D(avis) Day is here! Michael and I recap the draft, argue about Austin Rivers vociferously, talk more calmly about Darius Miller, and then try to figure out what this draft means for players like Belinelli, Aminu and Henry. Last, we debate the potency of the Hornets backcourt.
It was a good night, people!
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27 responses to “In the NO Podcast Episode 74: D-day Wrap-up”
Michael, to sell it if we would’ve picked MKG instead of SkyNet you would’ve written a full article talking about how overrated Anthony Davis was because his hands were a tad shorter than expected. XD
GET ME DREW GORDON AS AN UDFA NOW!
Michael I know this isn’t draft related but do you think it’d be a good idea for the Hornets to try and sign Ian Mahimi this off-season? He fills a position of need at Center and is still young so he hasn’t reached his full potential. From what I’ve seen of him he’s very active, has good size and looks reasonably athletic. Plus he could most likely be signed for under 4.5 million a season.
Mahimi is 31 – He is a cheap 3rd option for the Hornets but not really a fit for what I would assume we are after. JaVale McGee might be someone we could look at and I expect the Hornets to go and put an offersheet to Roy Hibbert and Brook Lopez.
Funny you say that, because I think that if the Hornets can’t get McGee, then Ian M. is a perfect “hold down the position” for a year guy. Maybe Nazr Mohammed too
or Marcus Camby
javale mcgee….DEFENSIVELY he is wat we need!i think monty can straight this kid up….dell should also take a look at greg oden…….hey scott machado is not drafted…can we invite him to our summer league team and can we sign him?
I wish there were more options at center, Hibbert is the only guy I want them to sign but I believe Indiana will match any offer. McGee is a bit of a gamble to me, because we will need to invest a lot of time in him and we already have three rookies. Wouldn’t mind Camby for a year rental to plug a hole and mentor Davis. Also, there were some pretty solid guys who went undrafted. Kevin Jones was predicted in the first round at some points. But then again we are already adding three rookies to an already very young team, have to be careful
Could we just throw Hibbert a max and make Indiana match it to keep them off of Gordon?
I know most people like Hibbert and even Brook Lopez over McGee (disagree w/ Lopez), but when you look at the type of team Monty and Dell are putting together, I have no doubt McGee is the better fit.
I have an article coming out Saturday focusing on different Centers Hornets could target and I will break it down there, but basically, McGee is elite at defending P & R and his post up numbers are actually similar to Hibbert. Better fit, and more likely candidate to be taken from his current team.
My concern with a McGee-Davis C-F tandem is that they’d get pushed around by bulkier guys. Seems like you’d want to pair Davis with a bigger, bulkier guy like Hibbert to cover all your bases defensively.
I would rather have McGee as well, but I my thought was just that both are probably staying on their current team so we might as well screw Indiana over and make them pay him a max.
wowwww I thought I was the only Raiders AND Hornets fan in the world (or at least Pennsylvania)
During the Saints post Dome Patrol years some Saints fans were Cowboys fans at the time
True. I liked any team that could consistently beat the Niners (because they dominated the Saints so thoroughly during the 80s), so I lived my Saints dreams vicariously through the Cowboys during the early 90s.
JaVale McGee fits in perfect to the Monty Williams system guys!
JaVale McGee!!!!
The Cavs had a 2nd rd pick in 2003 it was Jason Kapono
Yo, Hornets should look into signing Henry Sims of Georgetown. Decent prospect at center but went undrafted: http://www.nba.com/draft/2012/prospects/henry-sims/
Also, I’d like to see them bring in Jordan Taylor to compete with Jerome Dyson as a 3rd PG (http://www.nba.com/draft/2012/prospects/jordan-taylor/). Taylor not an elite athlete, but just knows how to play the game of basketball and would probably be a good practice player and locker room guy.
I’m assuming that Jarrett Jack won’t be on the team next season. Wonder if the Knicks would be willing to trade us Josh Harrellson for JJ?
Just listening to this now, so I haven’t heard your arguments yet. I like McGee next to Davis for a lock down frontcourt, but the reason I’m intrigued by Hibbert (hadn’t considered Lopez, but it’s the same concept) is it would be a great offense-defense frontcourt with a ton of height, sort of like what we were thinking if we had gotten Sullinger, only taller
Ryan, I’m so confused. Even if Austin Rivers was an inefficient ball hog in his one year of college (which I’m not saying he was), are we just assuming he will never expand his game or develop into something better? Every good player adds things to his game. We’re assuming Davis will develop a post game, but not that Rivers, a gifted athlete and talented (if not the most willing) passer, can become a better distributor?
Also, you said he only has one skill, but he was great in the pick-and-roll according to (I think) Sebastian Pruiti, he’s a good shooter, and he’s an amazing ball handler. Those are all needed skills on the team.
Not saying that at all. Players develop. Some.
I object to selecting a player who could hang their hat on one thing in college – and they weren’t even good at that one thing. There were players still available who were legitimately good at multiple aspects of the game. Why start low and hope for improvement, when you can start high and still hope for improvement.
I’m not going to keep bashing him here, because I want to be open minded about him going forward. Rehashing his ridiculously awful numbers again isn’t going to let me move on.
Dell said today that he thought Rivers’ numbers in college were good.
I posted this depth chart in another thread, but I think it fits best here. (Signing Thomas and Dyson are assumptions. I think Thomas will definitely re-sign and hope Dyson does, too. With those two and a starting C, the roster would be 13 with one or two more to go.)
With depth like this there are two roster questions I see:
PG: Jack, Vasquez, Rivers, (Dyson?)
SG: Gordon, Rivers, Henry
SF: Aminu, Miller, Henry, (Thomas!)
PF: Smith, Davis, Ayon, (Thomas!)
C: ????, Smith, Ayon
Who do we get at C? (I like McGee but is he realistically available?)
What happens to Belinelli? (I think Kaman and Landry are gone. Is Belinelli? Is Henry?)
excellent overview of of RFA & UFA centers here
http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012/06/27/nba-free-agency-top-centers/
my prediction is that it will either be kaman or hawes, 2 yr deal
Man, I just listened to this podcast and I sounded so tired and annoyed. Nothing to do with Ryan, I was just literally exhausted after defending Rivers for the last five weeks. Hopefully he can just play and I can get some rest (and some ribs!)
How much would you guys offer Javale McGee this summer, do you think he could play a Tyson Chandler role for us, and what are the chances that he is, in fact, the center that Dell/Monty have in mind?
I know they are clearly interested because of the trade attempt, but there is a difference between interested and actively pursuing. Are we still the latter? I think McGee’s best chance to thrive is somewhere where all that’s expected out of him is to run the floor, rebound, block shots, and run pick and rolls. But how much are we willing to pay for him before our foundation has even shown anything?