The Charlotte Hornets finally showcased their core starting lineup featuring LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Mark Williams, and Miles Bridges, but like all great things in this life it wasn’t meant to last. Brandon Miller suffered an ankle injury late in the game, further fueling questions about the Hornets’ injury luck. In this episode, we break down the highs and lows of their loss to the 76ers, including LaMelo’s impressive pick-and-roll possessions and Miles Bridges’ strong offensive night. With Mark Williams slowly returning to form and minutes restrictions still in place, the Hornets looked like a team struggling for chemistry and consistency. We also discuss the sobering reality of Charlotte’s season: It’s time to recalibrate expectations and focus on evaluating talent for the future? Tune in for observations on the Hornets’ rotation challenges, thoughts on Brandon Miller’s recovery timeline, and why their depth remains a critical issue.
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Full recap of the Hornet 76ers game last Night we get three and A2 quarters of The core the starters out there on the Floor then Braden Miller gets injured We'll talk about all that today un lock On Hornets you are locked on Hornets your Daily Charlotte Hornets podcast part of The locked on podcast Network your team Every day in the minute cuz we live [Music] It's lock on Hornet it's part of the Locked on podcast Network it's your team Every day thanks for making us your First listen we're free we're available Anywhere you get your podcast and that Does include YouTube this episode is Brought to you by the college football Playoffs we're big time now the college Football playoff it's here and you don't Want to miss a moment of the action the College football playoff presented by All state begins with four first round Games December 20th and December 21st on ESPN ABC TNT and Max your favorite Podcast also has a newsletter Introducing the lock on Hornets daily Newsletter on stop for Ultimate Team in League coverage delivered right to your Inbox sign up for free right now at Locked on.com that's locked on.com start Your day with the all new free lockdown Hornets newsletter the guy writing it There he is that's Doug Branson you can
Find him on his substack every Hornets Boox score.com you can also text him the Subtext information is on his substack He also hosts locked on NBA I'm Walker Mayo listen to me WFNZ every weekday From 12:00 to 3 p.m. on sports radio 927 FM I'm glad we're sponsored by the College football playoff because we are Not going to be in the NBA Playoffs Doug And there is another loss that that that Happened for the Hornets last night They've been losing quite a bit outside Of that win against the Pacers a couple Games ago you thought maybe they would Have a pretty good shot against Philly Last night no Joel embiid you also uh You do have Paul George you do have Tyrese Maxi but you did not have Joel Embiid and you didn't have Jared McCain Who has been a rookie that's just been Tearing it up we know firsthand from a Previous meeting with this squad But Ultimately Philadelphia really the last Six minutes of this game they really Pull away and put this one away Philly Wins 121 to 108 Doug the story coming Into the game was they looked a lot Closer to the fully healthy version that We were hoping for at the beginning of The Season than they've ever looked Mark Williams lamelo ball miles Bridges Brandon Miller all out on the court at The same time and Josh Green so you had Your starting five we still want Trey
Man he is still hurt we get some pretty Decent news from Trey man we can get to Later he did not play in this game but It's as close to as full healthy as the Hornets have been in like 3 years and Then in the you know later in the game Brandon Miller would uh suffer an injury And he'd go out I I want to focus on the The the return though of those guys Because I think there's something Interesting here looking at the Chemistry they just haven't spent a lot Of time on the court together but they Clearly all like each other I think That's a close-knit group what you think About the starters being out there um How they played with one another missing All that time what were your thoughts There Doug so yeah it's the healthiest They've been on paper but they are paper Healthy right now they are not healthy As a team in terms of their ability to Execute whatever game plan they wanted To execute at the beginning of this Season they had with when everyone was Healthy before the Mark Williams injury Preseason they had this idea of like all Right we're going to we're going to get To X Y and Z and you know through the First 10 games we'll figure that out Well all of that sort of fell to the Ground with all of these injuries and Now I think what you saw last night like There's a micro story last night which
Is like Paul George and Tyrese Maxi they Just put on a show without embiid and I Sort of I sort of predicted that this Was going to happen on the preview that I did yesterday I just felt like Paul George has been in a little bit of a Slump they've been trying to get the Whole big three he's taking a little bit Of a backseat to Maxi and in beid and so I just felt like Paul George was going To come out flames and he did and the Hornets defense I don't feel like in the First half really responded to that I Just felt like there were plenty of Opportunities for George and Maxi early Offense similar to what we saw in Chicago and the Hornets defense just Isn't there right now and that's not Good because I don't think the offense Is capable of scoring 120 points and so If you're going to give up 120 points You are going to lose virtually every Basketball game you play so that's That's the micro story but the macro Story Walker think what we saw last Night resembled to me at least on the Hornet side like a preseason game like Everybody's kind of trying to figure it Out the rotations are really messy Mark Williams plays for three quarters Doesn't play the fourth quarter still a Minute's restriction on him I'm not sure If there's a minute's restriction on Nick Richards or if uh Charles Lee has
Just lost a little bit of trust in him That's certainly the case for vasam meic Whose minutes uh wax and Wayne and so Like there's just there's no continuity There's no rhythm there's no rhyme You're getting some excitement you're Getting backto back you know uh alley Oops between lamelo ball and Miles Bridges but that's just that's muscle Memory that's institutional memory Between those two and you've got a Little bit of that with Mark Williams And the alley oops and and him just Being tall available guy but it's a mess Out there right now so I'm glad you Brought up Mark Williams because I think You're right it it is difficult for I Think especially lamelo and Brandon Playing alongside miles your top three Scoring options Mark in there pick and Roll with lamelo he runs a ton of those Possessions compared to everybody else In the NBA where does miles fit in all Of it and I actually thought miles had a Pretty nice game I I I thought he Finished at the rack there were some Really strong moves for Miles so you Know he was probably I mean maybe even The player of the game for the Hornets If you look at what he did really like 24 points uh didn't shoot the three ball Well but I I like the downhill game that Miles brought last night I thought that Was really useful for a team that
Certainly is offensively challenged but I think you're right with the chemistry The Mark Williams stuff though I think That excites me because with with lamelo Running more pick and roll possessions Per game than any other ball handler in The NBA he's almost at 12 pick and roll Possessions per game which is s above Kade Cunningham like that's a decent Percentage it's a decent amount above The next guy up there you you bring Mark To the equation and you saw that quite a Bit markk just hanging out at the top of The key um you know vasam meic and Nick Richards run this all the time meic Loves that game but like Lelo and Mark You saw some fines what was it the third Bucket of the game or maybe it was the Second because the Hornets went on that 80 run after Philly went on the 70 run So you find Mark and there's the lob on Like this kind of dribble handoff it was Almost broken because Mark kind of Jumbled the ball to lamelo but finds Lamelo for or finds Mark for the lob I Think lamelo d driving downhill too like There's times where the defense pays More attention to lamelo and then he Finds Mark for the easy dunk I think you Saw the ease of the game on some of These possessions come back with Mark Williams being out there offensively but But to your point man the the healthy on Paper point that you make Mark still
Looks slow Mark still doesn't look like He's Full Speed Ahead with what we're Used to seeing I think the weight is Going to be interesting to watch with Mark like how much of this it some of it Has to be conditioning some of it has to Be that he hasn't been out there on the Floor and he's still on a minute's Restriction for a reason like he just Hasn't played a lot of basketball in so Long I do Wonder because he put on Weight so he could bang down low how Much does that hurt his versatility at The top which I'm going to be pissed I'm Going to be pissed if that takes away Some of his Mobility I get you got to Bang down low but I love the versatility Of a 771 guy all that to say I thought You did see some good stuff between Melo And Mark last night So you have to feel for markk though Because he I think he did put on weight Expecting that he was going to round out In the game shape very early in the Season and then all of that would kind Of fall into place it's kind of like me Like right now I'm putting on a ton of Weight you know eating a lot of cookies And a lot of treats for but I'm Expecting New Year's resolutions to come Around I'll take care of it all but That's not a guarantee I could you know Trip and fall down the stairs I could Bust an ankle and then all of a sudden
Uh oh you know all my well-laid plans All my well-made plans are out the Window so you know basically what I'm Saying is Mark Williams and I are Basically the same in terms of of terms Of athlete are you seeing that too Doug Are so are you seeing kind of the same Stuff that I'm seeing with him yes yeah I mean he's he's a little slow on the Uptake uh VA Vasa Del Curry said last Night that it was good that lamelo well One of the Silver Linings of lamelo Being out is it allowed Vasa to get into Shape and I was like what shape I heard There a lot of shapes d squares Triangles very round circles there are a Lot of shapes now what shape is he in Because he's still he can't stay in Front of anyone like defensively he's Not in shape he's he's knocking down a Few more of his shots and turning the Ball over a little bit less than he did At the beginning of the season but he Just absolutely cannot stay in front of Anyone yeah there's still some bad ones But that's what I'm saying like the Hornets right now they look like a team That needs another couple of weeks and So this game to me is Devastating just apart from the brand Miller injury it's devastating if you Thought this team was going to sort of Pull something together and and make a Little bit of a surprise postseason run
You know I think what you have to this Game to me says hey we need to reformat Our idea of what the goals are for this Season probably closer align them with What the franchise felt like all along Which is that this was an evaluation Season this was a try to get everyone Healthy at some point and see what Worked and what doesn't And unfortunately because of the Brandon Miller injury you know they might they Not they might not be close to that yeah We got a lot to talk about let's do it Coming up next on the lock on Hornets Podcast be everywhere you know I think Of the Hornets as really an algebraic Equation what you do on one side you Have to do to the other everything has To balance so if you get guys back Somebody does have to be sacrificed last Night Brandon Miller was sacrificed at The Helm of the NBA Gods the Hornets Gods I don't know what happened I don't Know what the Hornets did in a past Lifetime to have all this bad Juju but It took place again Brandon Miller goes Out with an ankle injury we'll get to That plus plenty more stuff on lockon Hornets I was told there would be no [Music] Math this episode is brought to you by FanDuel you can get ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel America's number One sports book because right now new
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Near the Hornets bench yep and then Middle of the fourth quarter is when he Got he was driving to the rim he got Some contact from Paul George stepped on Yabas Celli's foot and then that was That was the bad one that was the bad One yep so Brandon would limp off of the Court he was walking on his own power to The locker room from what I saw in the Broadcast pointed that out but Hornet's PR they would tweet out pretty quickly Brandon Miller left in the fourth Quarter of tonight's game versus Philly With a left ankle sprain he will not Return now after the game I was watching Post game with Shannon spake and uh and Terence Oglesby and Terrence was saying This is not going to be a serious injury He'll be back soon from this I don't Know if that's like a quick hey this This isn't bad if there's like some Behind the scenes workings going around With that or if Terence is just taking The Liberty to say what he saw I don't Know he's a sicko he's just trying to Keep the hope alive um what I will say Is an ankle spraining isn't good I I I Would love it if Brandon wasn't out too Long but he is going to be out you would Think at least a little bit of time your Thoughts on Brandon Miller's injury what It means what you saw last night just All of it I'm an ankle sprain expert now I mean if if there was just a doctor of
Ankle sprains I think they could go Ahead and give my honorary degree Because I've experienced so you know Covering so many of them with this Hornets team and yet still the the the Biggest thing that I've learned is that You just never know with these ankle Sprains are they mild where is it is it High is it low and and all of these Different variables are going to impact Uh the ability for that player to get Back out on the floor and then also that Different guys recover differently I Mean we've seen Brandon Miller bounce Back very quickly from injuries that I Think have kept guys out for a couple of Weeks miles Bridges came back way Earlier than his projections so I just Think there's a you never know factor I Certainly hope the fact that he did walk Off on his own power um that that does Factor into it and that he's only out a Couple of games because again it's it's Less it's less about like oh the Hornets Desperately need him in order to get to Some kind of vision that means the Postseason it's really all about we just Want to see what a Brandon Miller lamelo Ball combo does and I will say that I Think one of the things that I've Learned from this season is that lamelo And Brandon sort of need each other in a lot Of ways um to to execute well because
Defenses aren't really afraid of Miles Bridges Cody Martin Josh green and so When they attack one it allows the other To do some good things uh and I think Their their games actually pair well Really well together and so like with Lamelo being out these six games I think Brandon suffered and and I don't know if The same thing is going to happen to Lamelo but I wouldn't be surprised if Brandon Miller misses six games if Things become much more difficult for Lamelo uh to get to the rim effectively To kick out to I mean I think he's Always going to have his deep three Available to him but if he's forced to Go to that over and over again I don't Know that that's like super healthy for The Hornets offense well I mean of Course gravity right just anybody that Can shoot out there on the floor it's Going to help with lamelo it's going to Help with brand Especially with Brandon not being Someone you trust a ton having the Basketball um and dribbling in the paint Cuz sometimes he loses it lamelo he he Can get to the rim with some craftiness He's not explosive excuse me I'll I'll Pay the fine later but we see lamelo by The way I did find the FN bucket it's Right here okay the FL bucket hat the Fim bucket hat put put an IOU for you in There did you have a fine yesterday
Going solo and did you call yourself out For it or were you were you pretty clean The the whole show During an ad read uh but hopefully no One was I mean hopefully everyone was Listening not to say hey what are you Doing don't mess with the money we need More bucket hats we need to buy more Bucket hats baby so the gravity for These shooters that's what matters um Yeah you you need I think you realize The importance Doug of like it's one Thing to say okay at least you can have Some chemistry developed between lamelo And Mark and miles is out there so at Least you have three of the four Of your offensive options that matters But it really does matter having Everyone out there because everyone Affects one another right it it does When Brandon Miller isn't out there I Don't know if I do view it as well at Least three other players are currently Healthy enough to play you do need all Four that that's the product that's what You want to see you want to see Brandon Lamelo playoff one another you want to See lamelo run the pick and roll with Mark you want to see miles cutting you Want to see miles like catch the ball With uh you know on the move and get to The rack I I would like to see some like Fun experimental miles Bridges setting The screen for lamelo and seeing what
Kind of role you have with him just Being a beast and getting down low like Some pick and pop between Brandon and Lamelo like I would love to see all These variations um you know maybe Lamelo off ball like we saw that what Was it Isaiah Wong was dribbling the Ball up a couple times down the floor Like I And Charles Lee goes with 11 different Guys in the first quarter because he's Trying to find some just just a weird Season man again I Think yeah I don't know that he was Really trying to find something more Than you're dealing with lamelo ball Minutes restriction uh Mark Williams Minutes restriction you know miles don't Want to push him too hard off the off The bone bruise knee injury so he only Gets 28 minutes in this game and so yeah And then and you're Not super confident in any like this Game really fell apart in the third Quarter when there was no lamelo ball on The floor Brandon Miller was the the Featured player with some bench guys That none of which you really trusted That much to take a shot and so that's That's when things got hot and heavy for The for the 76ers and Maxi started to Really attack so yeah I mean there there Are there are really no if Brandon Miller's out for a significant amount of
Time like there aren't there aren't many Answers and I don't I don't really know What to say Hornets fans at this point In terms of you know what's what's the Deal with the luck or whatever it's just Yeah it's a soul for a soul and you know I think hopefully this teaches this new Ownership group that you need depth at Every position that's a lesson by the Way that's not exclusive to the Hornets NBA teams across the Spectrum are Learning that that you're only as good As like your 10th or 11th guy if your 10th or 11th guy is not a solid role Player who you trust to shoot the Basketball in any kind of situation then You're not really a playoff team then You're not really a playoff you're Certainly not a playoff Contender you Might not even be a playoff team so you Know invest invest in every part of this Roster and quickly evaluate who you know In terms of the role players that you Have now quickly evaluate who you can Trust and who you can't um you want to Move on answer some sio Satchel Questions give rapid fire observations On the other side the ones we can I mean There I think a few of them are on are Are on the Hornet is getting 100% Healthy so I don't know We can of course answer those but we'll Answer the ones that we can yeah all Right that that's the teas coming up
Next on the lockon Hornets Podcast everywhere have some more stats For you I have an interesting uh pick And roll stat as well plus we'll get Questions all right let's do it Interesting stats [Music] Next this episode is brought to you by Robin Hood with Robin Hood gold you Don't need a silver spoon to eat up the Financial favors of of the 1% Robin Hood Gold allows others to get the rates and Perks usually reserved for The High Society now the resourceful individual With Robin Hood gold can earn the very Liberal rate of 4.25% apy on uninvested Cash and be rewarded with a handsome 3% Retirement boost on IRA account Contributions Robin Hood gold provides The Privileges of a high net worth for Any net worth and these generous Benefits are now available for only $5 a Month the new gold standard is here with Robin Hood gold sign up at Robin Hood /g Gold terms apply for product specific Disclosures visit robinhood.com gold Investing involves risk rate may change Gold membership is offered by Robin Hood Gold LLC plus this episode is brought to you By rocket money did rocket money help You find any subscriptions you forgot About or that you were paying for twice Well I could definitely use rocket money
Because I I've got some subscriptions That I didn't even realize when I was Searching the other day I was like wait I'm still paying for that goodness Gracious I had a few subscriptions I Didn't even know that I was still paying For Rocket money would be great to use It would make it so easy to track all of Them down it's like having a personal Assistant for your finances rocket money Is a personal finance app that helps Find and cancel your unwanted Subscriptions monitors your spending and Helps you lower your bills so you can Grow your savings it brings everything Together in one place whether it's Subscriptions your spending habits or Even the goals you want to hit this year Rocket money has over 5 million users And it saved a total of $500 million in Canceled subscriptions saving members up To $740 a year when using all of the App's premium features so you can cancel Your unwanted subscriptions reach your Financial goals faster with rocket money Go to Rocket money.com lockon today That's rocket money.com lockon Rocket.com lockon stats lockon Hornets [Music] Next all all right I'm going to go first Uh let's do pick and roll stuff because I think that that's what I wanted to see Just like with the different types of Players that were coming back uh with
Lamelo being the big guy right the fact That he was healthy enough to play in This game and he is such a uh uh Frequent pick and ball uh pick and roll Goodness uh ball handler you see him Doing it at more possessions per game Than anybody would you fair to venture a Guess on the highest frequency as a pick And roll ball handler in the entire NBA Who that player might Be it's not Steph Curry they're not Running any pick and roll in Golden State um I will say it's a hornet There's a there's a there's a hint for You it's it's a Charlotte Hornet and Uh three two I mean one Seth Curry Vasich vasich no vosam which yeah Because like he's not a threat to to Punish anyone on the dribble by himself Oh no he well this is the thing right And and I tweeted this out I tweeted This out Vasa mea to Nick Richards like If if you're going to play Vasa you you Got to play Nick and sometimes vice Versa Nick can play more with lamelo and We saw that last night but even Nick Richard said it after a game where like You got to figure out the different Styles of different uh players with Lamelo it might be a little different Than Vasa but vasam meic is running uh He is uh excuse me uh yeah running pick And roll possession at over 54% of the Time that that he's the ball handler so
I mean it's crazy right like that it's That leads the league that leads Everybody in the association but it Makes sense because he kind of needs That but also that's his game that we Saw with Nicole AIC in the Olympics and I actually thought meic was pretty good Once he found himself in the paint and He's a pretty good paint toucher so when You got in the paint you were finding Nick Richards a couple of different Times there was like three or four Assists between meich and Richards and Then Eric Collins got excited on one of The dimes he said oh man I love meic Playing with The Bigs like yes I do too Like that's that's the kind of stuff That you can exploit when he's in the Game you would like for him to score More than zero points but even still Just kind of interesting with this Charles Lee system like that's how meic Wants to play you you run that over and Over again and with lamelo like having Mark out there who knows I just think it It'll be interesting to see once Everybody's healthy you start to pin Down meic minutes like how much is he Gonna play with lamelo back with Trey Man hopefully on the menend like who Knows I just it'll be interesting to Watch as we uh move On look if the Hornets are playing a lot And pick and rooll they're in trouble
Because as a halfcourt offensive team They're not very good you know why Because they don't have enough Shooters They don't have enough passers they Don't have enough players that can Punish you in ISO opportunities which Doesn't have to do with pick and roll But it's just if they're in the half Court a lot for a game they're not going To score a lot of points I mean this Team really has to get out and run and Get early opportunities and let lamelo Play jazz out there and Transition and the the one I think the Most effective if it's going for him the Most effective pick and roll play or Handoff play is to Brandon Miller quick Three I mean that's been one of their I Think weapons that they've had in the Half court other than the you know yeah Vasa Nick relationship there but this Team right now does not have the Personnel such that you would be like oh Cool they're running more pick and roll That's great it's not great oh lamelo Like I know there was some Decision-making stuff with him that he Was questioned like lamelo I'm fine with I think there's some fun stuff you can Do there like Vasa is probably more out Of necessity in fact it's definitely More out of necessity so you're you're Not wrong about that at all it's just an Interesting thing like okay so lamelo
Leads in pick and roll possessions per Game vasam meic has the highest Frequency among like it's just we're Screening baby we're if if one of those Guys has the ball we're screening and We're seeing what can happen with one of Them well lamelo has two problems in the Pick and roll one if he's the ball Handler he's not finishing well at the Rim and the second problem is if he's a Passer the guy he's passing to is Cody Martin or Josh Green who are who are Super streaky Shooters so that's you Know I mean these are F what I'm saying Is these are like fundamental issues That the Hornet half even if they were Fully healthy we would we were talking At the beginning of the Season about Like they don't have enough shooting on This team to really like Vegas is Probably right about the over under win Totals because this team doesn't have Enough shooting all right here's I you Ready for my stat yep let's do it so Since winning back-to-back games against Detroit and Indiana and this happened in Early November November 6th and 8th I Believe they beat Detroit then they beat Indiana their only winning streak of the Season two- game winning streak since Then the Hornets have gone three and 14 With two of those victories coming Against Detroit yeah and Indiana of course of course with Detroit
The other one coming against Milwaukee Well look I mean Doug I we talked about This last week how this next 10 game Stretch that they had it was going to go A long way in terms of how you define This season and Philadelphia we kind of Baked in that they might be experiencing Some injuries right this was before McCain goes down this is before we knew For sure that Joel embiid was going to Miss one of these games and sure enough We were right to just guess and throw Out there maybe Philly is injured so you Have two key guys not your three you Know not not two of your your uh core Three but Jared McCain has been Excellent this year so this was a real Opportunity especially with Tyrese Maxi Coming in cold and Paul George being out Of the loop you kind of mentioned him Playing second fiddle to Tyrese but it's Not because Maxi was shooting all that Well they went crazy last night they Were just playing well yeah Paul pa George hit tough shots Tyrese Maxi uh They both got to their spots and Maxi Was running around like a you know guy With his hair on fire like he usually Plays and so 40 and 30 between those two That's going to be tough to stop I you Know I'd like to force the ball out of Their hand and try to make somebody else Beat you but you know they were they Were hellbent on it being those two
Getting to their spots and they hit Tough shots so little bit of the tip of The cap but then you had some real bad Sloppy sloppy basketball from the Hornets like it would it looked real bad Here Doug in the last six minutes of This game where they were turning it Over they just were disorganized all Throughout it looked like yeah and you Were praising miles Bridges and and I Concurred that he had an overall good Game but and he was critical of himself For the fourth quarter performance where He turned the ball over trying to get it To mate I mean they had the lead the Deficit down to four points and yeah I Mean uh you had Everybody everybody got a case of The Yips at the end of that game like you Had Isaiah Wong all of a sudden afraid To shoot it and that led to a turnover And then he was Bob kooing it like he Was D he get he gets to the paint and Then he dribbles around then he goes Right back outside like it was it was Reminded me of Bob Koozie in the finals Dribbling out the basketball it was it Was bizar and then heit he would go on After that to hit a three so like the Guy can shoot and the guy's like full I I wonder if yeah these guys that are Just hot Shooters in the g-league and They've got a full green light and then They come to they come to the NBA and
They're uh to a new team I mean he Wasn't even in the Hornet system so he Didn't play with any of these guys in The preseason and you're like new kid on The Block and it's like I don't want to Like make too many waves or whatever and There's a little bit of like hiccup when You get to those crunchtime situations And you know there's probably maybe a Little bit of a natural inclination to Want to defer to someone else when it Was like no you're open just shoot it And hopefully his teammates are telling Him the same thing like Isaiah if you're Open shoot it if you're not pass it and Then Cody Martin second guess to pass And that resulted in another turnover And all the while Lam Melo ball was not On the floor because again minutes Restriction uh want to answer one Satchel question before we get out sure Let's do it uh so let's let's do this One because I did promise to answer as Many of these as reasonable and so this Is a little dated because of what Happened to Brandon Miller but I want to Answer it anyway and this comes let's See if I've got a name on this I don't So 574 asks hypothetical the Hornets get 100% healthy this week and maintain Pretty much 100% Health until the of the Season again this was asked before Theill injury is it blow up massive Retool time if they still miss the play
In if they do what adding one good Really good rookie in the draft really Make the team perennial playoff Contenders is quote sustained success Unquote even feasible for a smaller Market in today's NBA yeah so I guess This is how that plays out and try to be Quick with this you're 100% healthy you Roll the rest of the way where let's Just call 100% Health having your core Four out there right where you have Lamelo Brandon Mark Williams Miles Bridges if you have your core four let's Say Brandon Miller comes back next week To just alter the question a little bit And you have them the rest of the way That means you'll have a pretty decent Sample size no we shouldn't be looking We we shouldn't measure this based on How if they make the playoffs or not Because they've dug themselves in a Pretty nice hole already with all the Injuries so I'm not going to measure This based on if they make the playoffs We do have to measure how it looks and More so like wins and losses and then we Can even use the splits like when all These guys were healthy and conditioned Well enough now we can measure it and if It doesn't look all that great then you Have some real de decisions to make but If it looks promising in the second half Like Doug we see these teams make Decisions based off of what they did the
Last 40 games of Seasons all the time And I don't know if that's necessarily a Good or bad thing but we do see teams Make decisions based off of that and if They look good in the second half then Yeah man I think there probably is some Some momentum that you can carry in now That you're adding another high-profile Rookie it's going to be a high draft Pick so I blow it up seems dramatic I Know we've done this quite a long time Now but the caveat to the question is They would be healthy in this scenario I Just think man we're going to get to 2024 or 2025 Doug before we even have Any hopes of these guys being healthy Enough to have your core four out there For a a meaningful amount of time so Yeah I I don't think we measure this Based off of playin or playoff Appearance I think we measure this based On how it looks in the last 40 games of The season I think that's going to tell Us a lot I I wouldn't even categorize it If they missed the play and I wouldn't Even categorize it as a blowup or a Massive retool because I don't see this Organization as totally committed to Anyone outside of lamelo ball and Brandon Miller yeah and to me mass like Blow it up Mass of retool to me Signifies like we bought in on an idea And now we're going to get rid of it I Don't I don't think they're bought into
Anything I think this is total like top Down except for Brandon Miller and Lamelo ball let's take a look at this Situation so that means evaluating like Can miles can miles Bridges Elevate his Game anymore or is what we're seeing now Essentially what you get what is that Worth on on the market if you wanted to Make a move and go a different way Because you're not really making any Kind of retool I think with him on the Roster just like Financial realities Being what they are and then yeah you Know what's Grant Williams recovery look Like uh how can you move Cody Martin I Mean there's going to be so many Questions and then because I look They're gonna bet on lamelo balls future They're going to bet on Brandon Miller Future but anything outside of that if They get the number one overall pick and Cooper flag is the real deal and it's I Mean you can speak to this more than I Can you're watching ACC basketball a Little bit more than me but if he if if He's the real deal then you make that Pick but anything outside of that I Think it's fair game to start to say all Right what can they do can they you know Get two super good role players out of The assets that they have or get one Allstar level player out of that then Those are the kind of questions I think The franchise has to ask if they want to
Accelerate getting to the playoffs as Quickly as possible they're going to be A fun team for National media to point To if they finish out the last half of The Season strong and say they're one Step away from finally getting to the Playoffs so what do you do with your First round pick they're going to be a Popular team talking about it in terms Of trading the pick uh Zion Williamson You you know Zion who's been linked to The Hornets he's going to been he's Going to be talked about for Charlotte a Lot more um the other good thing about This draft real quickly is it's real Deep man it's not just Cooper it it this Is one that is considered a very deep Class so top five top seven pick you're Going to have a useful one and and to The final question is sustained success Even feasible for smaller Market in Today's NBA I mean yes like absolutely These past few years whether you look at Milwaukee Denver uh you could throw I Mean depending on what's your definition Of success I mean Indiana's been in the Conversation for a few seasons now Sacramento kind of an example of a team That went really and and Atlanta too a Team that went really high but Atlanta Even made some Savvy moves to get Themselves they they're firmly in the Eastern Conference uh conversation again So it's absolutely possible it helps
When you have a superstar and I don't Think we can qualify Brandon Miller or Lamelo ball that yet uh and but if they If they land Cooper flag or or you know Maybe that's a possibility to add that Because that is the common denominator In a lot of these teams that do have Sustained successes you got a guy like Giannis or nikic I that was a second Round pick but uh guys like that that Can you know Propel your team forward And San Antonio is going to be doing That with wmy and I do think lamelo Could be a superstar out there on the Flooor like now I think he was playing Like one I I I get that there are Deficiencies to his game but he'd be one Of these again like I've talked about it A million times you know bottom third of A an all-nba type player where they're Certainly offensive Centric but the Offense is just so special that like you Get to one of these spots where you're Averaging 30 points per game and then You get help that'll probably take away Some of his points but again fully Healthy above 25 points per game you're Averaging close to 10 I that would be a number pretty damn Reachable that you could you know talk About him being a superstar but just Health and yeah it's it's happening Again Doug it's happening again Hopefully Brandon Miller can come back
Soon but we are closer Trey man got some Good news with him hopefully coming back Soon too so we'll see if those guys can Get back on the court um here again Sooner rather than later that'll do it For lockon Hornets thanks for making us Your first listen we're free and Available anywhere you get your pod that Includes YouTube check out out every Hornets boox score.com you can also find The subtext information there I'm Walker Mail listen to me WFNZ every weekday From 12: to 3 p.m. have a great rest of Your day we'll be back with you tomorrow [Music]