Charlotte's Backup PG Blunder
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00:00 The Hornets made a mistake and just fumbled the bag
00:03 with the backup guard options this offseason.
00:06 I'm not gonna rehash all the old ground,
00:08 but I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, right?
00:10 I tweeted out the other day that the Hornets
00:12 should look to upgrade the backup point guard position,
00:14 and I have Hornets fans coming at me everywhere
00:16 saying that let's rock with Nick Smith Jr.'s
00:19 backup point guard.
00:20 I'm sorry, those same Hornets fans,
00:23 three games into the season, I can see going,
00:26 why on earth don't we have a backup point guard?
00:28 Why don't we have Dennis Smith Jr.?
00:30 This is a disaster.
00:32 And I'm not even talking about the training camp issue.
00:34 I'm talking about all the way back in the offseason.
00:37 Monte Morris went for a second round pick
00:39 from the Detroit Pistons.
00:43 Would have been the perfect guy
00:45 to be a backup point guard in Charlotte.
00:48 Marcus Sasser was available late in the first round,
00:50 went 25, so before Charlotte's 27th pick,
00:53 but let's not pretend with all their extra picks
00:55 that Charlotte could have quite easily
00:57 jumped up and got Marcus Sasser.
00:58 Having a great preseason, had a good summer league too,
01:01 would have been the perfect guy for this team,
01:04 but this team do not draft and develop
01:06 backup point guards, frustratingly.
01:08 You know, the Hornets have become, I think,
01:11 emboldened a little bit by the success stories
01:14 of Dennis Smith Jr. and Isaiah Thomas,
01:17 where they feel now they can just pick up
01:19 any guy off the scrap heap and they can perform well.
01:23 They don't have to prioritize a position.
01:25 But you look at the best season in Hornets history.
01:27 Jeremy Lynn was the backup point guard for the 48-win team.
01:31 Devonta Graham was the backup point guard
01:33 for the 43-win team.
01:35 Those are good backup point guards,
01:37 and it's not a surprise to me that that's when
01:39 Charlotte had their best seasons.
01:41 So for me, they're rolling the dice
01:44 and taking a complete gamble that one of these guys
01:47 is gonna pop, and if they don't,
01:50 you're not putting Brandon Miller,
01:51 who is gonna probably be your leading scorer
01:53 in that second unit, you're not putting him
01:55 in position to succeed.
01:57 He is gonna average more turnovers.
01:58 He is gonna have to try and force the issue,
02:01 because he's the only guy, until Miles Bridges comes back,
02:04 who can really create his own shot effectively
02:06 on that second unit.
02:08 So I just, it's definitely true that for me,
02:12 I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
02:15 It was a complete, I don't even know what to say.
02:20 Lots of words.
02:22 It was a complete mis-evaluation on this roster
02:26 to not address that issue.
02:27 - Yeah, and what I think you're absolutely right about
02:33 is that if you're gonna make it so guys
02:35 that are essentially shot creators in Terry O'Zier
02:38 and Brandon Miller, like you mentioned,
02:40 into your secondary playmakers,
02:42 you're negating that strength, because every time,
02:45 or not every time, but a lot of the times
02:46 that they're creating those looks, they know,
02:49 okay, now that I've gotten an advantage on my guy,
02:52 I've got a step on my defender, I'm on the way to the rim,
02:54 I can't look to score, because if I do,
02:57 I am the only one that will ever take shots,
03:00 because nobody else on the court with me
03:02 can create their own shot,
03:03 and if I don't get them the ball,
03:05 since I'm the best passer,
03:06 they won't be able to take any open spot-up attempts
03:08 that I've created, because I've gotten
03:10 into a five-on-four situation with my guy behind me.
03:13 So that, you take out,
03:15 especially in the case of Terry O'Zier,
03:17 his biggest strength, which is just,
03:19 not only do you have this weakness
03:23 at backup point guard already,
03:24 you're creating another one, by taking that away
03:26 from another player who fills another role perfectly,
03:29 and is a fine fit as your third best playmaker
03:34 on your team or something, but you don't want fine,
03:37 you want good, you want high quality
03:40 to be a team that continues to grow year after year,
03:43 builds on the success that they had two years ago,
03:45 obviously last year was a wash 'cause of the injuries,
03:47 but if you wanna build on this 43-win team,
03:50 like you said, you need someone like Devante Graham,
03:53 who is a highly capable, or was at that time,
03:55 is a highly capable second unit playmaker and table setter
03:59 that knows his role, and is just gonna come in,
04:01 distribute, take open threes when they get 'em,
04:04 and then that's it.
04:05 And then there's also the fact that,
04:06 and this is, I think, the real reason
04:08 why this didn't happen,
04:09 the Hornets have never used the mid-level exception
04:12 in its existence.
04:14 This is essentially a tool that is given
04:16 to teams like the Hornets to say,
04:19 here is what is now $12 million
04:22 to come play for us for two years.
04:23 Each year, you get 12 million bucks.
04:26 This is a tool that doesn't count against our salary cap,
04:29 so we can give it to player X, overpay them a little bit,
04:33 maybe get them to come here instead of coming
04:35 and playing for a team that's gonna be more competitive
04:37 in the East or the West or what have you.
04:39 They've never used that.
04:41 Why?
04:41 I have no idea.
04:43 Maybe it just costs too much money
04:45 and they've never been able to negotiate
04:46 with a player they like enough to make it truly worth it,
04:49 'cause you're not just gonna throw the money out
04:51 and give it to Edmund Sumner and put him on your MLE,
04:55 'cause you can get him on a non-guaranteed deal.
04:56 But I find it hard to believe
04:59 that over the past couple of years,
05:01 not even just this year,
05:03 that there was not a single player
05:04 that was worth that salary slot
05:06 that was willing to take it.
05:08 There's no way that got turned down
05:10 by every single backup point guard
05:12 that's worked well for them. - I can tell you right now,
05:14 Jevon Carter signed with the Chicago Bulls for 6 million,
05:18 using the mid-level exception.
05:19 - You can't tell me he wouldn't have doubled his salary
05:21 to come to the Hornets?
05:22 Doubled it? - Yeah.
05:24 I don't think it would have been a great value,
05:25 but let's say you do 8 million for two years
05:27 for Jevon Carter.
05:28 He's coming to be a backup point guard
05:30 for a so-so Eastern Conference team.
05:33 And unless he has a shrine
05:35 to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls,
05:37 there is no reason I don't think he would come
05:39 to Charlotte for more money.
05:40 Jevon Carter has not earned enough money
05:41 to be picking where he plays.
05:44 So that is just one example that you can just take
05:47 of a guy you could have gone after.
05:49 - Yeah, and it's just,
05:51 that I think is the overarching thing
05:53 as to why this situation is the way that it is.
05:56 But the basketball reasons
05:58 that manifest themselves afterward
05:59 just make it even more difficult
06:01 for like Steve Clifford and player development coaches
06:04 and everybody on the staff to have to manage.