I love this deal. Love. It. I defended Stern when he reportedly vetoed the last one (as the owner) because he didn’t like the direction it was headed, and I feel completely validated now. This deal makes me roughly 75 times as happy to be a Hornets fan and writer. I was sitting there after the Lakers deal thinking, “Wow. I guess I’m just going to cover a decidedly non-competing team for the next five years or so.”
Phew.
The Clippers deal means the Hornets have a chance at greatness. Eric Gordon can be a franchise player. Realistically Minnesota could be terrible if someone gets injured, or still downright bad if nobody does. Al- Farouq Aminu is a former lottery pick who could easily start within two years. Chris Kaman is a solid veteran on the last year of a contract that he’s more than worth.
More on Eric Gordon from Grantland
Management right now can do a few things. For one, they could try to be good this year. That’s a wild thought, especially considering that they weren’t very good last year and just lost the longtime franchise cornerstone. I’m not saying the Hornets could be great or anything, but realistically if this team added some veteran free agents (Landry, anyone?), they could make the playoffs and give someone some trouble in a game or two in the first round. That would be great experience for a guy like Gordon to have, especially if he leads the team there, and could pave the way for a bigger name free agent to join the squad in 2012 free agency.
Or there’s the other end of the spectrum–
Demps and company could be decidedly terr…. err… developing youngsters. Yeah, that’s it. If they want to “develop our youngsters”, all they would really need to do is trade Okafor and Ariza elsewhere for young raw players, bad contracts and/or picks, then watch as our “developing youngsters” (at least two of whom have about 48 hours total to learn Monty’s system before preseason games start and won’t have time to practice during the season) struggle to win 15 games out of the 66. We’d be terrible, sure, but that’s kind of how you tank.
Damn.
I was trying not to say tank.
Well, now that it’s out there, let’s be real. Gordon by himself isn’t going to get you to 20 wins this season, even if he had an entire camp. Next year’s draft is supposed to be one of the best years. If it’s possible to shed your long term contracts for young talent AND ensure that you get to take at least one shot at landing a perennial all-star to put next to Gordon, I say you do it. There’s the chance Minnesota will compete for a playoff spot this year, and that means that the pick might not result in a lottery pick.
Plus, this is the best year to tank ever! Instead of watching likely losses in person for 41 regular season games, fans would only be subjected to watching 34 times, even counting the preseason.
Competing for a playoff spot is a lot of fun. I really do like to watch young guys play hard and outperform general expectations, but not at the expense of the potential for greatness. Not if it means that we give up the best chance that the team has to truly compete for NBA titles. The Hornets have a young star and the potential to pair him with not one, but maybe TWO more guys on rookie scale deals. They will be developing under Monty Williams and his assistants having never personally known the hardships that the Hornets organization has faced over the past decade.
Let Gordon roll with a team of young guys who may one day be good or may one day be bad, but will certainly be bad this year. That’s how you ensure you get at least one top four pick to pair with Gordon.
It’s ok to be bad as long as you’re going somewhere. In this case we would be.
Whether or not you want the team to try to win as many games as possible this year, it’s a great day to be a Hornets fan.
96 responses to “Thoughts on the Hornets After Chris Paul”
Couldn’t be happier. This is the start of something wonderful.
now all we need is a podcast outlining how we fill out the rest of this roster. whether or not we flip Kaman or just wait for him to expire ?
get to it nerds, and man am I glad this is over
They are on it. No worries.
Chief is hungry, guys . . . closer to an hour than half-an-hour, please.
update: just south of 90 minutes for you . . .
Tip . . . if you check itunes or the subscription, you can get it now!
Thanks Jason checking up on it now 😉
I only hope we can lock gordon up or this trade will be for nothing!
The more I thought about it the more I didn’t want Gordon in the deal. He has only 1 year left on his deal and why would he stick around? He doesn’t need to be on a rebuilding team again, that’s what the Clippers were until now. The only reason for him to stick around is if the Hornets over pay him. I would have prefered Bledsoe, he would have been here for at least 3 years, and more picks. As many as the Hornets could squeeze out of them. Also Gordon being a better player than Bledsoe reduces the value of this years pick.
That is all true. Hopefully Monty and Dell can change his mind. Help him invision how great this team can be with him and other stars. Idk hopefully they get him to stay long term.
I cant imagine Monty and Dell putting together a team that would suck. But i am damn excited for the present and future of this franchise!
Great news for the Hornets, can’t wait to see Air Gordon in the Teal.
Will be sad to see CP go, he gave us some great memories, but here’s hoping Dell can make something good come from this.
E.G. WOOOOO!
(maybe not).
The answer is easy: you play to win. . . always.
No tanking. Just go pedal to the metal!
I’m happy, but seeing CP3 leave kind of chokes me up. . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKOBv1AzyZE
I’m not sure this works… But what if we started Kamanator and Okafor together, letting Kamanator play the PF on offense but guarding the centers on D, and letting Okafor guard the opposing PF?
i dont think Okafor has enough footspeed to guard the more athletic 4’s in the league. Would rather have Carl Landry starting but if the opponent has a nonathletic forward who likes to bang down low then id give your frontcourt pairing a shot for a few minutes a game.
^Yeah, don’t think Okafor will match up well with Ibaka, Stoudemire, or even Blake Griffin.
Especially Griffin. But then again, the only Hornets quick enough to guard them are Landry and Aminu, yet both of them are too small.
Aminu isn’t necessarily that undersized at PF especially if he fills out. He’s 6’9 and has a 7’4 wingspan. If he puts on some weight he could start there and possibly be a more athletic and skilled Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
The Mbah a Moute reference is pretty spot on but Aminu is already better offensively and has much higher potential than Luc Richard had.
I’ve been high on Aminu, perhaps misguidedly.
I will withhold judgment on him until I watch him more in the defensive fist Monty wields.
Time to pick sides, people.
i say we do this if we don’t Sign Carl Landry!!!
But now, say hello to THIS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PtAPCDdinQ&feature=related
I agree that this trade gives us the potential to rebuild completely and become great. We have good management in place too, so I think there is a real possibility. But let’s be real … our roster as presently constituted is going to be one of the worst teams in the league. It would be near impossible to us into a playoff contender without taking on bad long-term contracts.
And while things could work out well for us, it’s important to keep some perspective too. Gordon may or may not want to stay in New Orleans when his contract is up or he may expect way more than he is worth. Minnesota’s roster has some talent and isn’t being coached by Kurt Rambis.
It’s good that we can move on from the CP3 drama. There’s reason to be excited because there is a lot of POTENTIAL for this deal to work out really well for us. But we’re also still a franchise that is still a mess and will struggle to field a team that is on the same page on the court. We’re going to see a lot of fans lose interest if/when our record is 4-12 or thereabouts. It’s a long road to going from rebuilding mode to championship contender. It takes an organization that consists makes good personnel moves (something we hopefully have) AND a lot of good luck for it to happen. Look at the perennial cellar dwellers in the NBA and see how many opportunities they have to rebuild, only to see it all blow up. I remember when Michael Redd was going to leave Milwaukee back to relevance and playoff contention in the East … that didn’t quite work out, though.
We ended up making the right move, the bold move. That’s great. But it was still just the demolition. We still have a whole building to design and construct. Good luck Dell and Monty … you have your work cut out for you, but I wouldn’t want the decisions in anyone else’s hands.
Lot of people in this blog will change their names (using C-P-3 initials). I’m a bit sad as well letting CP3 go but we have to be optimistic about our future. I think we can still be competitive out there, just not into tanking games. When will the clips play in nola? That would be awesome.
Who is going to be the back-up PG?
I think the better question is “Who’s going to be our starting PG?”
Jack is a combo guard we need a true PG.
Warriors cut Jeremy Lin, sign him!
Jack can play off the ball, but let it be known he is a point guard. He has started at point at Tech and everywhere he has been in NBA besides here. I am more than fine with rolling with him at PG for the time being. Remember, we aren’t contending for a title this year…
We do need a back up.
jeremy lin got picked up by houston.
All this being said, if we can swing Mek to Philly I wouldn’t mind having Lou Williams as our starter moving forward. Straight up trade wouldn’t work… Other parts would be needed… But Lou can ball, and he may be one of the top in the game at getting to the rim.
Also Toronto could be a player if we made Mek available…
Maybe another J. Bayless sighting in NO?
I love the optimism, but I don’t share it.
Hopefully can Demps can prove me wrong. This deal gives him the leeway to put together a really good team.
I’m glad to see the CP3 trade drama coming to a close, bummed that his time with the Hornets is done, not quite as bummed as I was about DWest, but bummed none the less.
At the same time excited to move forward and see what Dell/Monty and hopefully a new owner can turn this team in to!
One other comment: if you make this trade, you don’t make your roster moves trying to make a playoff push. You don’t have to “tank” in the sense of trying to lose games … but you do have to make your priority trying to acquire young talent and good contracts with high upside. Anyone on the roster can be traded if a team makes a good enough offer of draft picks and young talent, regardless of whether that diminishes how many games you win. You don’t take on any bad long-term contracts that might help a playoff push this year but will kill your cap room for years to come.
Fortunately, I think Dell and Monty get this.
Its sort of the same concept as teams in MLB that are sellers at the trade deadline. Trade veteran players in exchange for younger players with upside and draft picks. And I do think Dell and Monty get this as well.
Our current cap figure is $49M. Go get a starting PG, a starting PF, and a back-up PF.
No need in keeping any of these guys it time to clean house. I would be looking to move Okafor. Houston is dying for a center and he’s from there. We can pick up a much need PG some PF’s Houston is loaded at both position.
As far as Ariza we can trade him for more pick to any team that will have him.
We can go real young this year. Not necessarily “tanking”, but giving guys like Amniu, Gordon, Jonny Flynn, Jordan Hill, Terrence Williams, or Patrick Patternson(if we can get any two or three of them
Chase Budinger!
Farewell to the the Hornets shooting guard woes and lack of depth at center. Hello to lack of depth at point guard and power forward. Really, though, this deal could turn out to be amazing. We get more cap space in this deal, and with Kaman’s expiring contract we can make a big splash now or next offeason. Needless to say we have a chance at drafting someone as talented as Chris Paul in next years draft; i’m looking at you, Anthony Davis. Let’s get this ownership thing sorted out next.
You sound like a complete company shill. Yes this trade is better for the Hornets, but we also lost our autonomy in the process of the other trade being nixed. Yes this trade is better for the Hornets, but I would have rather been the New Orleans Hornets than the soon to be contracted NBA Hornets. All I want from a trade for Chris Paul is draft picks because the only way for a small market team to win is to get lucky, or be really good at, drafting for multiple years in a row. Who brings more future draft picks in trade Odom, Martin, Scola and Dragic + 1st round pick or Gordon, Aminu, Kaman + 1st round pick – 2 second round picks. Everybody was saying the last trade was bad because all the pieces were old like it was illegal to trade those pieces again. No team has the amount of draft picks to compensate for the loss of Chris Paul so the goal was to split Chris Paul into trade-able pieces and get draft picks for those pieces. I know second round picks are next to worthless but there have been successes in the past. How many championships does San Antonio have without Manu, pretty much the go to example of second round success? For people who say we should try to stay competitive, why? What good does slightly above five hundred and first round playoff losses do for us? Without at least one, and realistically closer to 3, all-stars your team will likely not win the championship. We do not have that so we are in rebuilding mode, why would we want to win any games. Until that fact is not the case, until free agent contracts for decent players to make small market teams more attractive do not also kill cap flexibility basketball’s system is broken, and the new CBA did not help. I’m sorry if this is long and rambling, but I am super frustrated and the only solace you guys can take is that I likely am out and will never comment again, and that this will likely get deleted very soon.
I’m not sure why this would be deleted.
Freel free to go delete the passion, logic, and reasonable debate, and i’ll delete the post then.
Sitck around, even if you don’t comment. I think you’ll find this to be a place you’ll enjoy, especailly if you want to complain in the manner you did: like a rational being who also cares.
In my mind, proven but developing youth is worth at least as much as more draft picks (although at least one was essential), but I understand your frustration. I do think, however, that other teams who need a wing stopper and/or center will start circling, and we may yet end up with the draft picks you suggest – just from the core left over rather than the new guys (Odom etc).
And if not, don’t forget that all stars can sneak up on you with a solid team chemistry. The Billups-era Pistons had a bunch of all-stars, likely not as good on any other team, but so brilliant together. I honestly think that kind of potential lurks in our wings.
Don’t despair! This thing isn’t done yet…
If you do comment again, paragraphs are nice.
Soon to be contracted? Please. Spare the drama for someone who doesn’t know better.
Confused how I sound like a Shill. I was notably displeased with the last deal and often express frustration with the team on a number of different issues. Maybe you shouldn’t judge people based on reading one single article about how happy they are.
Truly, I don’t think you read past the first page break. No worries. We get quite a few of you guys.
didn’t SA win in 1999? I understand what you’re saying though, we need all the draft picks we can get. Tony Parker wasn’t exactly a high pick either. Nonetheless GM’s in the NBA trade 2nd round picks like they’re candy. If we really want some 2nd rounders come draft time they aren’t hard to get. Cash considerations or a future 2nd round pick can get you one.
Hollinger is talking like it’s a foregone conclusion that Gordon will extend in NOLA. Anyone know what’s up with that?
He’s young and It would be his first big NBA contract extension. No team should be able to come close in $.
95% chance he resigns, it’s the 3rd contract we should be worried about. He will sign the next extension without a doubt as that gives him the most money and the Hornets will give him the max deal that he won’t get from another team.
he’s also restricted so if he doesn’t resign the hornets would be able to match anything.
This is a much better deal than the original and the kicker to me is Al Aminu. He is young and raw but I watched him have a great game against the Hornets and I wanted him on the team back then. If he develops watch out as he has a skillset that could make him a very productive player in the league for a decade. If you luck up and get a Harrison Barnes or Austin Rivers they have a chance to be great!
I’m with win.
Winning games is more important to me than winning a title. Maybe that’s heresy, but it’s the way I feel.
I respectfully disagree, but I think your perspective is quite reasonable. And people who are for rebuilding need to be aware that it is a lot easier to enter rebuilding mode than it is to grow out of it.
My thinking is that this season’s already largely shot anyway, given that we are entering the free agency period late, won’t have time to get our new players to gel into Monty’s system, and there’s also a pretty strong draft class next year. So I think, for this year only, winning should be a low priority.
Ideally, next season, we add some young talent through the draft and have had a chance to position our roster better to win. I don’t have any illusions of greatness for next season, but a trip to the playoffs would be a success. And then hopefully we build on that going forward, with lots of wins to go around. That’s if everything goes according to plan…
Why don’t my posts, post?!
If you’re ever coming from a new IP address, they have to be approved by us.
Why have I not gotten my email with a p/w… Tried registering about a week ago…
Same location as the majority of my posts and anything one sentence long got approved. Anything longer in this thread has never shown up. None were controversial in any way. Is there a glitch on your end?
Send an email next time it happens. That’s the only way we can really be sure. We can’t fix unrepeatable ‘problems’.
Eric Gordon … one of the sweetest outside jumpers in the League, finishes at and above the rim way better than Chris Paul, deadly use of crossovers to penetrate the lane. I love this guy’s game. I think alot of people who are criticizing this trade don’t understand just how great Gordon’s upside is. If he jibes with Monty’s system they’ll get the picture a couple of weeks into the season. Let’s get a good owner, re-sign Landry, and use our draft pick smartly next year … maybe EG10 will stick around.
Let me get this right
Jack/FA
EG!!!!!!!!!/Bellinelli/Terrico
Ariza/Pondexter/Aminu
FA (Maybe Landry)/Aminu/FA
Okafor/Kaman
Personally, Id rather keep Kaman over Okafor. For the draft, the bobcats will hvae the first pick. I think we are looking at like pick 7 and 12. Jared Sullinger and Kendall Marshall
Oak is more durable than Kaman. We could use them on the court at the same time.
its good as long as we still sign Landry
The Hornets have someone who can dunk AND dribble in Eric Gordon! This is pure insanity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC4FRSBd4uI&feature=related
Great night to be a Hornet fan…
Personally, would love Andre Drummond and Thomas Robinson… However, if we take a PG Marshall would be nice.. Another guy to look at Myck Kabongo out of Texas… He should rival Marshall for the top pg in that draft class… And also Kabongo is simply the funnest name in the draft… Say it… Ka… Bon….Gooooooo…
Also I think we could pick up a solid pg in free agency…
Sessions, Felton, Augustin(res) all good options…
I would also like to mention that while we have nearly zero chance at either of them… Two young players I would love for the Hornets to grab… Paul George… JaVale McGee…
It should also be noted that if we want to hold onto Eric Gordon, he will be a restricted free agent… Which means he essentially has very little leverage… Also if he makes out known he wants out… Sign and trade… And in that trade scenario we would have ALL the leverage… I hope he wants to stay, but we hold the cards…
I like the fact that you agree with me that we get Javale McGee. Eric Gordon already have it set that he don’t want to be in N.O. I hope monty and Demps can change his mind. right now he is our Main Star now!!! We still have a lot of work to do Gentlemen and if they’re ladies on here then Ladies. theres no time to celebrate yet. we still need more value for players. I still say we focus on getting C.Landry, a PG, and back-up PF(possibly Yi. we also need an insurance policy at center w/ alexis ajinca.
Dude, let the guy get on a plane and eat a bowl of gumbo before you assume he hates this place.
Relax.
Does this mean we can light our Paul jerseys on fire like they did for Lebron? that seemed pretty fun!
Free country. Be safe.
Didn’t see many takers on the other thread where you asked this.
I don’t think anyone is THAT upset with Chris, however.
i honestly did consider burning the shirt i have with his name on the back but my friend talked me out of it. I was looking forward to posting it on youtube like all the Lebron fans too…
I agree with JO D …I think the hornets should push for D.J. Augustin (he’s a New Orleans native,Brother Martin Alum) Hes a young player who can be a poor mans CP3 and to team up with Gordon is instant highlights. DJ can also become the fan favorite (since he’s the local kid) while Gordon can be the Franchise player ….DJ Augustin is our pg answer in my opinion so let’s trade for him now and sign him and Gordan for long term extensions
we should do media day again
you people moved on fast.
You have to move on, I mean let’s b honest CP3 didn’t want to live in New Orleans, I don’t buy the “playing for the Champion line” for the fact the Hornets have a new coach and GM which managed to get to the playoffs in the 1st year.If CP3 would have stayed, D.West would have stayed so you have the same line up in year 2 and they would have been able to go after Jamal crawford or Arron Affolo or Shannon brown (those players would have came to play with CP3 and would have been an upgrade at the 2spot) So championship contender the Hornets would have had a SOLID TEAM
PG CP3/Jack
SG Crawfod or Affolo or Brown or Hamilton /Bellini
SF Ariza /Pondexter
PF West/Landry or even Big Baby Davis
C Okafor/ (maybe a Dalembert)
So the hornets would have had a SOLID team if CP3 really wanted to stay in NOLA
I think he just wanted to take the Reggie Bush route (all for the bright lights and glamour)
I disagree. There was an article where David West explained where he and CP3 were coming from and I whole heartedly agree. We sometimes forget that this is their job, and its about a lot more than winning and losing games. A lot of it is personal. We lost CP3 the minute we didn’t resign Pargo and we traded away Chandler. CP3 and David West went to war for those guys. That was the their team that beat the Mavericks and challenged the Spurs.
They never felt the same way about playing in New Orleans again. Granted injuries derailed some things, but they flat out didn’t trust management. And it sounded like they did trust Monty and Dell Demps, but without knowing who the owner would be moving forward, its really hard for someone to trust the most important stage (CP3) and the last stage (D-west) of their career to a franchise that honestly hasn’t been able to deliver. Too many bad contracts sunk this ship. CP3 + DWest + Chandler + Ariza, and a guy like Eric Gordon and this team would have been title contenders year in and year out. We never gave CP3 a solid SG or a great SF. We had a change to try and get Iggy last year, but never made it happen. I kept waiting for Peja’s expiring contract to deliver something big and it never did. It just wasn’t meant to be, but don’t hold this against CP3 or DWest. Their hearts will always be in New Orleans.
Will the hornets stay in New Orleans?
Hope SO
yes, i do think so.
Two thoughts: 1) I’m really annoyed with people who are hating on CP3. Not on this board, but in the general public. All this nonsense about him losing a step. Sure, he might get hurt again, but don’t tell me he isn’t a top 5 player in the NBA. All people look at is numbers. The Hornets, who weren’t slated to make the playoffs, won 50+ games last year and CP3 was flat out sick in the playoffs. Aside from Dirk, I’d say he had the best playoffs and he only played in 1 round. I’d take CP3 over Rose any day. All that being said, I’m happy with the trade.
2) I hope leadership is realistic about our goals. Its either to win a title down the line, and in which case, we should trade Kaman now, try to move Okafor/Ariza, and really play our young guys and hope we lose as many games as possible in the mean time. If thats our plan, we really need to commit to it and I’m in favor of it. I think its good for us long term. That being said, we sold a ton of tickets and we may want put a good product on the floor. In that case, we need some help. Kaman and Okafor put together a formidable 4/5, with Landry playing a good bench scorer role. Aminu and QPon fight over the 3, with Gordon solidly dominating the 2. I don’t trust Jack as a starting PG, so this is where we certainly need help.
I’m in favor of adding some experienced pieces if we can get them cheap, like Michael Redd. I actually think this team could have been a top 4 team if we had resigned David West and if Kaman stays healthy. Still, we desperately need a point guard.
I love the trade, NOLA got everything out of the Clippers,
CP3 + BLAKE GRIFFIN is really thrilling, espn top 5 for sure,
Our Hornets will be good this year IMO under Monty, we have a really nice frontcourt and backcourt, a really good shooting guard in Gordon:
Jack
EG
Trev
Aminu/Landry (he’ll sign)
Mek
Kaman
Belli
Green (he’ll sign)
and 9 d leaguers, NOLA will sign some fa’s too
Really good team, they got better players than Denver did in the Carmelo trade, why?
Because CP3 is dope…
I’ll still follow our best player in franchise history, he made memories and great things here, especially last year and in 2008, CP3 we love you no matter what, thanks for the memories I love the trade, great day to be a Hornets fan, we’ll miss you CP3, thanks for everything, win a ring champ, hope you play a entire playoff series here, you will see what you’ve missed, the loud and proud NOLA fans watching you play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ILXw8Lzf4
;(
@Jason I can understand the point about CP3 and D.West wanting to leave because of no owner ship. I remember when d.west said it in a article about him an Chris parting ways and the reasons why (it was on NOLA.com if I remember correctly) but let’s be honest D.West left because he knew CP3 wanted the glamor life.
Look at the teams they both wanted to go to, do you really think the Pacers will contend for a title shot (NO!!!) there roster has depth but it had a lot of depth last year and they had the SAME problems the hornets had a star in GRANGER( Hornets CP3) and a slum at the SG position and a lot of supporting cast. But the hornets were a better complete team then pacers were last year.
So what was the reason to leave a team you said you started trusting again and to go to a team where you would be in the same situation as you were with the Hornets?
As for CP3 I respect his decision I actually like the trade because the hornets can become a “OKC Thunder” type team which is exciting.
But I would rather CP3 be honest n say he wanted the bright lights and glamour life look at all the top 3 teams he said he wanted LA lakers, LA clippers, and NY Knicks but not other contenders like Dallas or Orlando or Boston or Portland all of them were Playoff teams.
To me CP3 went to the same type team but with a better PF
I mean look at the roster CP3 is the only consistent thing but Caron Butler and Trevor Ariza stats are around the same, Billups is a little up grade but at 35 how much does he really have left is unknown, Blake Griffin is hands down the biggest up grade in the excitement but look at the stats BG avg 22pt and 8Reb but West is 19pts and 7Rebs so it’s an excitement up grade and age upgrade but around the same amount of output. And believe it or not Okafor is a better over all center then Jordan because Jordan is still a work in progress and Okafor is established to give you a quiet 10pts and 10rebs. So if you look at it like that CP3 went to a younger and highlight team but the production is lookin the same so he as the same chance to get a championship as he did in NO he’s just on a bright lights and glamor stage…think Bout IT it’s the same situation for both of them if they would have stayed in N.O. Better yet at least in N.O. The hornets has proven success from the previous year but was one player short of moving on in playoffs and they would have added the other pieces(a SG and more depth) if CP3 and D.West would have stayed….but again I’m happy with this trade and hope then can trade for Augustin and get 2-3 more good bench players like Jack for depth.
Will Gordon sign an extension, and how long will he be with us?
I don’t get how anyone could be mad at CP3. Dude flat out gave us advanced warning he was on his way out and ALLOWED us to move on without the false hope that LBJ gave Cleveland. Thank you for saving basketball in this city and thank you for that CP3. Clippers will be my 3rd favorite team now (1. Hornets 2. Kings 3. Clips). Not gonna miss him but you can’t hate the guy unless you’re just being incredibly shortsighted.
Can’t wait to see Marco Belinelli start over Eric Gordon though! The Doghouse is back. Woof!
ha completely agree. i can only imagine us in like 4 years!!!! yeaaaaaaaaa buddyyyy!! austin rivers and anthony davis is gonna be the next dwight howard
who thinks Gordon stays with us long term?
Will the hornets trade Kaman? and for what?
I think the hornets can trade Kaman or Okafor to T-Wolves/ Bobcats / Rockets. Before and After the draft the Twolves were trying to find a veteran big man. They drafted D.Williams so they were looking to shop M.Beasley. I think the best trades would trades work as this:
Hornets/T-Wolves trade:
Okafor and future 2nd round Draft picks to T-Wolves
Beasley and Anthony Randolph(former LSU center) to Hornets
This trade would be perfect for both teams T-Wolves would get there Big Man to team up with Kevin Love and Hornets will add more young but good players.
Beasley and Gordon (both 22 with 3-4 years of experience) could be another CP3/ D.West . Beasley average 19pts 6rebs 2ast and Randolph average 8pts 4rebs 1ast (in a 4 man rotation in Minnesota)
The Hornets line up would be
Jack/?
Gordon/Bellini
Ariza/Aminu/Pondexter or Beasley at staring SF
Beasley/Landry
Kaman/Randolph
Then trade Ariza to Bobcats for Augustin
Roster looks better because hornets cover 3 youth maybe 5 youthful experience players to grow (Augustin/Gordon/Aminu/Beasley/Randolph)
The line up would be
Augustin/Jack
Gordon/Bellini
Beasley or Aminu/ Pondexter
Landry or Beasley
Kaman/Randolph
Add a Willie Green or Nate Robinson and Jason Smith or Travis Outlaw And it’s a great look
2 comments on this…
One… Randolph is a stretch 3/4… Is far too skinny to play center… And he played the same at LSU…
I used to be a fan of willie green… Before he was a hornet.. I hope he catches on somewhere else.
@J Do Randolph is 6-11 230 so i think he can hold his ground (besides D.Howard there’s not a Dominating center in NBA) and in time he can get to 245-250 he is a good rebounder and blocker
Sorry I ment @Jo D lol
Kaman for Beasley and Ricky Rubio….. unlikely but I would be down with it
Either way it goes I think Hornets should try to trade for D.J Augustin and Michael Beasley if you trade Okafor you send of a solid player(with a huge contract) but you will have money to resign Gordon,Beasley,and Augustin to long term deals because next year Kaman contract will be up along with Landry so that’s Kaman/Okafor/Landry off books if they trade for Augustin and Beasley
Our solid 3 Augustin (24)/Gordon(23)/Beasley(22)
It’s all possible
whats with buker or whatever his name is on espn saying he doesnt think gordon or aminu is gonna be with us all season?
Stirring up stuff.
All of that goes away after we get an owner. We are told that the sale to an owner will happen in the first part of 2012.
I think this will happen. I could be wrong, of course.
So do u think gordon will sign an extension?
Never met the man or thought about it. Plus, there’s whose season and ownership thing that may factor in a smidge.
Let’s wait and see, eh?
Yea I’m just impatient and all this talk on espn about him being traded at the trade deadline just has me anxious
These guys know nothing and predict everything. Someone is right each time, but none of them is right often.
Dude might tear a testicle at the open practice and never play a minute this season. Then what? Maybe he marries the new owner’s neice. Then what? He’ll be restricted, I think, so I’m not sure we are at a disadvantage.
Haha well said
Beasley and Rubio!!!! they Rubio wants a warm climate, thats here. Beasley just need to be here!
Rubio/Jjack
Eric Gordon/MBelli
Ariza/Aminu
Beasley/ Landry
Either Okafor OR Kaman
thats at least a 40-45 win team.
If we trade Ariza for Kevin Martin and or some other piece we will be in the playoffs no questions