Hey r/CharlotteHornets The Hornets are officially here! 👋

We’ll be interacting with your posts by leaving upvotes and replying in the comments, while also sharing content of our own here on the subreddit.

We’re excited to have another way to connect directly with you guys and we're looking forward to being a part of the community throughout the season!

I am incredibly sad.

STEINBACH IS A STUD.

We got the best shooter in the draft baby.

There’s a recurring pattern in NBA history where teams that develop a young guard absorb his early career growing pains and inefficiency, while the next team reaps the benefits of his peak. Steve Nash, Jalen Brunson, Jason Kidd, Tyrese Haliburton, Kyle Lowry, Chauncey Billups, and James Harden all fit this arc to varying degrees, they left (or were traded from) their original team before truly putting it together.

I can’t help but wonder if we’re the team that absorbs the growing pains and inefficiency while some other franchise eventually gets the polished, peak version of him. Is there anything about our current direction that makes you confident we’re the team that sold him high and not the one that just developed him for someone else?

I keep seeing fans and non-fans referring to the Hornets as rebuilding or tanking, which is absurd. The new ownership group came in with the new CBA and settled on a strategy at that time, which has been bolstered by the lottery reform change.

The current CBA has only had full apron restrictions established for two seasons. The change to the lottery starts this upcoming season. Both of these are going to massively change the landscape of roster building strategy and player values, but because it's so new we haven't seen the full ramifications felt yet.

Here are things I'm confident in:

• 1st round picks value has increased.
• Star players will be moved earlier in their contracts to maximize return.
• Those that aren't moved ala Giannis will see a bigger dip on a return than in the past.
• Cap flexibility is a greater asset than ever.
• Having a deep roster with a plethora of shooting and versatile interchangeable parts is the direction the league is going.

Let's analyze this against what the Hornets have:

• 11 1st round picks from 2027-2033.
• No bad contracts on the books long-term.
• Fantastic cap flexibility and avenues to add core piece(s) now or continue to collect assets from teams that are in a bind ala the Miles trade.
• Ton of shooting, interchangeable parts that will allow them to be versatile and depth to handle a long season.

I get the emotion around trading LaMelo, a super popular player who was incredibly fun to watch and wanted to be here. But the question marks are real with him on his health as well as knowing if he is a true championship pillar of a team.

We will see if the Hornets choose to cash in on some of those assets this offseason or decide to continue to accumulate for the future, but as is this roster is still set to compete for a playoff spot next year. Yes, they lost the talent of LaMelo but they are deeper and have added playoff tested vets to a young core.

Not exactly shocking.

Hey guys, Canada fan here 🇨🇦

Just curious how many Hornets fans here are from outside Charlotte or overseas?

It was honestly kind of surreal being there. Been a fan for a decade and I can’t remember the last time the fans booed the team as relentlessly as today. It was well deserved, but man. The pent up frustration of the LaMelo trade came out

In my eyes, a move to trade for Giannis would be similar to 2019 when the Raptors traded for Kawhi? Why not try to go all in now while Brandon and Kon are currently on their rookie deals? With the new CBA, it only becomes much harder to win when they get their second contracts.

Obviously the trade would probably involve Bridges + a multitude of first round draft picks, but in my opinion that is easily worth it.

Not to mention there are direct flights from Charlotte to Greece......

First thing to say, is that I just love Basketball in general. And I don’t hate Wembanyama as a person. I’m just having so much annoyance watching how great he is and knowing that the NBA did everything possible to make sure that not only that the Spurs drafted him, but that he got a core around him very quickly. The NBA did not want a repeat of LeBron James.

Knowing that he grew up a Spurs fan his entire life, with his favorite players being Tony Parker and Tim Duncan to where he even said it was “a dream” to be drafted by the Spurs. It has made it so difficult to watch a team that dominated so much of my childhood in the 90s and 2000s immediately turn back around after just a few years in the lottery getting a generational player surrounded by top 3 picks.

I’m just curious if I’m the only person out there that hates how fast the Spurs have been able to build a contender while we continue to wait for the Hornets to just get to the playoffs. I know I should just be proud of what the Hornets did this year, but I just can’t shake the fact that I feel like the NBA helped the Spurs build a contender at the expense of other franchises that have needed generational players for a while now.

On the NBA Post game show last night, both men agreed it should have been a Flagarant, but it wasn't Ejection worthy nor do they think Lamelo meant to do it(Dirk even says this happens every game, it was only notable here because Bam got injured).

Of course r/nba didn't clip this, and now the Hornets are villains after being the loveable underdogs all year since we dared eliminate the Heat, but from actual NBA guys(A former Heat no less) what Melo did might have been Flagarent 1 worthy, but that's it.

Miller is a 6'9 sniper with playmaking potential, a better handle than most guys his size, great length and good athleticism. He was clearly a more valuable player when he played next to other playmakers than he was without them. This is true of most wings/players in the NBA.

I keep seeing people say that we paid Miller a superstar contract. The day he signed the contract, and the contracts only go up, he is the 43rd highest paid player in the NBA by AAV. A year from now this will be lower and it will continue to go down. He has flaws, but people get sticker shock at every young player contract because they are inherently a gamble since they are projecting value.

Miller still needs to work on his inside game, he probably needs more reps as a lead playmaker to develop there, and he needs to find the midrange game he had as a rookie again. IF he does really any of those 3 this is incredibly worth it, and if he doesnt this contract will pretty much always have trade value due to how much teams value size and shooting on the wings.

Relax

I will start by saying I have been very vocal that I think Melo is the closest thing to Pete Maravich we have ever seen and if you know your basketball history then you'd know how delusional that compliment is but I will die on that hill.

Im irritated by yhe lakc of return for Melo but if Jeff and the rest of the league dont see his value then thats their fault for being stupid.... however I also understand trading him for injury concerns so its not like im pissed over the trade because both sides are legitimately valid.

That being said our current roster is SIGNIFICANTLY more balanced than last years if we make zero other moves and I will explain why.

Coby is and was a solid starter for the Bulls so that wont change here and those teams were closer to 40 wins as their ceiling.

Kon, Brandon and Miles are all still here amd all three are just as good at Coby at worst amd in the case of Kon and Brandon if they play to the best of their ability theyre both top 50 players easily so thats more talent alone than Coby has ever had.

Our front court rotation is as follows: Moose, who is an absolute force on the glass and a very good defender at all positions.

Kalk, who isnt versatile but was tops in the league as a rookie at rim protection and will absolutely make you look dumb if you drive straight at him and are a smaller player.

Naz, who is 6'9 and 265 and like to be physical on both ends of the floor but has a solid outside shot with good form.

Hannes, who might be a rookie but is a superb rebounder and is also very physical at 6'11 250 and is INCREDIBLY fluid for his size especially in transition.

And my boy Salaün is just waiting to take over this year because he can do no wrong.

We wont go on a massive run thia season but the way our roster stands we can still cap out at around 40 wins where last year we had a much higher pace after the injuries were behind us. People need to relax on the gloom of the upcoming seaosn as far as production is concerned because while we arent in the conference finals all we are now is one player from being a legitimate finals team and the only question is will that player be Miller and Kon, or someone else and Kon and we'll find that out assuming other moves arent made.

If you’re claiming that we’re one of the worst teams in the league without Lamelo, you are essentially saying that you don’t have any faith in Kon and Miller. If that’s what you think, fine, but it’s kind of shocking how little excitement this sub has for two extremely exciting young players

I keep seeing people on this subreddit and Hornets Twitter claim that the Hornets are paying Brandon Miller like a top-10 player, a superstar, or the best player on a championship team.

That’s just not the case, and I think a lot of people making these arguments are out of touch with what NBA contracts look like today.

There are already close to 15 players making around $60 million a year, and guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Devin Booker are set to make $70 million annually. NBA salaries have gotten absolutely massive.

Under his contract, Brandon Miller would rank around 30th in the league in annual salary. If we saw salaries as player rankings (they definitely aren’t) would anyone seriously consider the 30th ranked player in the NBA a superstar or the unquestioned No. 1 option on a championship team?

Miller is making roughly the same amount as Domantas Sabonis, OG Anunoby, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane, and Brandon Ingram. I doubt many people would consider those guys superstars, either. And that's not even mentioning Amen Thompson, who is in the same general contract range as Miller. I think most of us would agree that Miller is either the better player right now or at least in a similar tier.

The point is that Brandon Miller isn't being paid like a superstar. He's being paid like a young player with significant upside in an NBA where contracts have gotten ridiculously massive.

I swear, as a Panther's fan, I don't even think they were as bad when we lost Cam. Sure, different circumstances, Cam was in his 30's and Lamelo is only 24...But Cam was also a MVP, taken us to the Super Bowl and multiple playoffs across 10-11 years I think it was at the time.

Lamelo has taken us to the Play in, has one win, and we've never been in the playoffs with him, in a sport where a superstar player should be more impactful than football.

Don't get me wrong, I love Lamelo, always will and I hope he tears it up with the Wolves; but I think this is the first time I've realized how parasocial people get to Basketball players. If Lamelo had put up the exact same stats, same numbers, same injury history, same everything...But had the personality of a bland boring dude, then these reactions would be so much more measured.

Do I think it's a good trade? Time will tell, the Hornets now have a ton of draft capital, a huge trade exception and still have a starting PG in Coby. The Picks could be nothing...Or Lamelo never stays healthy, Edwards leaves and suddenly they're a gold mine. I think Naz Reid slots in perfectly and is a upgrade over Bridges(I'm assuming Naz will play the 4), so we'll have to see.

The Hornets are essentially betting on themselves post Melo, again time will tell if it's the correct response or not, but I'm willing to try something different since we were a Melo Injury away heading into next season from taking the next step to missing the playoffs.

I'll probably get downvoted for this, don't really care, I just think the reaction is absurd.

Brandon is rumored to be pushing for the Max but as we all know that won’t be happening.

What number would make you feel good?

Anything over 5/210 wouldn’t feel great imo.

Thought our king deserved a game thread because I know many are watching.

I think Peterson is underestimating how important perimeter defense is in today's NBA. With those guys starting, where is the perimeter def supposed to come from? Playoff series eventually becomes a hunt for mismatches. Best teams counter with defenders who can switch, contain, and take away space. Struggling to see how this roster holds up when it matters most. What's the basketball case?

With major trades its hard to see how this season will go.

I feel like from being a game away from the playoffs and now being #11 is tough to climb especially considering #10 is Orlando who smacked us very bad in our last game!

What pieces do we need?

Personally I think we need a reliable backup PG who can really facilitate. Coby is more of a scorer, Tre is a scorer and is coming back from lingering injury, Christian Anderson as a rookie is more a scorer with some playmaking ability but he isn't proven.

After the Melo trade I told my friends Mike Conley Jr is a good vet that would work with us, but obviously the Celtics thought the same thing.

Russell Westbrook is avaliable and probably cheap, he is a vet reliable playmaker, rebounder and can score when needed, he also brings some aggressiveness. With Brandon, Kon, Coby and Naz holding down from beyond the arc, I think Westbrook would be almost a perfect fit for the Hornets! It would be a steal to get him.

How easy it would have been to ride the success of last year and run it back. Turning LaMelo into solid players and big time draft assets was smart business and now turning former poison Miles Bridges into good vets and actually gaining and not losing assets in the deal is remarkable. Not a Hornets fan but you have to give credit where credit is due.

Hornets fans are you happy with the offseason?