Rebranded as the Hornets, momentum is building in Charlotte

A combination of high profile and under the radar moves have put Charlotte in a position to contend in the East. 

Hear that sound coming from Charlotte? That would be BUZZ.

Last season ended in a a playoff sweep, but that doesn't tell the whole story. First, just finishing over .500 and making the playoffs for a team this historically terrible is a feat in and of itself. Second, if the Bobcats drew ANY other team in the first round, they would have taken at least one game. If Al Jefferson doesn't get plantar facitis in the first quarter of the first game of the Heat series, the Bobcats would have taken one game. What's more, they basically did this with defense, team basketball and only two players who can score.

The Charlotte Hornets have since rebranded, and re-entered the league with a flurry of off-season moves and are poised to be contenders in the Eastern Conference. As you can tell we are excited about the Hornets returning to Charlotte. The artist formerly known as the Bobcats henceforth will reclaim it's birth right, hopefully ascending to the Iron Throne.

We've already done this, but how freaking sweet are these?

Further, I've said it before, but this is the exact moment I became a Hornets fan for life.

Draft: Best player available, asset collection

To recap the Hornets selected Noah Vonleh when he fell to the 9th pick in the draft. Our reaction was mixed to this pick, and we almost came to blows over the proper use of statistics. We worry about things like at Hammertime Sports. The Hornets then ended up with PJ Hairston, who we agree that when he plays will probably be a good basketball player for the Hornets.

These two first round picks are the highest profile moves made during the draft, but the biggest off season move happened behind the scenes, with the firing of Rod Higgins as general manager and replacing him with Rich Cho. Cho has made a few very savvy other moves during the draft and otherwise that went largely unnoticed, but still ultimately ended up helping the team

1. The Hornets originally owned the 24th pick in the draft (dates way back to the Gerald Wallace trade). They used this pick to draft Shabazz Napier who they immediately traded to the Heat, who had hopes that such a move would entice LeBron to resign (oops.) Trading this pick netted the 26th and 55th picks this year plus a future second round selection for the Hornets. Odds are they were going to select Hairston at 24, so why not pick up some assets and do so anyway two picks later?
2. The Hornets also began the draft with the 45th overall pick, they used this selection on NAME DOESN'T MATTER. 

Whoever we picked was traded to Cleveland, along with Brendan Haywood for nothing. Why make this kind of move? Haywood didn't play a single game in two years for the Bobcats and was still owed $2 million next season. Cleveland basically agreed to take on this $2 million in exchange for the 45th pick.

          3. Remember that 55th pick we traded for? Yeah we picked another guy named... Highlights below.

I'm having way too much fun with this

Just as you would take your crops to market, your oddly knitted sweaters to ETSY or your perverted original Disney movie covers to EBay, we straight up sold this guy as well to the OKC Thunder. 

Featuring the um. "Tower" erected in the middle of the castle.

Uncomfortable with the idea of selling another person? THIS IS THE NBA BABY. Anyway if you're keeping score at home, the Hornets wanted Hairston, swapped picks for him and sold their consolation for cash. Build for now, build for the future.

Free Agency: all part of the plan? 

The Hornets swung and missed on Gordon Hayward, offering a max contract to a restricted free agent that was eventually matched by his original team, the Utah Jazz. Honestly this is not that bad a thing, as they were going to have to pay Hayward $16 million a year for his services. This is a lot of money for a guy who is only OK at a lot of things on the court. Journey with me down the rabbit hole for a second though, I believe just MAKING the max offer to Hayward helped the Hornets in a couple ways even if they didn't actually sign him.

 

You know I love my conspiracy theories, even more so I love Lex Luthor-ian kind of thinking. I.E. "You fell exactly into my trap, Mwaa Ha Ha." kind of thing. This is obscure but I also loved the Legend of Zelda trade sequence, where start with one thing and get another thing and another thing...until eventually you land a sweet ass boomerang. This is one of my crowning achievements as a child. 

All that to say this: more savvy moves by Rich Cho. 

Maybe Cho knew Hayward was going to receive a match from Utah, there were certainly enough reports out there that stated as such. Maybe we made a max offer in hopes that the Jazz Flutes would match it, thereby wrecking their salary cap space enough that they would have no money to re-sign Marvin Williams, who we snagged and will likely start the year at power forward for us. Williams, a UNC product, is labeled a bust because he was drafted ahead of Chris Paul, and he's not going to come here and suddenly become THAT guy, but he has carved out a decent NBA career as a stretch 4. This signing also provides an umbrella under which the last two lottery picks Cody Zeller and Noah Vonleh can develop with less pressure.

And once reunited with 2005 national championship teammate Sean May, Williams will...no wait. Move along, nothing to see here. 

Further, making such a large offer to Hayward showed the Hornets are making a push for the playoffs, and are willing to spend money in free agency. This type of thinking had to catch the attention of a certain mercurial, but vastly talented Lance Stephenson.

LAAAAANCE

The Hornets, with cap space and a starting position in tow, eventually signed Lance for 3 years and $27 million. Again if you're keeping score at home, the Hornets offered Hayward $16 million a season, and get similar production (not to mention a higher ceiling) out of Lance for $9 million a season. Using my superior mathematical brain, I realized $9 million is less than $16 million.

Which pile of money is bigger? Go on. You can do it. 

Is Lance a character risk? Sure. He does weird stuff like blowing in LeBron's ear, or trying, not so sneakily trying to infiltrate the other team's huddle. On a serious note he also has some particularly nasty domestic violence arrests in his background.

Just talk about your game plans like you can't see me. Wait a second. Maybe I'm invisible right now.

But Lance also scored 14 ppg last year as the third option on the Pacers, grabbed almost 8 rebounds per game, the highest number for a guard in the league, and dished out over 4 assists per game as well. This guy can shoot, rebound, defend and create for himself and others.

LAAAANCE!

Mostly Lance gives the Hornets a sorely needed third scorer, and for a guy looking to become a star, a young playoff team with some already established players is the perfect launching platform. For better or for worse Lance is also a tough, gritty, "Swagger" kind of guy. Charlotte might be a lot of things next year, soft is not going to be one of them. Not to mention this move weakens a team in the Eastern Conference.

Pictured: Signing Lance Stephenson. Ok I'll stop. 

Another sneaky good move by the Hornets was signing back up PG Brian Roberts away from the New Orleans Pelicans. Heady young point guard, can dish and knock down the 3.

If you can find Brian Roberts highlights on Youtube, you can truly find anything.

Right now the starting lineup looks like: PG Kemba Walker, SG Lance Stephenson, SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrest, PF Marvin Williams and C Al Jefferson. For the first time in their recent history, the Hornets also will have depth and talent on the bench with guards Gerald Henderson, PJ Hairston, Gary Neal and Roberts, along with young developing forwards Zeller and Vonleh. Dare I say the future looks bright?

Besides no matter what happens the Hornets will be interesting this season. Best case? Eastern Conference finals. Worst case? PJ Hairston and Lance start wearing women's clothing and robbing banks in Charlotte, get arrested and average 60 ppg in the North Carolina Prison League. This could be a TV show. And we could call it, are you ready for this?

Prison Guards.

 I can honestly picture either scenario. Either way this shakes out, it's going to be must see TV. Tune in with us this fall for more Hornets coverage!

-Joel

The Open Championship: What You Need to Know

Stay Tuned to See Whose Name Will Be On Top This Year

What to Watch For:

How will the golf course play? 

In 2006 Royal Liverpool most recently play host to golf's oldest major.  That year, Tiger Woods ravaged a bone dry golf course that played hard and fast.  Tiger famously only hit driver one time that week.  He was able to pick apart the golf course with precision iron play from tee to green. 

The early reports from Liverpool suggest that we'll see a different course this time around.  The course appears much greener and softer this time around.  I don't think you'll see the Masters break out, but golf balls probably won't be bouncing like they've just landed on a parking lot this year.

What this means for the players is that I think you will be forced to hit a few drivers this time around.  Hoylake is not a bomber's golf course. So, some strategy will still come into play off the tee, but the players will be pressed into trying to find some fairways with the big stick.

Royal Liverpool

 How will the big names fair?

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are the two names in golf that move the needle and generate large scale interest.  Thankfully, both players are in the field in a major for the first time since last year's PGA Championship.  Unfortunately, neither player has seen inspiring play leading up to the Open that would lead us to believe a win is in the cards for either player.  If anyone can come out of nowhere to win, though, it's these guys.  A win for Phil would give him back to back Claret Jugs and a win for Tiger would reignite his chase to surpass Jack Nicklaus' total of 18 career major wins.

Phil is hoping to make this face again this year

Can you set the alarm early enough?

ESPN does a phenomenal job of covering the Open, and they have this year's coverage for all four rounds.  They have a great crew of golf analysts and unfortunately just broadcast a few tournaments a year.  The United Kingdom is five hours ahead of the east coast and the first players will begin teeing off at before 2 AM east coast time.  The first two days ESPN is basically wall to wall from 4 AM to 3 PM.  They kick off a little later on the weekend, but make sure to drink plenty of coffee if you plan on making it through your day.

Predictions:

Dark Horses:

Miguel Angel Jimenez- The 50 year old Spaniard may be familiar to American golf fans by now.  Like the fine wine Miguel frequently enjoys, he seems to get better with age.  He's won twice on the 2013-14 European Tour and seems to pop up on major championship leaderboards often.  Don't be surprised to see him in the mix on the weekend.

Tom Watson- A member of the 60+ crowd, Tom Watson does not show his age.  He nearly won the Open at age 59 before ultimately giving way to Stewart Cink.  Tom recently showed the young pups a thing or two by making the cut at the Greenbrier Classic on the PGA Tour two weeks ago.  I don't expect Watson to threaten to win, but I would not be shocked to see him make the weekend rounds.

Tom Watson with the best set of Jugs I've ever seen

Contenders:

Graeme McDowell- Graeme would love to have a British Open on his resume to go along with the US version he has already won.  Graeme won two weeks ago in France coming from behind on Sunday and displaying some of his best form of the year.  I expect him to fair well on this shot maker's golf course.

It appears Graeme has already won the trophy

Lee Westwood- It seems like Westwood is a name we hear brought up before every major, and his game certainly warrants it.  Westwood is an impeccable ball striker and should contend this week.  However, Westwood will come up just short, again.

Lee really wants a major

Zach Johnson-  Zach held the first round lead at last year's event and is coming off a second place finish last week on Tour.  He seems to be figuring out links golf and is hitting the ball well at the moment.  His game should work well this week.

Zach would love to carry around the Claret Jug wearing his Green Jacket

Matt Kuchar- Matt is a threat to win every time he tees it up.  He is arguably the most consistently good player on the PGA Tour.  He has two straight top 15s at the Open after previously enjoying very little success.  You have to grow into links golf and Matt is doing that.  A top 10 this week should be easy for this fan favorite.

Screwdrivers out of the Claret Jug!

Justin Rose- Rose has won his last two events that he's teed it up in.  It is awfully hard to win consecutive tournaments, let alone three in a row.  Even though I expect him to carry over his good play to this week, a valiant effort will fall short of victory.

The face of determination

Adam Scott- It's not necessarily original to pick the number 1 player in the world for this list, but it is hard to ignore him.  He has played well a number of times this season and arguably should have won the Open each of the last two years.  I expect another good finish this week.

Come on Aussie!

Winner:

Henrik Stenson- Stenson was in contention nearly every time he teed it in the second half of last season.  After a slow start this year, he has quietly played well of late.  Stenson was in contention late into last year's tournament.  Stenson is an unbelievable ball striker and should be able to hole just enough putts with week to get him over the top.

This week, Henrik will do better than just look at the trophy

PJ Hairston to the Hornets, in depth analysis

As you can tell, we have mixed opinions on 9th overall pick Noah Vonleh. Here is the war room talk about P.J. Hairston, former UNC SG by way of the NBA D-League, drafted 26th overall by the Charlotte Hornets.

Matt: A great talent who, like many players before him, is not going to stay out of trouble
Of all the players who have come into the draft with character issues, the fact that PJ went as high as he did speaks volumes about his skill level.  But is he worth the risk?

Grade:C-

Before I go any further, I need a moment...

"I'm a Tar Heel born, I'm a Tar Heel bred, and when I die I'll be a Tar Heel dead.

So it's ra ra Carolina-lina, ra ra Carolina-lina, ra ra Carolina-lina GO TO HELL DUKE!"

Ok, now I can begin.  To evaluate this guy effectively, I am going to look at this the same way an NBA scout would.  First, his skill set.  If you listed the needs of the Hornets 1-10, numbers 1-5 would be shooting.  6 would be depth at the PG position, 7 would be depth inside, and 8-10 would be shooting again.  PJ can shoot the ball.  At 6'6", he is a good size for the 2 guard and has a muscular body that can finish through contact.  He needs to work on his handle and his shot selection, but this guy can score from anywhere on the floor.  The potential is there to be a starting SG on a good NBA team.  I am sure Joel will show you video below of PJ's game, so here is a game I compare him to...

Offensively, PJ has many of the same skills and tendencies as Aaron Afflalo.  Afflalo can, however, find the open man a little better and plays much stronger defense.  Coach Clifford will teach him how to play D to the level his body should allow him to, and this team is one that will share the ball, so his passing has to get better.  In looking for a shooter, you get a guy who can score from anywhere on the floor, a good find at this point.  But is it worth the risk?

Let me lay out some name for you.  Sean May, Adam Morrison, Alexis Ajinca, DJ Augustin, Brandan Wright.  What do all these players have in common?  Bust picks for the Hornets/Bobcats.  Our history has been shaky in the draft.  Where have we drafted well?  I use this phrase loosley, as our best draft pick in franchise history has been Kemba Walker.  What did he have that other players didn't?  Heart.  

Kemba Walker has heart.  Miles and miles of heart

I am not sure what the opposite of heaving heart is (other than not having heart obviously) but that is PJ.  My boy was given chance after chance after chance and kept screwing it up!  Let me sum up what he did.  He had drugs, and guns, in cars that were not his, while taking money from people he should not have taken it from.  I will leave his grades out of this one.  While his teammates were playing ball and getting better, this is what PJ was doing:

Being this close to the crew that got him in the trouble he is today is not good for a young man.  PJ is going to need some serious help to keep his head on straight.  When one thing goes wrong for this guy, 10 things will.  Keep this guy by your side MKG!

How could the Hornets get a better grade from me?  There are 3 players who would have gotten better grades than PJ. For fun, here they are in countdown form, because that is more suspenseful.

3) CJ Wilcox

Not only can this guy light it up from deep, but he plays extremely hard.  That is what we need in Charlotte. 

2) Cleanthony Early

Early should have gone much higher than he did.  He is a versatile forward who can score inside and out.  His 3-point shot is much better.  Like Hairston, he is a tough, physical guy who can rebound with ease

1) Shabazz Napier    

All he does is win.  The last time we picked a guy like this, it turned out pretty good for us in Kemba Walker.  Pick guys that are willing to do whatever it takes to get better, make his team better, and win.  There is a reason Lebron wanted this guy on his team

Joel: If Hairston stays out of trouble, he is the best player available and the best fit for the Hornets at 26
Charlotte gets a shooter, and a guy who wants to play for the Hornets. Getting Hairston this late in the draft is a major steal, has starter potential at 26 overall.

Grade: A

There's two parts of this you have to go into whenever you talk about P.J. Hairston: the basketball player and the guy with off the court troubles. Lets start with the BBall player.

 

                                                                     Yes this is the picture I chose to use. Because, the internet. 

First and foremost, Hairston is shooter with great size. The guy has a pure stroke with terrific, consistent mechanics. Anywhere in the half court he's a threat to pull up from three, and makes them at a good clip. At UNC he averaged 15 ppg his sophomore year  on nearly 40% shooting form deep. Playing in the D-league after he was um, removed, from UNC, he upped those numbers considerably to 21 ppg, though at a slightly lower 35% from three point range. Now a player with those kind of numbers at UNC would have been a top 10 draft pick. As ALL Carolina fans will tell you (literally every single one), adding Hairston's 21 ppg to the team may have brought the Tar Heels into competition for a national championship.

Carolina fans ^^^ were devastated after hearing P.J. Hairston lost his eligibility. Pictured: ^^^ what this sounded like to the rest of us. 

Matt sees the world through light blue colored glasses, and he believes P.J. can be more than just a shooter. I don't see it. He's not particularly quick, can't (doesn't?) pass, and there's not much mid range to his game (though I am intrigued by that floater, looks decent). Basically his game involves getting himself open for shots as soon as he gets the ball, but if he's just a shooter at 40% from three, he really doesn't need to have much else. Ever seen Ray Allen's crossover? Didn't think so. (I feel like I've used this joke too many times in recent blog posts. Noted) Learn how to pass and pump fake and that's a career. He is built like a truck, which could lend to being a good defensive player, but make no mistake Hairston is not currently a good defensive player.

P.J. Hairston's judgement off the court is undoubtedly the reason he fell as far as he did during the draft, and it needs to be mentioned as part of the player you are getting. Hairston was basically primed to be a star at the highest profile college basketball program in the country, and for lack of a better word, royally F@#$ed that one up. Within a month of the offseason Hairston was on the news every week. In no particular order: marijuana possession (charges dropped), impermissible benefits in the form of rental cars (several times), a handgun outside the car on a stop (no charges were filed), and speeding several times of at least 30 mph over the speed limit. Any one of these offenses by itself is not that bad, but the flipside to the high profile programs is when you're in the news every week the country is going to take notice. Eventually the impermissible benefits got Hairston banned for life from college athletics.

P.J. Hairston, who's shooting ability will either land him in the All-Star game or in jail. DEEEYAMMMN

Hairston seemed to clean his act up in the D-League, but on a personal level I believe North Carolina is probably the worst place he could have landed. You could say "He's closer to family, so he won't get in that kind of trouble again." But being close to family did little to prevent all that trouble after his high profile summer.

I'll let Kendrick Lamar explain. 

It's cuz the homies.

Look, Wells and I are local Carolina boys who grew up in or around Greensboro where Hairston is from. All that to say we at least knew people who knew Hairston. Everybody says he's not a bad guy, he was just niave and maybe a little dumb about the people he associated with, and the things he would let them talk him into. We also know where he came from, Greensboro's no Detroit, but Hairston definitely grew up hard. You have to worry about the kid being around the same crowd that got him in trouble, and hopefully he can leave that all behind.

Because we clearly need more Kendrick on the blog

Andy: Hairston addresses a glaring hole in Charlotte's roster
If PJ can stay on the straight and narrow, he should start right away and enjoy a nice career.

Grade: A-

I had the privilege of watching PJ Hairston play at Dudley High School in Greensboro.  The Dudley PA guy referred to PJ as "The Pearl."  With a nickname like that, he was destined for greatness it seemed. 

The Pearl in action

Hairston's bumpy road to the NBA has been well documented, and its not worth it to recite the details here.  Putting the past behind him will be key for PJ to fulfill his potential.  He could not have asked for a better situation to come into in the NBA.  Hairston should be given an opportunity to start at the 2 for Charlotte right away.  He is going to be surrounded by fans who (mostly) still like him.  Carolina fans will probably be quicker to forgive his transgressions than a fan base like, say New York. It should be a real asset for him to be around another Carolina great, Michael Jordan, on a day to day basis.  Charlotte has also been in desperate need of an outside scorer and Hairston should give them that presence from the get go.

His Airness

In my opinion, Hairston will need to do three things to become the player he is capable of being and the player Charlotte envisions.

1. Become a more complete scorer: At this point, I don't think Hairston is capable of driving and scoring in the lane on a consistent basis.  I believe he can add this dimension to his game given his good size and athleticism.  

     2.  Excel on the defensive end: Hairston was a pretty good perimeter defender in college, and he
          needs to bring great effort on that end of the floor night in and night out.

     3.  Avoid temptation: While I do think Charlotte is a great fit for PJ, I worry about a few things. 
          Charlotte is not far from his childhood home and from his stomping grounds where he was
          getting in trouble around Chapel Hill.  He needs to keep the bad influences out of his life.

No more of this PJ

At worst, Charlotte is getting a good outside shooter.  I believe there is always a spot on NBA rosters for good shooters.  At best, Charlotte is getting their starting shooting guard for the foreseeable future who can be their reliable scoring threat and a complete player.  I tend to lean slightly towards the latter.  If PJ can develop the areas of his game he needs to, and, more importantly stay out of trouble, he has the tools necessary to be a very good NBA player and certainly a great value for the Hornets at 26.