in the last 5 years, however long you want to go back. Yeah, it’s I mean, it’s a recognition that there’s a there was reputational damage and they’ve done a lot, I think, to start to repair that. And now really, it is up to the players to match that uh to match that desire of saying, “Hey, we want to actually turn the Hornets around.” And that’s what I love about like all the social media content around summer league. All these new guys that they brought in and they’re all supporting each other and the veterans on this team are supporting the rookies. We saw the veterans show up at the rookie signings. U hopefully they a lot of them will be here um in Vegas cheering on these these rookies and these sophomores and they’ve got to get competitive. That’s why I would love to see them just kind of sneak back door into, you know, an NBA Cup playoff game. Maybe they’re probably not going to win it, but like just sneak in there like Indiana did um you know two two NBA cups ago. Okay, here’s a sicko satchel question and it kind of goes along with uh the sophomore rookie conversation that we just had there because Schuman of the 22nd Mullins regiment asked this. What are realistic expectations for Hornets sophomore TJ TJ Tan Salon? If he shows some impressive growth, I think that would be a bigger X factor than anything else. for example, like Trey Mann’s return to form, Diiamate steady rise, some consistency from NSJ, um that that Ton Salon’s development would be even more impressive and be even more impactful for the Hornets than any of that. So, I bring up a tweet to answer that question from our buddy P Malone at Panthers_mafia. Great supporter of the show, we love him. Said the center rotation just being what it is to start the season does seem most likely or change like it it or just Excuse me. He says the center rotation just being what it is to start the season does seem most likely. But my biggest issue is most of the talk is at center when I think the four spot also feels very shallow. Well, Tan Salon is playing the four spot. I guess this is his point is that Grant Williams I I don’t know if he’s going to suit up at the beginning of the year. Perhaps he’s going to suit up in 2026. I don’t know how much longer his rehab’s going to take place, but he had you have Grant Williams, you have Tan Salon, and then you have Miles Bridges that’s like this three four hybrid depending on how you want to play with the lineup. So, those are your three guys, right? Ton, he is not competing in this log jam at a certain position like all of the other guards are. So, Ton seemingly Doug is going to have some opportunities, especially if Grant Williams is not healthy enough yet to play significant minutes. And Grant’s going to play minutes, man. like he’s going to matter to this team being a corner three guy, being physical, defending in the post, and just not giving up positioning. He’s going to play. So, Ton’s first couple of months, I would say, are going to be really, really important for him. What are the what what’s the goal for Ton this year? To put it simply, it’s just to improve. And I don’t even care how much you improve all that much. It’s really just to improve. to to put it with a little more detail. I think can you show signs of being a legitimate three and D guy that helps you in closing minutes? We need to see you hit threes at a higher clip and we need to see you understand defensive principles a little bit more. I think if you give me those simple task, okay, I don’t even care about the on ball stuff. I know people were getting excited about that on social media where they’re giving you the Tan Salon workout regimen. Muscle watch season for Tan, baby, it’s here. T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T He’s He’s got the muscles. People are taking notice, which is great. Which is great and that’s real. But to me, I don’t even care about the on ball creation because that stuff is still really hard. I need I need Tan to hit a higher clip of his threes and I need Ton to understand defensive principles more because Doug, I’ll send it to you with this. It the the stats are like they’re horrific. They’re really really bad. the the stats are re I I don’t want to lay it on too thick. Just know that he is towards the bottom bottom bottom of the NBA in a lot of the stuff that you might care about. And so that’s why I just say give me some improvement. That’s all I want. Yeah. But that’s a function of he shouldn’t have been playing at all. Like that’s the whole the whole thing is like he he puts those stats there because he was supposed to be in he should have been in Greensboro and not you know getting as many minutes as he did. I’m sure that that that experience was valuable. Uh but to to judge him based on that, I think is is is bad business because look, this was this was the pick all along. Like it was a raw prospect that they knew was going to take some time. And I don’t think that when they said, “Oh, it’s going to take some time for him to come along.” That they thought year two he’s going to be like ready to jam. I think this was like, “All right, three, four, you know, we’ll look at that.” you’re going to look at his rookie extension as not is he a complete player worth giving an extra contract to. It’s is he a little bit further along in his development where we can make the bet again. And so that’s what you’re looking for in summer league. Yeah, it’s, you know, I think team defense, is he getting more of a grasp of that? Does he have a little bit better idea of where to be? Uh because, you know, his intensity is is not a question. decision-m on the offensive end. One of my first sort of images that’s burned into my mind of Tan Salon is in summer league him getting the ball and getting into transition and just leaving all of his teammates behind and get and and like three uh summer league guys on the opposing team swarming him and just taking the basketball from him. It’s just like what are you doing? This is not No, you don’t do that. So, he learn he’s learned a lot of those lessons, but now he has to go out and and prove that he’s done that. And and you’re right, when he gets the ball in the corner, he’s got to knock it down. That’s that’s one of the biggest things for him. Absolutely. Is doing the simple things right and trying to eliminate some of the more complex things until he’s ready. Um I wonder about some pick and pop, pick and roll stuff, like can you use him as a screener effectively with LaMelo? Certainly in summer league because he’s going to be one of the bigger dudes out there. Yeah, and that’s just how it is summer league. a lot of those dudes are small and so I just wonder what you’re gonna do with Ton who like is 69 610 feels like he’s he’s flirting with 610. Um so like that I wonder just how much stuff you can do with him and that sort of role right now but yeah it even so it’s just I know we have this ball of clay with Ton. I just don’t know like how viscous is it? Like I what what are we what are we going to do with this ball of clay? How far can you stretch it out and and then do we have to give it time in order to be able to stretch it out a little bit more? So, it’s a you talk about weird. Maybe Tan Salon is the guy that you look to first and foremost and say, “I don’t know what to do with this.” There’s something It It reminds me of Malcolm in the Middle, [Music] the pool slide, and they want to do something so crazy destructive and so something fun with it, but they just don’t know. And they spend three days thinking about the perfect idea. Uh, and eventually time passes by and they got to go back to school because all they did was think about the perfect idea and didn’t settle for what was good enough. He feels to me like the Malcolm in the middle pool slide that they find in a junkyard. Yeah, but they’ve got time cuz I I disagree a little bit with with our friend uh Primal Malone that like I think their their four position is fine. You’ve got Miles Bridges uh minutes some efficiency issues obviously, but like is is going to be there’s a good player. Yeah. Yeah. He’s a good player going to do the right thing. I saw a reddraft of the 2018 draft and of course SGA is number one but Miles Bridges uh went to the Knicks at seven or eight like it was still Miles still graded out in that reddraft as a better pick than the than where the Hornets were eventually when they made the trade. So good player Grant Williams. Yeah, the health is whatever but he’s he’s going to be solid not just a backup four. He’s going to be a big part of what your bench does. And then I see Musa Debbate as a four. So, you know, I just see depth at that position. So, I think there’s plenty of time. So, wait, you that means you think we have two centers then? Well, I think the four and the the four and the five position are going to bleed into each other. You’re going to have Grant. You’re gonna have small ball Grant. Like, we we really haven’t talked about that a lot, but that’s a that’s you know, small ball Grant five is a weapon, right? No, it’s it’s just Yeah. If Musa is like more of a four, then it’s like oh my god, you know, Mason Plumbley, Ryan Caulkrunner, get in there. If you could pick one thing, if you could pick one thing from summer league that you take away and say Ton looks better at this, I’ll take that. What’s What’s the one thing? Well, man, I think I don’t want is shooting too simple. I I mean, I guess from summer league shots cannot go in. So, maybe not with summer league. I think in summer league, I would like to see him make good decisions and not be a negative out there. I think it’s just the decision- making on, oh, okay, he’s not making any he’s not doing anything stupid. That’s what I that’s what I want, I think, more so than any. That’s it. I mean, I think hitting shots is going to be a is going to be a byproduct of that because it’s the decision- making with the ball in his hands. When do I take this shot? When do I pass? When do I move? Because we saw him in that workout video that leaked like he’s working on ball fake, get to the get to the mid post, make a move, take a shot. would love to see more of that because he’s gonna have an advantage there with his size and with people I mean defenses are probably going to give him that shot and so if you know if he works a little bit on that on on getting to that spot and then when he’s open taking the three that’s yeah decision- making that’s what I want to see I want to see better decision making is it a high dive in Mal Malcolm in the middle or is it a slide I think it’s a high dive I think that’s right all right let’s look it up coming up next on the Lock Hornets podcast everywhere. Okay, we give you more letters from the front line and we talk about tonight’s summer league matchup. The first one, the first game in summer league for the Hornets against the Jazz. That’s still to come last segment. LO, [Music] it’s a diving board. Ah, I love that example. I loved it. And it’s a high dive. Anyways, everything I just said, replace slide with diving board. And that’s what it was. That makes a lot more sense in my head. Anyways, Tan Salon, he is the high dive that you find in the junkyard and you know you can do something special with it. You just don’t know what yet. Okay, let’s move on. What you got for the people here, Doug? Do we want to go with the letter from the front line? Do we want to go with some summer league analysis? Where do you want to go? We should do a quick Dell and Eric update because on yesterday’s show we got the breaking news that Dell Curry uh would be joining Amazon Prime’s national broadcast and that you know we I think we were responsible with it. We just didn’t know what it meant at the time. Uh and we didn’t know if that meant Dell Curry was completely leaving the broadcast. What about Eric? What was the deal? And so since then, we’ve gotten a lot of reporting from a lot of different sources that uh Dell Curry remaining with the Hornets will miss some games, but is going to do as many games as possible. And then on top of that, after we aired that episode, Eric Collins was announced as also joining the Amazon Prime broadcast. Now, I wonder if they’re going to pair Derek and Derek, that would be the the nickname. Dell and Eric together or if they’re going to do go their own separate ways and then converge back on the Charlotte Hornets broadcast. But both of them, same situation. They’re both going to still remain with the Hornets broadcast, do as many games as possible, whatever that means, and then occasionally there will be substitute teachers uh when they have to do a national game. Oh, buddy. Hornets community was down bad. And I get it. We were scared to death. I just I I wonder because I I think people still don’t understand that you can do you can broadcast on a couple of different platforms. Mike Brain does this. He does Knicks games and yet he does national games for ESPN. I Eagle does this with the Brooklyn Nets and also does it for CBS affiliates. Like you can do this. And so we were asking the question, we don’t know what this necessarily means for Dell and Eric, but I saw a lot of other Hornets accounts saying, “Oh man, this likely means that he’s not going to be able to do Hornets games anymore.” I just want to point that out. I see it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s okay, guys. No, it’s like I I know a lot of people were jumping off of the high dive from Malcolm in the Middle there. They were jumping off of that high dive on the concrete. But the thing is, hey, hey, don’t don’t jump. Don’t jump. It does not mean that they are not going to be doing Hornets games anymore. People do this all the time. All All the good ones, the good broadcasters, they broadcast all over the place. And so, I get why people were scared, but they’re going to be doing at least this season. It doesn’t it the the the point is it didn’t outright mean that they’re not going to be doing Hornets games this year. So Bone had it first. T-Bone from my station WFNZ he tweeted it out. Source says Dell Curry’s still going to be doing Hornets games. And then uh Wes who worked on the broadcast he knows like he Yeah. Eric Collins those guys are also going to be working Hornets games. But all these different reports you said like it they’re going to be doing games this year. How many might they miss? Now, that might be a question. Do they miss five? Do they miss 10? I don’t know. It It would make sense that they might miss some, but they’re still going to be your normal broadcast group. My question is, what is my try out with the grandma suit? Yeah, I want to. Well, what whatever whatever costume they need me to wear, I’ll wear it. Um, I’ll do whatever it takes. Uh, my my other thing though is that with Dell, because he is Mr. Hornet, I’m confident that he’ll be around for a while. with Eric Collins less so because the Breen example is kind of a good example but it’s kind of not because Mike Breen does Knicks broadcasts. I I’m I think like if that were the Sacramento Kings and it was Breen. I don’t know. You know, I think it’s like it’s a funny it’s a prestige thing to do a Knicks broadcast and to do a national broadcast with Eric Collins. You know, I’m just saying like if if he got the opportunity to do Amazon Prime like full-time and they said, “Look, you got to not do the Hornets anymore and here’s a bucket of cash.” You know, I think he’s like, “All right, that’s fine. See you.” It’s been a great ride. Look, look, you bring up the Kings. Mark Jones is on ESPN and does the Sacramento Kings. Like, it’s so Well, that’s a terrible example. No, it’s okay. It’s just I I think I I I hear you. But look, the broad if you want to put on a good broadcast, then a lot of times you just go get the already made good broadcaster. That’s how these operations that’s how they work. And if you’re Amazon, I this you do not with you. You’re trying to launch a legitimate broadcast network. You’re trying to take this NBA thing seriously and you want people to understand that you’re taking it seriously. So you want to go after the already best made talent and that’s what they’ve been going after. They that Stampan Gundy Cassidy Hubirth like they’re just stealing all of these names that you you’re already familiar with. And it’s the same thing with the Hornets broadcast, which is nationally known because of how fun they are with their local audience. So, I just may maybe it does change next year. Maybe it changes three years from now for sure. Like I could absolutely see that happening. I’m just telling you it doesn’t mean that it is going to change that. It is not a foregone conclusion. All right, let’s rumage through the letters from the front line. Sicko satchel hybrid. Doug, what you got? Yes, something new that we’ve started here as a part of the Siko Satchel. You can drop in your letter from the front line because you are a sicko. You’re in the sicko brigade. Uh you are dealing with uh national media when they talk about the Hornets, unless it’s Zack Low. They’re talking about them in a disparaging way. Uh you’ve been witnessing a lot of losing. Looks like they’re turning things around. But you can send your letter from the front line to the seco brigade to us. Jointex.comlockdown hornets. You can send it to me on Substack on everyhornetsboxcard.com. By the way, I’m going to do start to do game notes for all the summer league games and as tradition holds, I will make those free to everyone, the full the full game notes. So, check that out on every Hornets box score. All right, here we go. Letter from the front line. This is from Casual Hindu of the first Lance Stevenson division. Every year I do a summer camping trip with some college friends. We’re all in a keeper fantasy basketball league and pretty much all basketball sickos. I’m the Hornets fan and the rest are diehard Hawks and Sixers fans. Gross, I know. On one of our trips, we were doing 12 plus hour drives and the rule is the driver picks the audio. I put on some LOH pods and one of them had a Stangan and Clangan segment. They loved it. It’s now part of our group vernacular, even outside of hoops. We’ll just randomly drop Stangan or clanging in totally unrelated situations. Safe to say, y’all are legendary in our crew. We got to bring it back. back. I haven’t done a stanging or clanging. That’s it. Summer League Monday. I think we’ll have multiple summer league games to cover. I’m doing staying or clanging. Casual Hindu has been a longtime supporter. We love him to death. Thank you very much. That that’s that’s the kind of stuff that’s awesome. But also, we literally had this conversation. I kid you not, me and Doug had this conversation off mic where we said Stagan and Clangan, we have all these ideas that are so disorganized and we play with them a little bit and then we don’t finish these ideas and everything is disorganized. Staying in her clanging, that was a staple. We did it. People liked it and then for some reason that was the segment that we abandoned. No, we we do need to bring it back because that was one that was a success. Just 100% success and then we just left it out to dry. Yeah, we we absolutely need to bring that back. Yeah. No, things get in the way sometimes, but I will I I did know, it’s so good. It’s such a good idea and and then the fact that they that that it hung there with, you know, Casual Hindu’s crew is a is a testament to that. So, yes, Monday guarantee. By the way, this is a new version of the show because I kept my promise on mockdraft a day. Did I not? Did I keep the promise or not? Yeah. Yeah. For the most part, yes. I may have lost count a time or two, but like the spirit of it, I think only one or two times did I even have to make up a mock draft. I did not fall way behind like I did in previous years. So I’m not here to hate on. No, for man, we had what 80 mock draft, 90, 130. We had so many mock drafts. Yes, absolutely. You stuck with it. All right. So I promise to listeners staying or clanging Monday on the summer league games. I mean, yeah, that that’s easy. That’s that’s cake. That’s a summer cake segment. Who was staying in this summer league game? Who was clanging? This is what it was made for. Silly season. Stanging or clanging. I’m excited. I’m going to tune into that episode. Doug Branson, every hornets boxcore.com. You’re not going to talk. I’ll tell you that much. It’s going to be all me, baby. All right. Same thing with Matt Morren Hayes, by the way. Doug is going to hog the mic with those guys when he hosts locked on NBA. Make that your second listen every single weekday. I’m Walker Mail. Listen to me on WFNZ every weekday as well from 12 to 3:00 p.m. 927 FM. Have a great rest of your day. We’ll be back with you on Monday. [Music]

Zach Lowe spotlighted the Hornets’ roster oddities, and the guys weigh in on whether the strangeness is chaos or strategy. Plus, Tidjane Salaun’s development path could be a major swing factor for the Hornets heading into Summer League and beyond.

On today’s episode of Locked On Hornets, we unpack Lowe’s comments about the Hornets’ guard-heavy, center-light construction and explore whether Jeff Peterson’s rebuild is quietly genius or just noisy chaos.

The conversation then shifts to sophomore forward Tidjane Salaun, who may have the clearest path to early minutes of any Hornets youngster. With Grant Williams recovering and depth at the four spot in question, Salaun has a golden opportunity. But it’s not about on-ball creation—it’s about decision-making, shooting consistency, and grasping team defensive concepts. Can he grow into the 3-and-D role this team desperately needs?

We also address the recent buzz surrounding Dell Curry and Eric Collins joining Amazon Prime’s NBA coverage. Hornets fans feared the worst—but breathe easy, the iconic duo will still be calling Charlotte games (though they may miss a few).

From roster experiments to Summer League storylines to broadcast surprises, this episode covers everything Hornets fans need to know heading into the weekend.

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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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