“We have to be mindful of not taking our fans for granted.” 

– NBA Commissioner Adam Silver

The landscape of sports is changing. As players gain more power, so does the equity of the fan with ever growing ways in which they can engage with a team. There are only so many signs in an arena and there are only so many spots for activation spaces for partners of sports teams to pop their tent up and get fans engaged in their product or make impressions. The expansion is mostly digital/social and creating new ways to get in-front of fans at home and outside the arena.

Beyond the success of a sports team this is the main way teams are increasing their profits. Selling additional assets to partners. My point being in bringing up all this boring stuff is that the level of which fans choose to engage with teams is what makes them more money. Fans have been told they aren’t necessarily needed in sports and media has played a role in downplaying their importance as well but if the pandemic has taught us anything around sports and events… That is simply not true. That asset talk will come into play later.

Charlotte sports have become the frontier of innovation in supporters groups and what the fan experience truly means. From Roaring Riot to all of the Charlotte FC Supporter groups ( I always hate to name names because there are so many and they all deserve recognition. So to avoid being rude I will be broad) and dare I give ourselves a compliment?

Though they may not reach every fan the groups have done a tremendous job of doing some pretty revolutionary stuff at a grassroots level for a town that is pegged as not being a sports town. Charlotte deserves to pat itself on the back for that. Across Charlotte we truly are a Hornets nest of rebellion and fans are fighting to “CHANGE THE CULTURE”. The oldest sports team in this town is barely in their 30’s and the generation that grew up with these teams have taken the reigns with a vengeance to change the “wine and cheese” narrative. This city grows so fast that I often think we do not take a moment to marvel in what has happened because we are eager for the next task. So this is my “kudos to you Charlotte!”. When we started Bring Back The Buzz 11-12 years ago we couldn’t have imagined this city would be doing this from soccer to football to basketball and beyond.

That being said, we’ve still got some work to do. “what’s next?”

Last year for the first time in about 5 years my brother and I left the bottom bowl of Spectrum Arena and went back up top. There were several factors but the driving force for us was that it rarely felt like we were surrounded by “fans”. Up top we sit next to the same fans every night who care about the team and for some being their took sacrifices. They love this team. They become friends you see every night and talk about family with and have conversations about the roster and rotations I’ve rarely had down low. Also, the chances of me being asked to sit in the 4th quarter when the game is tied with 4 minutes left severely drops.

Now I’m not saying there aren’t passionate fans down below because we know them by name as a fanbase from Jameet, Charlotte Man, Sombrero Man etc. But the issue is they are speckled around the lower bowl. We’ve all made the jokes about how the lower bowl has a corporate vibe. Companies giving their best sales man of the month tickets to the game and he shows up wearing a blue and yellow polo unaware we are even playing the Pacers. We lack a real presence as fans in the paint.

On our trip to Atlanta for Crown Club pictured above we had an interesting experience. We were organized and loud in the upper bowl. plenty of Hornets fans in the arena. similar to how we feel sometimes in Charlotte when we look around and see a lot of opposing fans… The only thing that took us out of the game was (honestly we were losing bad BUT) that Atlanta had a supporters section that drowned us out because they had more numbers (home), were together, were organized and close to the court.

Next, we went to NOLA…

This time in New Orleans we sat down low next to the basket. Not a massive amount of people. about 30 in our section and 40+ around the arena.

We took over Smoothie King Center. New Orleans fans and media took to twitter to talk about how loud we were. We were getting messages from people hearing us through the broadcast as Dell and Eric commented on the presence. Sam Farber mentioned it on the radio broadcast BUT most importantly I could see the shock in the Hornets players eyes. I’m not gonna say those fans changed the outcome of the game but I will say they put a little bounce in the player’s steps. There were less of us BUT it sure didn’t feel like it.

Just a handful of fans in New Orleans did that. Imagine what could be done at the Hive with a similar collection of people to lead chants, stand all game and ensure this small market still has hope for a home court advantage when the Knicks, Lakers and Celtics of the league come to town.

Some of you may recall the Cat Crazies of the Bobcats days… a seven win season was not kind to those faithful warriors but it proves there has been a seed of this desire for quite some time in this city. Now just is the proper season to water and nurture that if we want to “Change the Culture”. We’ve seen the success of such an operation across town and even Tepper mentioned his desire to bring a section for the Panthers one day in the future.

The issue with the Panthers and Hornets is 20-30 years of season tickets, corporate sponsors seats etc. that you would need in order to carve out this section. Well Atlanta proved to me it’s possible if the desire from the team is there.

I think your average fan can see the benefit of such a section especially with recent evidence. The issue is the aforementioned desire from a team. Which brings in my opening paragraphs. Where can the fans create that desire? By the section being a partner branded asset that the team can sell.

I can already hear the groans but when some thing is dug in so deeply for so long we do not have the luxury of being a Charlotte FC who had a section from the very beginning. It will be a grind. The sponsored asset is likely needed to move the needle for the Hornets.

The key to the success of this is that this is a relationship of all parties and in order to succeed needs to be authentic in nature. The Hornets and partner must understand that the value in this section IS the fan and if you are going to have a “supporters section” the supporters need to be involved.

THIS was not an article on HOW but more about the WHY so I will not get into the details of 70% STH and %30 and all the logistics at this point. This article was to articulate that Charlotte is growing up and we have innovative ideas on how we want to support our teams. We would like that opportunity to build our culture especially when it can be a win on and off the floor for the Hornets.

BY TYLER BALL

After days of rumors swarming across social media about multiple NFL teams potentially trading for Houston Texans star QB Deshaun Watson, one surprising team atop of the prediction lists is the Carolina Panthers. The big questions at hand are does this trade make sense for a team one season after an almost complete rebuild, and at this point is another new QB the real answer to getting the Panthers back on top in the NFC South.

For this trade to be taken seriously the Panthers would need to basically demolish most of the strongest assets the team has at this time for one player. Some predictions are suggesting trading QB Teddy Bridgewater, DE Brian Burns, RB Christian McCaffrey , and LB Shaq Thompson in addition to 2021 8th 1st round draft pick, as well as up to two or three more picks in the 2022 draft. 

Whenever a team is struggling or in the middle of a rebuilding season there are three people that get blamed: the head coach, WR, and the QB. But the real thing that needs to be analyzed is why are the pieces not working. Is it really the QB or is it another part of the process that isn’t meshing as well as it could?

At this time, I think Bridgewaters stats show he can make completions, he can work the field on his feet as well as his arm. He was able to make a viable offensive threat for WR duo Robby Anderson and D.J. Moore, both of which produced over 1,000 yards this season. However, I think he can be more accurate with strong additions to the RT and O-line. Bridgewater was rushed and sacked almost more than any other QB in the NFC South this season. I think it would be ideal to attempt getting a strong TE candidate in the draft or offseason to help get relief for both blocking and converting third downs. This would allow Moore and Samuel to become more viable targets down field, presuming Bridgewater has the time to make accurate throws. Another benefit to this strategy would provide better offensive blocking for RBs. 

Honestly, I think this trade would be a mistake considering trading all aspects of leadership on offense and defense for one player. There is never any guarantee on their success with new teams and if the original problems are not addressed then can we really expect to improve with a new QB to start the season. Coach Rhule has already proved he knows how to draft strong talent, I think he deserves the chance to draft and recruit for the Offense before we throw in the towel.

Fair warning, this is gonna read like you opened a recipe for a dish and the author spends the first 8 pages talking about how she loves casseroles because her grandmother used to make it when she was a kid and then she proceeds to tell you her life’s story while you turn to skin and bones furiously scrolling and waiting for the sweet embrace of the ingredients and directions.

We received a couple messages a month or two ago with renderings of the jersey of the new city edition uniforms. We didn’t share because we couldn’t verify the sources or the authenticity. So we sat on them to be sure.

During that time I went through a range of emotions about the jersey. Admittedly, my initial reaction was confusion. We talked about how the mint was too close to teal and how the contrast was just too confusing especially for a fanbase that already felt like the modern franchise had doctored the teal color from the old Hornets franchise (which just isn’t true, it’s just different material and ratio of colors that is playing a trick on your eyes). This is a fanbase that holds very dear it’s teal and purple and holds it’s branding in higher regards and priority than probably any other fanbase in the NBA and probably all of sports. We haven’t had much else.

Then, without reading any description aids from the Hornets I began to think about the colors, the potential meaning, the fact this was our hypothetical “City Edition” jerseys and like the Grinch’s heart my fondness for the jerseys began to grow.

We are often pegged as a place without culture, identity and history because of the rate of which this city has grown. Our history isn’t shared or taught and much of the physical evidence of it has been destroyed or lost somewhere along the journey. We often talk on our podcast about growing up in Charlotte and how we wished the city would be big and get the recognition and respect we thought it deserved. We talked about how that growth was a double edged sword. We got the nice, shiny and entertaining things but we also lost our identity and some of the institutions that made this place Charlotte.

History, those who move here very rarely seek it out and so most believe it simply doesn’t exist. It’s not entirely their fault as we have also done a poor job of maintaining it and holding it to any level of importance.

Partially, that realization was the origin of Bring Back The Buzz. it wasn’t just an NBA team from the 80’s/90’s. It was a moniker given to us in the Revolutionary War. It was something we as a region took great pride in from naval ships to sports teams to symbols of our local government we branded ourselves a Hornets Nest and took great pride in that. We were fighters.

The two of us were lucky enough to have a mother who is a bit of a historian. She studied anthropology and thus made history a very important part of our childhood. She volunteered at the Charlotte Museum of History and worked in Special Collections at UNC Charlotte. Though she was from Pennsylvania she made sure we knew where we were from and that we knew it’s story. We were privileged that she had access to all the information that the average person in this city does not. Not much of that information is readily available to the public and so it is not celebrated.

This brings me back to the Hornets uniforms. The “City Edition” uniforms. The team that made Charlotte world famous and put the town on the map. It makes me happy to see them celebrate our culture nationally in a way that frankly we haven’t done as a city since we named the team the Hornets in ’88 or brought back in ’14.

This team gave this city’s own citizens a history lesson by simply putting Mint (Charlotte having the first US branch Mint), Gold (The Carolina Gold Rush of the 1800’s) and Granite (The State Rock) on a jersey. Then they put “Trade & Tryon” on the court, the Independence Square that is the foundation of this city and why we are even here. Within hours of the reveal people learned something about the place they call home and if that isn’t a “City Edition” jersey then I don’t know what is.

The Hornets posted a teaser on social media, an image of pinstripes last week that alluded to an impending announcement. Fans speculate that these would be new pinstripe uniforms and they were correct in their assumption.

The following day they posted a video of players reactions to what we assume are the uniforms. The very next day they posted a graphic with the date 8.27.20 and in Hornets fashion their plans were interrupted when on that date by the league players planning what some incorrectly called a “boycott”. Out of respect the Hornets announced that they would be delaying their reveal to the fans by a couple days and admitted that their speculation of new uniforms was spot on.

This delay made two things happen. gave the Hornets a little more time to talk the strategy of their announcement and which they altered by welcoming media in to a preview a couple hours before the fans AND to also to pair the unveiling of uniforms with another announcement we will be sharing soon.

The zoom unveiling allowed media to hear directly from Hornets Senior Vice President Seth Bennett on the logic behind the design and even ask some questions.

So after we share the designs of the Icon and Association jerseys with you we have jotted down some notes, thoughts and takeaways from that zoom call.

NOTES FROM MEETING

• Always the first question. When can I buy them? The aim is for them to be available world wide by Oct. 1st
• There is a 5 year minimum on updates for Association and Icon uniforms and this had been in the works since 2016. This is the reason we stayed with old design for so long. This also means these are our jerseys til at least 2025
• These are basically our main jersey. replacing the ones that many deemed bland and safe
• This was designed with Jordan brand, NBA and the same “rare design” company who designed our first uniforms all took part in this.
• There is no maximum amount of times this uniform can be worn like there are restrictions for city and statement edition uniforms
• The Hornets purposely tried to tie together all the different eras of Hornets uniforms into this design. you’ll even notice the double pinstripe which is an ode to the 1997-02 uniforms (Which the Hornets plan to bring back and wear for classic nights sometime in the coming years. maybe an anniversary).
• Still working on details for this years city edition uniforms for this season
• Statement uniforms will remain as the purple CHA’s for at least one more season
• We speculate that the city edition will likely have pinstripes as well and will revert back to Buzz City.
• They specifically mentioned several times that fan feedback played a huge role in their designs. They listened to fans comments on social media as well as watched fan polls. Meaning your voice was heard so don’t ever stop sharing your thoughts because you could help with the next uniform design.

 

I know some people don’t care about branding and a lot of people don’t care about about it as much as the bitching and moaning Buzz Brothers. People say things like “who cares about the logo? let’s just win basketball games.” and I understand that sentiment for sure but I can care about both. They aren’t mutually exclusive.

I can be excited about Graham’s start to this season and how he’s expanded his game with Kemba’s departure and hate the CHA abbreviation. I can be pissed about our lack of defense, Batum taking time from Cody, etc. and want a good brand.

The thing is the only time in recent history I have felt like we have done a decent jersey for the brand were the first 2 Buzz City jerseys. Beyond that we have been very bland and safe with a brand that was iconic for being bold and original. Our brand is very much a part of who we are as a culture and I’ve felt like we’ve come up short recently and it especially ticks me off when it’s bland on something we call our “city edition uniforms”

Flashback a couple months and the Hornets unveiled the purple CHA jerseys to a very “wtf” reaction. The almost unanimous reaction inside the city of Charlotte was “Who the hell is CHA?”. “Chattanooga?”. “Uhhh We are CLT not CHA.” and they were even made fun of by people who live in the city who aren’t even fans of the team.

Did the Hornets take note? Did they go back like the producers of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie and think “hmm maybe the fans know what they want better than we do?” No. They doubled down on the asinine, laughable abbreviation of our city name. Cus they think they know better and fans are gonna have to drag them kicking and screaming to make the right decision and honestly make them money like we did with the Hornets name. The point of the city edition jerseys is to draw inspiration from the city or region you are located in. What design elements here tell the story of our region? The only part is CHA and it ignores what the city has been using for over 50 years. And why is the Jordan logo a part of the city edition explanation? Here’s their breakdown…

“BUt guyS It’S beCAusE tHe bRoADcaSt aBBreViATiOn Is CHA”

This lie that we somehow have to use that abbreviation because it’s our broadcast abbreviation is complete BS. Somehow we played Brooklyn the other night and look at what these rebels managed to sneak on the floor wearing..

How about Minnesota?

The 76ers?

I mean this can go on and on.

The real reason we are wearing CHA is simply because of some Jordan shoes that came out in 2016…

We are wearing this abbreviation because of Jordan brand knowing that they could make money of the teal and purple brand just took the broadcast abbreviation instead of doing 10 seconds of research and realizing we go by CLT. So in the Hornets organization’s infinite wisdom they felt like they could make CHA a thing and stuck with it.

Wouldn’t be the first time we used somebody on our brand who didn’t take the time to appreciate the importance and didn’t take the time to do the research. In 2014-15 Jordan Brand approached a graphic designer on behalf of the Hornets to carry out the design of the new logo. On this person’s website once they had completed the project had our Bring Back The Buzz concept hornet logo (below) listed as the “Before” hornets logo. .

We didn’t care about our logo being on his website but it was the lack of research and to put the rebrand in the hands of a designer who didn’t know the difference that is clear to any slightly competent Hornets fan. This designer worked in collaboration with a company called Rare Design who is still involved with our team’s branding to this day. On the left is our jersey concept that our designer made. On the right is the wordmark they created.

The following year this company went down to Atlanta… The closest NBA city, our 85 rivalry and literally copied their own homework.

Jordan brand is the one approaching these designers on behalf of the Hornets and they took an iconic and bold brand that was known for being progressive and that took risks and created these bland jerseys with a quote from the designer saying

“I created a range of hornet icons which strived to balance an approachable, team-sports look with the simplicity and fierce aura of the Jordan Brand aesthetic”

We are basing the Hornets brand off the Jordan brand?! WHY?!?!

One often gets the feeling that the Hornets brand is becoming second fiddle to the Jordan brand as each announcement, advertisement or co-branded release comes out the Jordan logo gets bigger and bigger and sometimes comically larger than the Hornets logo who is supposedly the headliner.

I just feel like we are playing it safe in order to appease Jordan Brand and Nike rather than being the trendsetters we became known as across the world.

I don’t even hate the gray. I hate the tone deaf CHA and the uninspired design. I hate this assumption that it’s just about teal and purple and we’ll buy it. I hate that we took something beloved and cherished by the fans and turned it into something as mediocre as the play has been on the court for the last 15 years.

When Bleacher Report wrote their article on the Hornets recently signed PG Terry Rozier they probably intended the reader to leave with a greater and deeper understanding of “Scary Terry’s” demeanor, how his upbringing created someone with a drive and attitude that made them a believer in themselves so much so that they gambled on themselves in NBA free agency.

They probably intended for the reader to be shocked by the behind the scenes and honest look at how Terry turned down the Knicks and the Suns and agreed to a deal with the Hornets at a three-year, $58 Million deal.

“I’d be a fool if I was to go anywhere else or turn down that,” -Terry Rozier

Terry came into Charlotte not really understanding the dynamics or the tense atmosphere that is currently surround this team and the executives… and that’s not his fault.

Terry has a swagger and confidence that isn’t like Kemba. What makes him different from Kemba is that he’s about Terry, not the team to the degree Kemba was (that’s damn near impossible to find in the league), BUT he will still compete and fight his ass off to show that he earned that money and that he is worth every penny (which will be very hard)… and that’s okay.

He’s not going to be another Kemba and the fanbase shouldn’t expect him to “fill those shoes”.

BUT what Hornets fans should be talking about is not whether or not Terry is worth the deal. The fanbase has already had that discussion. We may be uncomfortable with the amount of money we spent on him but that speaks to a greater concern we have with management, we do not hold that against him nor do we hold the Kemba debacle against him.

We shouldn’t be talking on if it was the right decisions but more so on the unintended revelation that came from Terry, it’s the message that came between the lines that Hornets fans and the rest of the NBA world should be talking about…

“I look at it as just a team, organization believing in me. Knowing that I want to prove myself in this league and giving me that chance is bigger than anything and [their willingness] to pay me a right amount of money, it was just big and the guy that was behind all that was Michael Jordan. It’s still surreal to me.” -Terry Rozier

It was the line “the guy that was behind all that was Michael Jordan. It’s still surreal to me.”that will make Hornets fans cringe and throw up their hands in disbelief or  exclaim an “AHA I knew it!”

Terry was well on his way to signing with Phoenix when JORDAN intervened in a basketball operations decision….

“Mike was overseas, and I can just picture him probably having a cigar in his mouth and the words he told Mitch [Kupchak], the GM, was like: ‘Get him over here. Do what you need to do to get him over here.'” – Terry Rozier

This isn’t about whether or not Terry is a bad signing or whether or not Jordan should have stepped in during these negotiations.

This is bigger. This is proof that he is STILL meddling in basketball operations and has never stopped.

HES IS JUST AS CULPABLE AS MITCH AND CHO.

While I believe most Hornets fans have known of Jordan’s involvement in basketball operations… there have still been some in denial and giving him the benefit of the doubt by saying there is no proof.

He didn’t just take a break and decide to step in here. He’s BEEN involved and will continue to be involved and will be his own worst enemy and have the final say.

You may say “he’s the owner, it’s his team and his money”… fine… then it’s also his fault.

Jordan can say that he took a step back with Cho and let him take control but the evidence is stacking up to the contrary. He can’t help but involve himself in personnel/talent decisions. He can’t help but tell his GM to ‘go after X player” or “draft X player” or in this instance “get him over here.”

Jordan has been involved in exactly where he shouldn’t be and isn’t involved where he should be.  

Even if this works out and Terry balls out, this doesn’t exactly give Jordan any credibility because he’s been wrong so many times before. He’s still got a ways to go.

No fan wants him to be involved in talent evaluation OR in the decision making BUT we would be happy if he was just Michael Jordan to the free agents that our GM is chasing. Just be the legend that gives them the phone call to say “hi” and make them say “oh shit it’s MJ”.

AND if you insist on being involved in personnel decisions and are present in the “war room” on draft night then your ass needs to be there at these press conferences. Your ass needs to get in front of a microphone and camera and tell us what the plan is next to Mitch and explain to us why we lost Kemba. If you won’t even do that then get out of your own way.

I want him to treat the Hornet s like he does Jordan Brand. Jordan is not in there designing these shoes (we’ve all seen how he dresses) and he’s not making the business decisions… that man just signs the checks, receives the checks and makes a public appearance when it necessary. That may not seem fun to him BUT so far it’s the only thing he hasn’t tried and his way hasn’t worked. If he wants to do something then work on marketing and work on the brand.

Here’s the thing.. Jordan will get the credit when things go well. We know that. If Terry pans out he will get credit. He will be there holding the trophy if we win a championship and rightfully so BUT we cant absolve him when things go wrong because he went to UNC and you like that school, he’s the GOAT and you grew up loving him, etc.

AND quit defending him. quit moving the goal post and changing the issue with Jordan. There it is. he’s involved. Just own it.

 

 

written by redditor we mention below on the r/nba sub.

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With the NBA offseason mostly settled (?), we can start to look back and judge just how well these organizations fared. Given that, we’re reviewing some of the best and worst offseasons so far. Unfortunately, we’re embracing our evil Debbie Downer side today with a negative “Executive Indecision” post about a popular punching bag.

EXECUTIVE INDECISION: CHARLOTTE HORNETS

PART ONE: HELLO DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND

As far as relevance with the modern NBA fans go, the Charlotte Hornets rank right on par with Simon and Garfunkel. The franchise may be the most anonymous in the league right now, mentioned only to be mocked by this sub (the r/nba sub on reddit).

Even we trolls can be empathetic though, and we can understand the team’s dilemma coming into this offseason. The team’s one signature star — PG Kemba Walker — was slated for free agency, and eligible for a sizable max after making third team All-NBA. Re-signing Walker to a massive extension may have appeased the fan base and ownership group and represented one ray of light in an otherwise gloomy situation.

But honestly? Re-signing Walker to a super-max would have been the wrong move. Kemba Walker has improved and improved and improved every season in the league, but the last three seasons he’s led the Hornets to records of 36-46, 36-46, and 39-43. In an ideal world, you could improve the supporting cast around Walker, but that’s made more difficult by the “bad money” still on the books (Bismack Biyombo at $17M, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at $13M) and a smaller market. The team would have been stuck in place. And if the Hornets couldn’t make waves with Walker at age 29, what logical hopes could they have to win with Walker at age 32? And age 33?

Rather than try to frantically doggle paddle to stay afloat (in the 35-40 win range), the Charlotte Hornets decided to hold their breath and drown to the bottom of the standings. That makes total sense. They needed to torch the building and start over. Through that lens, shaking Walker’s hand and wishing him well was the best decision for both parties. I can even understand the decision to let Jeremy Lamb go (even if he signed a super-cheap $10M contract with Indiana.) At 27, even Lamb was too old for this timeline. Without Walker, the Hornets waved the white flag and acknowledged the deep, DEEP rebuild on their hands. It may 3-4 years before they resurface again.

PART TWO: A VISION SOFTLY CREEPING / LEFT ITS SEEDS WHILE I WAS SLEEPING

The decision to let Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb go and to embrace the darkness may have been a tough pill to swallow, but it was the right medicine to take for what ailed this franchise (dreaded mediocrity.) In some ways, Charlotte’s direction could have mirrored the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies were another small market team that found itself struggling with the decision about whether to blow it up or not for several years now. For them, there was a fear that their market and financial uncertainty wouldn’t allow them to outright tank. Eventually, Memphis decided to pull the trigger and trade Marc Gasol and then Mike Conley so they could fully hand it over to the young bucks.

Did the fans revolt? Did they burn their jerseys? No.

Modern basketball fans are savvy, and understand the natural ebbs and flows of a franchise. If anything, Grizzlies fans were happy to watch Gasol and Conley go to destinations where they could compete for titles. Better yet, they were left with a new generation in Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. that they could get excited about. If anything, fans of rebuilding/tanking teams get MORE invested in their franchise than mediocre teams, because optimism can run rampant. It’s fun to be a fan of rebuilding teams (be it Memphis or a “Processing” Philadelphia 76ers a few years back.)

With that in mind, the Charlotte Hornets could now pivot and hand more responsibilities to their young guns in order to see what they may become. After two years in the NBA, SG Malik Monk still hasn’t looked comfortable, but perhaps he could thrive in a different role. The undersized SG was always an odd fit next to Kemba Walker, but theoretically he could blossom as a scorer with a longer leash. Last year’s lottery pick SF Miles Bridges was on-and-off, but certainly has the physical talent to become a solid starter. I also like this year’s lottery pick, PF P.J. Washington(Kentucky). He’s quite talented himself, and would have been taken even higher if not for durability concerns.

To be fair, no one is expecting Malik Monk, Miles Bridges, and/or P.J. Washington to develop into MVP candidates who can carry a franchise on their back. If they turn out to be long-term starters, that’s a “win” and that’s the type of prospect you should expect in the late lottery. Getting a pick in the high lottery (1-5) is truly where the Hornets needed to be to secure a great shot at a future star. And given that, the Hornets decision to let Kemba Walker go makes even more sense. This team didn’t need to get bad — they needed to get VERY bad. By hook or by crook, they needed to secure a top 5 pick next season and potentially the next few seasons after that. They need their Ja Morant-Jaren Jackson Jr. They need their Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid. They need potential superstars. And to do that, they need to suck ass.

PART THREE: MY EYES WERE STABBED BY A FLASH OF NEON LIGHT

I was completely on board with the Charlotte Hornets’ tear down, until I saw some strange words in my reddit feed. The Hornets sign PG Terry Rozier. For 3 years. For $56.7 million dollars. ($18.9M per year average.) Wait, really? Was this an RDAmbition situation here?

Nope. Turns out this was real. Very very real.

Honestly, I’m shocked that a team would go that far to secure Terry Rozier. Throughout his career with the Celtics, I always scoffed and rolled my eyes at the wild rumors surrounding Rozier. The idea that he was a valuable trade piece. The reports that teams were going to offer him $15M+ a year in free agency. Whatever. I completely wrote those off as absurd spin by Rozier’s representatives. But clearly, joke’s on me, because either I am wildly out of touch with basketball or Charlotte GM Mitch Kupchak is. (And he’s never signed bad contracts before, right?)

Let’s dig into the specifics of my skepticism here. Rozier has now played 4 seasons in the NBA, so it’s hard to give him the benefit of the doubt as some rising prospect. And now, through season 4, he’s shot a grand total of 38.0% from the field. He’s a solid three-point shooter (35.3%) but he can’t convert inside (40.4% from two for his career.) He also doesn’t get to the line very often (under 3 FTA, even when starting.) All told, he’s a player that has scored with a true shooting percentage of 49.2% (career high 52%) in a league where 55% is the standard.

And sadly, scoring is the trait that he’s supposed to bring to the table. By the standards of point guards, he’s not a good playmaker and passer (4.6 assists per 36 minutes.) He’s a decent defender, but nothing exceptional on that end (ESPN RPM grades him a -0.04 last season.) He has good energy, but it can often veer into the “out of control” and into tunnel-vision scoring.

The natural defense is: there’s a difference between Terry Rozier and “STARTER!” Terry Rozier. Okay. Sure. Through his 30 regular season starts, Terry Rozier has played much better. But again, we’re talking about a 30 game sample size here. And in those 30 games, Rozier’s shooting from beyond the arc has ballooned up to over 40% (despite being a 35.4% career shooter from three.) There’s merit to the idea that a starter would play with more confidence, but the idea that starting a game would magically improve your shooting by 5% strains credibility. Simply: the Hornets are gambling on a small sample size here and put themselves at a risk for regression.

To be fair, I expect Terry Rozier to put up good raw numbers with this team. Almost any starting PG will put up decent stats, whether he’s Dennis Schroeder or Elfrid Payton or whoever else. With the greenlight, Rozier should be jacking up threes and should easily score 18+ PPG. But the idea that (likely inefficient) scoring will translate to winning basketball is very dicy. And if it doeslead to 5+ wins? That’s not good, either. The Hornets may push themselves past other young teams like Cleveland and Memphis and fall behind the tanking eight-ball. In theory, the new lottery reforms makes it irrelevant if you’re # 1 or # 4 in the order (since they have the same chance at the top pick), but that slotting still matters if you don’t win the lottery. There can be a big difference between pick # 5 and pick # 7, and the Hornets need to land as high as possible.

Adding a veteran like Rozier doesn’t help to that end, and may potentially lock them into a long-term contract and limit their roster flexibility going forward. It’s a little too early to dig into the 2020 prospects, but tankathon does exactly that, and lists 4 of the top 7 prospects for next season as either PGs or PG/SGs. The Hornets need to be in a position to take the best player available in the next draft, and shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not the prideful Rozier will poison the well for a rookie PG.

If there’s any positive here, it’s that Rozier’s contract de-escalates (from $20M to $19M to $18M) so he may become more “tradeable” as an asset as the contract wears on. However, if he puts up inefficient numbers, that will be hard to move regardless.

PART FOUR: MY WORDS LIKE SILENT RAINDROPS FELL

As mentioned in the post about the New York Knicks, it’s always easier to play Monday morningquarterback and criticize a plan; it’s a lot harder to offer a feasible one of your own. So when I criticize a franchise’s moves, I need to submit my own plan as to a better alternative.

If you’ve read this ranting manifesto, you’d know that I would not have signed Terry Rozier to a $19M a year contract (especially for 3 seasons.) I would not have signed any expensive free agent, and would have fully committed to a rebuild. You don’t necessarily have to “tank” and purposefully lose games with a team of scrubs. Simply handing the reins over to a very young team tends to do that on its own. The team should play a lot of Malik Monk, a lot of Miles Bridges, a lot of P.J. Washington, and see what they have on their hands going forward. If the team lost 60 games in the process, even better.

To be fair, there’s something to be said for developing good habits and honing your playing style. Not signing any true PG at all could have been problematic in that regard. Young teams that don’t have field generals can often stagnate and stall — as we’ve seen with the Phoenix Suns over the last few years. However, you don’t have to spend $20M to land a solid, steadying PG. Among the options that these Hornets could have gone for included Tyus Jones (who signed for $8.8M a year), T.J. McConnell (who signed for $3.5M), or even someone like Tim Frazier (who signed for $1.9M.) Would T.J. McConnell or Tim Frazier have helped the team win games? Probably not. And that’s good. Moreover, those pass-first point guards may have been able to help run the offense and facilitate the young guns’ own scoring and development.

The other avenue that I would have liked the Hornets to explore would be selling off the remaining spare pieces. Still only 26, Cody Zeller could be worth keeping around, but the team should assess the market for those that won’t be part of the future. For example, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is overpaid ($13M expiring), but he’s also a former # 2 pick that may still have fans somewhere. Perhaps a team would have given up a tiny asset (even a R2 pick) for him. PF Marvin Williams ($15M expiring) is another option for that as well. Unlike MKG, he’s proven to be a playable and positive rotational player (if not pure starter). Williams is not cheap, but he can help out quite a few different playoff teams right now.

A veteran player like Marvin Williams has some tangible value to the Charlotte Hornets right now because he’s a good mentor for their younger prospects, so you wouldn’t simply give him away for free. And “free” may be the estimated return for him given his price tag. However, if you presume that you’re taking in a bad contract or two in return (say Meyers Leonard from Miami, for example) then you may be able to squeeze out an asset along with it. In some ways, it works on both fronts. You allow Williams the opportunity to contribute in the playoffs, and you make your own team worse (in anticipation of a high lottery pick.)

More than anything, that’s the takeaway from this Charlotte criticism. If you blow it up (as you should), then you better bring out all the dynamite you can and demolish as much as you can. Taking two steps back and one step forward is not the right approach. Somewhere, Art Garfunkel is nodding solemnly in agreement about regrettable decisions (like integrating 1970s references in a post on Reddit.)

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u/ZandrickEllison was kind enough to let us host this post on our website. Be sure to follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/Zan_Ellison and check out the podcast for more.