Oh Hornets, Who Art Thou?

Hello Hornets fans! I am so ready for our Men of Teal (and Purple) to take to the court again. One thing that we need to take a deep breath and think about is who are we? Who are we as a team and organization? We don’t have that superstar player that when you say Hornets, the player pops into every NBA fan’s head. What we have is a young and hungry squad that is better than the mainstream media gives them credit for. This season is an important one for us because Mitch Kupchak is at the GM helm again, and he has proven himself to be quite the judge of talent. From Miles Bridges and PJ Washington in the first round selections to Devonte Graham, the Martin twins, and Jaylen McDaniels In the 2nd round and beyond. This year he’s got the 3rd pick of the first round to work with, so he’s got a really good chance to grab a future star for us. That’s much more than we’ve had to work with than we’ve had in years. So who are we? Are we a team with a bottomless pit of money that will spend past the cap and into the luxury tax zone to win a championship? No. We are a young team that has a chip on its collective shoulder that will prove to the NBA that you should not sleep on us. In time, we will be that team that is in the Playoffs every season, vying for a championship. We’re finally seeing bad contracts go away, and we are collecting young talent to see how we can build something special in Buzz City.

I’m not a huge fan of speculating who we should draft, but when I start seeing the same comments popping up over and over about a player or players, it motivates me to speak up and speak out. Today, I want to touch base on the center position.

I have seen so much of the talk about “who should we pursue in free agency”.

Montrezl Harrell

Christian Wood

These guys are my 2 examples for the day. I like them both, but after bouncing a few thoughts off of Rick Bonnell last night on Twitter, it got me to thinking.

Everyone is concerned that Harrell, 6’7″, 240lbs with a 7’4″ wingspan, will be expensive and not worth it. Then people throw out Christian Wood, 6’10, 215lb with a 7′ 3-1/4″ wingspan, whom I was fond of the last time he was here.

Here is my dilemma/concern: we have 1 center under contract (Cody Zeller), and Biz, Hernangomez are both free agents that could also probably be resigned for a reasonable deal as well. Both have played center for us before, both are great teammates on and off the court and both know this team. Biz has had increases in his PPG every season he’s been in the league, he’s a hustle guy, and he’s crazy strong and athletic. Willy…well…he’s never really exploded into what we need at center. Yes, I want to keep Biz here.

One last tie together for this: We have Jalen McDaniels who is young, cheap, under contract, 6’10”, 192 lbs with a 7′ wingspan (could be bigger than when he was 6’8″ and growing)and learning the game at the NBA level. Oh, and he also fits our youth movement.

The decision that will swing everything is who we draft. If we get Wiseman, no need for Harrell or Wood. I still think we need to sign Biz because he’s a solid vet that would be a great teacher for Wiseman. If we do not get Wiseman and we get Edwards, again, I think we need to sign Biz, we should pursue Christian Wood, and the goal this season is to get Jaylen McDaniels and Christian Wood stronger so that we have a “twin towers” scenario with Wood and McDaniels. (For the younger audience, David Robinson and Tim Duncan we’re called the twin towers back in the day and they were 2 bigs that brought all sorts of problems to the opposing teams).

Again, all of this will hinge on the draft, but if we want to continue building for the future, we need to look at what Cody brings, what Biz has brought, and get key pieces in place so the team can grow and learn together.

I just can’t wait for draft night to get here!

Let’s Go Hornets

#KeepSwarming