8 Hornets to Protect in Expansion Draft | Paul George SHADES Charlotte | Why Kon Should Play Tonight

8 Hornets to Protect in Expansion Draft | Paul George SHADES Charlotte | Why Kon Should Play Tonight

Today on Locked on Hornets, I answer your sickest questions from the sicko satchel, including which eight players I would protect in an expansion draft type of situation. Why is Paul George being so mean to the Charlotte Hornets? What costume am I going to wear when this channel eclipses 10,000 subscribers on YouTube? Uh there is a Mount Rushmore question in here. We’ve got a lot to get to. Plus, summer league game four preview. It’s a big one. Let’s get to it. Locked on Hornets. You are Locked on Hornets, your daily Charlotte Hornets podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. In a minute cuz we live. [Music] Welcome in. Welcome in. Welcome in. This is Locked On Hornets. We are part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. I’m Doug Branson. You can follow my work on every Hornetsboxcore.com where I will be doing a write up of summer league game 4 recapping everything that happens. We’ll be previewing what happens, what will happen a little bit later in the show. I’m typically joined by Walker Mail of WFNZ, the Wesson Walker Show, 12 to 3. He’s on vacation for the rest of the week. I’m solo today and then tomorrow, David Walker, former co-host of the show, current family member of the show, will be joining me to wrap up the week that was. But we have got a lot of questions from the Siko Brigade. Join subtext.comlockedonhornets. If you want to join the Sicko Brigade, you help support the show. You also get a direct line to me and it comes to my phone. We text back and forth. It’s a very cool thing. And it’s the official home of the sicko satchel where Hornet sickos, those that we just can’t stop. We cannot stop being irrational about this team. I wish there was a medicine. I wish there was something I could take uh to make me uh feel different feelings about this team, but I just can’t. I’m sick and so are you. And and we’ve got some great questions. Um so, let me remind you of a few things. You can subscribe to this podcast on YouTube. audio. Take us with you on the go if you like to watch us, but sometimes you’re at the gym, sometimes you’re in the car. Uh you can take us on the go on Apple podcast or Spotify or whatever you use to listen to audio podcast. If you’ve been supporting the show a long time in audio because we’ve been doing this show uh nearly 10 years and a vast majority of those 10 years have been spent doing audio only podcast. But now we have a YouTube channel and it is growing. It is eclipsed 9,000 subscribers. I want to get to 10K by the by the end of the NBA Cup. I’m not even going to say playoffs. I’m going to say let’s get to 10K by the end of the NBA Cup. And that way we’ll pass the the Locked On Suns podcast, which is really my only goal. I just want to pass them. We’ve already given them all of our centers. I now want to pass the Locked Ons podcast. I don’t know why I have this agenda. Those gentlemen over there do a fantastic job. Love Ben. Uh love Brendan. Uh no, no qualms with them. I just have this irrational desire to pass Locked on Sons um in the subscriber count. So, help us do that. Go to YouTube, hit subscribe. Okay, time to dig around the sicko satchel. And uh we get to first Bam Bam of the 21st Ricky Pierce division aka the Flying Big Paper Daddies. And Bam Bam asks this question. How do you define a successful 202526 season? Side note, Re Paul George speaking with Baron Davis said he would never go to Charlotte to play even though he likes the city. What type of success would the Hornets have to have in order to change free agents minds to want to play for us? In my opinion, it would be to make the playoffs outright and look competitive in the series. So, this is what Paul George, this is one of the quotes from Paul George on the Charlotte Hornets on why he would never sign with Charlotte. quote, “I’m not picking Charlotte just because there’s no winning culture there. Charlotte’s an amazing city. I can see myself living there, but my career is over with if I go there.” Unquote. Paul George right now, another arthoroscopic procedure on his knee, procedure P, playoff P, DNP. Uh, this is a guy that is not playing much verymore. What I think there are a lot of questions about what the future of his career looks like. Um, so I don’t I don’t know that this question is really about I think Bam Bam’s on the right track. like what is what do the Hornets have to do to attract the next Paul George type of player rather than what do you have to do to to attract Paul George necessarily, but I think players are a lot are a lot like fans in a way and just human beings in a way that like you have a lot of things going on and so and I talk about this with the national media too like they have a lot to cover and so they’re going to cover the biggest stories, the biggest teams or the biggest fan bases and when they have to cover the Charlotte Hornets for some reason, you’re going to hear something that’s not quite right because they’re being fed information maybe by people that are just catching up, producers that are just catching up on the Hornets as well. And you know, they have to they have to be general with it because they have not been following it all the way. You only get the nuance. You only get the understanding if you follow stuff as closely as we do. That’s what makes this podcast special and all of the local podcasts on the Locked On Network. So, I don’t blame Paul George for not knowing that the Charlotte Hornets are building a winning culture right now. They are in the midst of it. It’s not a finished project. And so, I guess that’s the answer to the question like finish the project. And how do you finish building a winner winning culture? You win. You win things. You win. You challenge for the NBA Cup. You win playin games. You don’t get smoked in playin games. You win them. And then you go to first round playoff series and you win those which is not even something that the 1516 the last time they were in the postseason they could not win a first round series unfortunately. So that’s how you do it. You’re on national television and people are talking about you like these these players they listen they listen to national media they watch national media. So like you know they’re Paul George is not checking this show out. That’s just reality. So that’s, you know, that’s I think that’s the answer to the question. How would I define a successful season this season? Uh, one in which LaMelo Ball plays 60 plus games, Brandon Miller plays 70 plus games. Uh, one in which you’re you’re able to both stay competitive and maybe obtain a few extra assets for a move in 26 27 summer. Like I think all of those if they get to the playoffs, great. That’s awesome. Getting playoff experience, postseason experience, even if it’s playin experience, games with stakes, even NBA Cup, if they were to sneak in back door into the NBA Cup, give these players, these young players, games with stakes, all of that, I think, would combine to be a successful season. Uh if they don’t make the playoffs, to me, that doesn’t make it an unsuccessful season. I’ll just kind of say that off the bat. Not this season. I think next season will be the one where you go, okay, it’s do or die. You’ve got to you’ve got to do something. But they have to be competitive this season. It cannot be a wash out um at the end of the year. Um all right, next question here. I’m going to try to get to as many of these as possible. There were a lot and I’m going to selfishly answer as many as possible and not save any for Walker to answer later on or or David Walker. May maybe I’ll save one for David. There was one really interesting one that I think he would have some insight on. All right, here we go. Moving on. Schuman, we’ll get one more here in this segment. Schuman of the 22nd Mullins Regiment says, “Summer league is for feelings.” So, let’s do a quick word association to see how you’re feeling about our team. All right. So, word association wants one word. One word. First word that comes to mind for offense. Shooier. They’ve added a lot of shooters. They’ve added people with shot quality talent, you know? I mean, I don’t know if the percentages for everybody’s going to uh light it up, but like you’ve got players that are going to be threats from beyond the ark. Defense bootier, like they’ve gotten worse defensively, right? I mean, just when you look at what the individual players are capable of, but but and I think this is a big butt and I need to dig into this with Walker in future shows. One of the reasons why they were really bad defensively last year, a lot of reasons you don’t, you know, they were 24th in uh, you know, defensive rating according to Clean the Glass. It may have been worse if you look at the NBA.com numbers. One of the reasons they were bad is because they were god-awwful offensively and they were missing a ton of shots. And in today’s NBA, I mean, you’re running transition off makes, okay? And if you’re missing a bunch, that’s just giving them a little bit of an extra head start. And so, if your team is con not constantly committed to getting back and being able to impact transition, then you’re going to get torched. If you and if the shots are bad quality shots, you know, if they’re corner threes before everybody’s quick corner threes before everybody’s back, miss, that comes off, it’s immediate transition. Um, you know, those kinds of things. So, the Hornets did that a lot. That’s part of why they’re bad defensively. If the offense is shootier, if it if that comes to fruition and you actually shoot the ball better, then I think the defense will be less bootier because you’re not going to have to play in transition as much. And that may be the calculus here. It’s like, all right, we’ve got to improve. This offense was god awful. And honestly, like if you look at the cleaning the glass numbers for offense and defensive efficiency, there were only three teams last season that had a below average offense and an above average defense. And those three teams were Orlando, which had the second best defense only to Oklahoma City in the entire association. And they were 26th in offense. They were terrible. a lot of they dealt with a lot of injuries, but they were so good defensively, elite defensively that it lifted them to 41 wins. Okay, another team, Miami, ninth defensively, 21st offensively. Uh Toronto, 14th defensively, 25th offense, and they only managed 30 wins. And then Miami, 37 wins. elite defense and terrible offense doesn’t work in the NBA, but above average offense and below average defense can work uh in the NBA. And so, you know, I think it’s it’s all about balance, you know. I mean, these teams uh that that are that are best in the league. It’s I mean, Golden State was seventh defensively, uh 17th offensively. So, there’s another example of of a team that was super elite defensively. That’s not where the Hornets are going to be. you know, they’re they’re I think their goal here is to be above average uh offensively and then try to be, you know, go from 24th defensively. If you can get that up to 17th, 16th, maybe you’re average, then uh then maybe you can work something out there defensively. And that was Milwaukee. Milwaukee last year, 48 wins on the seventh best offense in the league and the 16th best defense. Uh final thing here, roster, it’s guardier. lot of guards and that’s part I think that’s part of it again you’re trying to build you’re trying to take yourself from like 28th 29th offensively and you’re trying to rocket that up and then hope that the defense comes along with it. Okay, coming up on locked on Hornets. We’ve got a lot more Siko Satchel questions including what costume I’m going to wear if we hit 10,000 subscribers. Uh Hunter asked if there were expans if there were expansion drafts uh you could protect eight players which players would you protect? That’s a great question. Uniform combos and we’ve got a summer league preview all coming up here on Locked on Hornets. Today’s episode of Locked on Hornets is brought to you by Open Phone. If you’re running a business like I do, every missed call can be a missed opportunity. Think about it. When is the last time that you had a service emergency that you needed to make a call about and and you that they asked you for a call back? Like, can we call you back? It’s like, no, you can’t call me back. Just answer the phone. I need you now. You probably didn’t wait for that call back. That’s why you need Open Phone, the number one business phone system that streamlines your customer communication and helps you scale all from an app that’s on your phone or your computer. I love that I don’t need to carry two phones. I’ve just got the one phone with Open Phone. 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So I’m often doing the sort of transitional reads where I say locked on NBA and my brain is going don’t say that and it’s like hiccuping and then going locked on Hornets. That’s the show that we’re doing right now. And we’re taking your questions from the Siko Satchel. We got to speed things up folks. Going back to Schuman really quickly from the 22nd Mullins Regiment. He says, “Congrats on 9,000 subs on YouTube.” Thank you. What’s the plan when we hit 10,000? Is Grandma coming back? the grandma c costume. Am I dragging it out of the closet and putting it back on? The answer is no. Because I think Super Hugo would be more fun because somewhat um Keith on Twitter asked if I would dress up as regular Hugo. I think that would be too difficult. But to find some teal spandex and like some kind of body suit of that would give me fake muscles. I’m certainly, you know, I think it would take me way longer than it’s going to take us to get to 10,000 subs to get actual muscles. So, I’ll just buy one of the bodysuits. I think I could do Super Hugo and the teal balaclava like to go over the face. I think all of that is possible. So, Super Hugo, you’ll see me dressed up doing a show as Super Hugo if we get to 10,000 sub. Let’s let’s make it happen. Hunter from the 43rd Joe Wolf Battalion. If there were exp if there were expansion, and that’s being talked about right now in the NBA, Adam Silver saying the league is exploring it. A lot of people think it’s Seattle and Las Vegas. What does that mean for the Western Conference? Does Memphis move over? Does New Orleans move over? Would they move over into our division? Don’t like that. But if expansion were to happen, typically, you know, there’s an expansion draft and teams can protect eight players. Which players would you protect? Okay, I’m going to run this down. My easy keeps, it’s LaMelo, it’s Brandon Miller, it’s Coniple. I think those are the three contracts that you’re going to protect immediately. No questions asked. You know, that’s it. Then there are two players that I would qualify as like cost control players. We’re going to keep these players because we don’t really know what the future holds for them, but they’re so cheap relative to the rest of what we could possibly get in that realm and and they’re going to stay cheap for a long time that you might as well just keep it and see what happens. And that’s Liam McNeely and Tan Salon. So right now I’ve got LaMelo, Brandon Khan, Liam, and Tan Salon. That’s five. And then I’ve got three players that I’m categorizing as team needs. Like, hey, after this expansion draft is over, if two of our players get selected, we’ve still got to function as a team. And so, that’s going to be Trey Man, that’s going to be Colin Ston, and that’s going to be Grant Williams. Also, the Colin Ston piece, you want to keep that contract just for its tradability. Um, and then there are a couple players that you pray aren’t taken. That’s going to be Coaul Briner and uh Musa Diabate and you maybe you would consider just from a team strategic standpoint and contractual and like hey we we could trade this contract you you know maybe switch Grant for Miles Bridges. Uh but Miles Bridges and Josh Green they’re they’re definitely on the cut line um in my opinion. Uh so for a lot of reasons it’s complic you know with Miles Bridges it’s complicated again team strategic reason I could see every reason why to keep Miles Bridges uh for both a team functional standpoint and a uh strategic standpoint but it’s my list you asked me uh what I would do and that’s what I would do. I would say you know please please and thank you for both Josh Green and Miles Bridges. All right Bobby Mace of the Walter Hermmon Hair Club division. Love that. Uh, how does the valuation of the 2027 draft impact the Hornets willingness to use one of the picks to acquire a young center this year? Giving back Dallas there first for Lively would be a great option for uh Melo. Lively being a great option for LaMelo Ball to have as center and Dallas can avoid the log jam with Daniel Gaffford and Anthony Davis. So, a couple of things there, Bobby Mace. Uh the 2027 draft, if you haven’t read uh the reporting about it, see everybody sort of sounding alarm bells like 2027 draft does not look very good. 27 draft or 26 draft with Boozers kid and Debonsa like that looks like the draft that people are keying in on. And I don’t have a 2026 mock draft for you today, but um if you want one, ask for it in the Siko Satchel and I will deliver. But it looks like it’s not going to be a great draft, which is not great news for the Hornets because they not only have their own 2027 pick, they’ve got Miami’s and they’ve got uh they’ve got Dallas’s. And so he mentions Dallas here. I don’t think Dallas wants their first round pick back. They’re good because they’ve they’re focused on winning a championship. And and I think Lively is part of that. I think Gafford would be the more likely trade candidate. In fact, when he signed the contract, we noted on locked on NBA that the number fell just below what it would need to fall under to move him this off season. And and maybe they just didn’t find a willing trade partner. But I could see them unwinding that for Gaffford, but I’m not sure that their own first round pick is as me is going to be as meaningful as someone else’s first round pick as even the Charlotte Hornets first round pick in 2027. Hopefully that’s a that’s a garbage pick, too. like hopefully the Hornets are so good that that pick um doesn’t, you know, doesn’t sell well. But yeah, like the 2027 draft being bad is kind of bad news for the Hornets. But also, I feel like if you’re using multiple first round picks, so often it’s to get a team out of a jam like, “All right, fine. I’ll take the player that you is disgruntled.” But it is a player of a stature such that I’ve got to have three or four first round picks. I got to go back to my fan base to, you know, everyone and say, “We got four first round picks. Don’t worry, folks.” A lot of this happened with the KD trade and with so many of these trades where it’s like you’ve got to show picks. I mean, with with the KD trade, it was like five second round picks. So then it becomes this idea of like, well, we just got to have picks. But there are certain situations where it’s like you got to have four, you know? So, I still think that having those obvious having those picks is an advantage. It might not be as big of an advantage, but I don’t think it’s going to stop them from, you know, going after a player uh more so than just wanting to actually pay for that player. I think we can do one one more, maybe two in this segment. Davis of the eighth Bismac Brigade says, “In the spirit of new kits, because on the Siko Brigade, I texted a picture of the new kits for Charlotte FC, and it’s a throwback to the Carolina Lightning, I believe, which was a soccer team.” And uh but the font looked like Bobcats font. I like I shuddered. I was like, “Hey, trigger warning for Bobcats fans. That’s the Bobcats font.” Um so go check those out. It’s the new like the newest kits that they just released for Charlotte FCH. Uh so I texted that to the group and so Davis is responding to that. Uh what would a new uniform combo court redesign? What’s one that you would like to see the Hornets try? I don’t know about court. I’m famously on this podcast against any like 90s nostalgia. I was for it and then they shoved it down our throat year after year while losing year after year and I’m just like done with it. Great. I’m I’ve done the 90s nostalgia. I we’ve done the Mugsy. We even did the We started the leak into the 2000s with Baron Davis and Jamal Mashurn jerseys. Like, okay, I’m good. I’d like to start some new history. Or at least if we’re going to go back in history, go back to the last time this team made the playoffs. How about 1516? I they’re not going to do the sleeved jerseys, but I loved those black and teal Buzz city jerseys. So, if you did, and those were Adidas, so Nike would have to sort of make their version of it. Uh, but the black and the teal and the Buzz City across the front. I loved I love the sleeve jerseys. I know a lot of people didn’t. So, don’t bring back the sleeves. Cut the sleeves off. You know, a jort situation. Just cut the sleeves off and do the Buzz City jerseys from 1516. And maybe like I don’t know like I guess a an all how would you do that? You know maybe like a teal themed court with black accents because I don’t think like the a black main court would show up on television. I don’t even know how that would work. So but do something in that realm for the court too. Why not? And just pay homage. I always think of Jeremy Lynn when I think of those jerseys. I don’t know why it’s not Kimba is not the first. I think it was because they did the bobblehead of Jeremy Lynn in that jersey. So maybe that’s how he might be actually sitting back somewhere. Oh yeah, he’s sitting up top there in the black Buzz City uh sleeved jersey. So there you go. That’s what I want. I want if we’re going to do nostalgia, let’s do like current nostalgia. I know there are some people listening to this right now that are screaming, “Do a Bobcats. Do the racing jersey and or do the green ones.” No. Come on. Let’s get real. I’m sick, but I’m not I’m sick, but I’m not dying. Okay? I’m not ready to go there yet. They got to win something. I’ll tell you what, if the Hornets win a playoff series, I will then get into some kind of ironic mindset about let’s throw back to the Bobcats. But to to throw back to the Bobcats before they win anything would be the most pathetic thing on the planet. Okay, we can pay homage to that’s that’s the time to do it. pay homage to the, you know, God bless the broken road that that led me here. Okay, but we got to get here first. We can’t do the Bobcats thing until we get somewhere where it was like, okay, all of that may have been slightly worth it. Okay, got a couple more questions and then I do want to do a summer league preview. Game four against the Spurs. Both teams 3 and 0 with a chance to maybe do some summer league postseason action. Will Khan Caniple play? I think you should and I’ll tell you why coming up on Locked on Hornets. Today’s episode of Locked On Hornets is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever wish managing your money felt easier? I would like more money and I would like managing it to be easier. So yes, Monarch Money, you are in my brain right now. With Monarch Money, it can be. 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And so, it always got awkward. You don’t have to deal with that with Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year. More locked on in more. I did it. More locked on Hornets ahead. Back here on Locked on Hornets. Thanks so much for making us your first listen every day. If you listen to the end of the the last advertisement, I did it. I slipped into locked on NBA. I tried so hard to miss the mine under my foot and I stepped on it. Uh but we we soldier on uh here at the SECO brigade. More questions. rapid fire and then I’m going to do a preview of this summer league game. Ready, set, go. Sean of the fifth booknight division, how mad would you be if the bushels came off in Phoenix and Nick Richards and Mark Williams just started draining threes. So, for a long time I thought Nick Richards was hiding that thing under a bushel, that three-point shot. I saw him do it a few times in like warm-ups. Thought, yeah, he’s holding on to it. If they started launching them in Phoenix, I would be apoplelectic. I would start asking questions about who is who’s over big men shooting with the Hornets? Why could why could we not get this figured out? And we better get it figured out with Ryan Caulk Brener. I would be yes, I would be enraged. I don’t know what I would do, honestly. I It might be a little bit dangerous to think about what I would do um if Mark Williams and Nick Richards suddenly did that. Uh casual Hindu of the first Lance Stevenson division. If you were GM for one day of the year, which day would you choose? Would you choose draft day, free agent opening day, trade deadline, and what would you try to do? If it helps, you can pick a specific day in the past. For instance, I’d probably pick the trade deadline this year and try my little heart out to move Miles and the leftover guards like Den Woody, Josh, and Pat. Actually, I’d go back, and this is still casual Hindu, changes mind in the midst of the text. Actually, I’d go back to the 2021 NBA draft and take Shinun instead of Booknight. lol. I mean, look, if you’re giving me a specific day, there are plentiful within the Hornets history. I mean, you could go back and keep Kobe and just say, “Forget it, Lakers. We’re just going to we’re calling Kobe’s bluff. He will play for the Charlotte Hornets. He’s just bluffing here. Let’s move forward.” You could keep SGAA. You could say, “Actually, we want to take SGA. Clippers, knock it off. Go away.” Uh that would I mean that would solve that could potentially give you an MVP and solve a lot of heartache in the future. Uh you could take Donovan Mitchell over Malik Monk and Steve Clifford might have won a playoff series in that case. You could take Devin Booker over Frank Kaminsky and I’m saying that one of the least Devin Booker fans on the planet. Um, and then but if I were GM, I would leave a little note in the desk to like, hey, make sure to sell high on Devin Booker before he turns in to Devin Schnooker. Uh, I’d probably keep SGA. That’d be the day that I pick because I think keeping Kobe would eventually like he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it early and you might have some early success with Kobe Bryant. I think he’d eventually, you know, he wanted to go to LA. So eventually that would have become a problem and I don’t think it was a problem that money would have been able to solve or that the Hornets would have been able to shell out enough money as we found out uh with with uh I think in particular Alonzo Morning that money didn’t solve that problem that the problem was Alonzo wanted to go play in Miami. Um but I’m not picking any of those days because you’ve given me the power of time travel. So instead, GM for a day, I pick July 31st, 1999. What? July 31st? I guess you’re in the midst of free agency, but you’re pretty late into free agency, even for the late 90s. Why July 31st, 1999? Well, that was the day before Ray Waldridge closed the deal to buy a stake in the Charlotte Hornets that represented almost half of the team. And Ray Woolridge of course bought that stake with the intent of moving the team to Memphis or New Orleans. And eventually the team would move to New Orleans. But Ray Woolridge snaking his way into the world of George Shen and George Shen allowing the snake in the grass is is a a huge part of why the Charlotte Hornets, forget the the the city not wanting to give George Shen an arena. Ray Woolridge started these dominoes. Without Ray Woolridge in the picture, I really do feel like either Shin would have sold a stake to Michael Jordan or something else would have happened that would have kept the Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte and we would have never had to go through the Bobcats and and I would have never cried as I don’t know what was I 10 or 11 years old. I mean, I would have cried if I were 30. I would cry right now if the Charlotte Hornets left. So, here’s what I do. I go back in time. I’m GM for a day. I only get a day. I only get 24 hours. So, I would care. You You didn’t put any restrictions on what I what I could take the size of my time machine. So, I would take with me a dossier. And in that dossier would be would be plentiful evidence. Second time I’ve said plentiful on the show today. Plentiful evidence. Third time that Ray Woolridge is a con man and he is trying to take what George Shinn built. I would really play to George Shen’s ego and say, “Look, this guy is not only going to take this team to New Orleans, it he’s he’s you guys are going to end up fighting over the the the stake of the team. This is going to end badly for everyone. So, just keep the team in Charlotte. You’re eventually going to have to sell the team back to the NBA because things go so poorly in New Orleans to start off with. So, just George, don’t do it. George, don’t do it.” And then I go back to my own time and I find out if if I was successful and I may have changed everything. Who knows? I mean, historical events could could be vastly different. Butterfly effect. The Hornets might not be playing in a summer league game four being 3 and 0. I might have ruined the Hornets opportunity at a summer league championship, but instead I don’t have that power. And they do play the Spurs tonight. No Dylan Harper. Yes, that means Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecom, Cooper Flag, Dylan Harper, the one, two, three, and five pick around Coniple. None of them play the Charlotte Hornets in summer league. Unbelievable. We don’t get any of the matchups, the juicy matchups. When the schedule came out, I was like, “Oh, man.” You know, on down the line, I expected someone to sit later on, but to have all those guys sit, that is a that is a pretty big disappointment. Who I think shouldn’t sit is Khan Canipple. Already missed one game. I think Khan Canipple should play. And here’s why. Unless he’s not healthy. Like if the ankle is really an issue, then obviously, you know, make health a priority. But don’t make health a fake priority. If he can play, let Khan play. And here’s why. It’s not a Cooper flag or a Dylan Harper situation or a VJ Edgeum situation. It it’s closer to an ace Bailey situation where Khan is playing with players right now in Leam McNeely, Seion James, Ryan Caulk, Briner, Tan Salon, who are fully contracted players, and then KJ Simpson who’s a two-way player. It’s not a situation where Khan is playing with a bunch of guys that are going to be exclusively with the Greensboro Swarm. If that were the case, I’d say Khan, take a seat. We we we saw one game. Great. Thumbs up. See you later. This is done him playing tonight and even into a uh game with stakes. You’re playing with players that you are very likely to play with in the next two seasons for the Charlotte Hornets. Ryan Conchrin is going to get minutes, I think, unless they make some drastic move at center. He’s going to get minutes and and I think that Liam McNeely might earn some minutes. We’ll see. But Khan has an opportunity to build a relationship with these players that are part of the future of the franchise. So, I think Khan should play. If you disagree with me, let me know in the comments on YouTube. YouTube.comlockDonhornets. And, you know, I think they’re going to be mostly about we’ve seen enough and we’ve seen injury, but I don’t I don’t buy that. I don’t you know, and this is we could have a larger conversation about rest in the NBA, particularly for young players. Like, you need experience. You need experience. You need reps. Real game reps. Practice not the same. even doing five on- fives in practice, not the same. Running scrimmages, not the same. You need the reps. So, getting him as comfortable as possible with the game. Uh, and with th those particular teammates, I think, is super important. I am excited to see Liam McNeely. He and Seion James both sat in the last game. So, I’d like to see more. I’d like to answer a question about Liam and Khan playing next to each other because I think Liam sucked up a little bit of the oxygen once Khan started playing tight in the first game. I think Liam sensed that and was like, “All right, well, I’m just going to I’m going to do my thing.” So, I’d love to see how they interplay a little bit more. And I’d love to see Khan uh play a little bit more 25 whatever uh with Ryan Cochrinter and run some more stuff there because again I think we have a chance to see that with the bench unit as soon as this season with the Charlotte Hornets. Okay, that’s going to do it for this episode of Lockdown Hornets. Thanks so much for your support particularly uh everyone but particularly those who have gone to YouTube and hit the subscribe button getting us to 9,000. We are less than a hundred away from Locked on Suns. And I think it puts us into the top 10 in the NBA vertical of the Locked On podcast network. And that’s incredible because look, we are we’re small in terms of fan base, but we are mighty. We are sick. Um and and but you know, the reality is like there when you’re not winning a lot, there aren’t a lot of us. And so to know that so many of you have supported this show with a subscription uh is super meaningful and those on the Siko Brigade uh you you are you are a foundation a pillar of what we do here um every day and the product that we provide free. It will always be free. This podcast will always be free and available to you wherever you get podcast. Walker is back from his vacation on Monday. David Walker joins me tomorrow. Until then, this is Doug Branson saying, “Go Hornets! Go America! Let’s swarm Charlotte! [Music]

On this episode of Locked On Hornets, Doug Branson flies solo and cracks open the Sicko Satchel to answer your most irrational Hornets questions. He kicks things off by picking the eight players he would protect in a hypothetical expansion draft, breaking down who’s untouchable, who’s cost-controlled, and who just barely makes the cut. From LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller to surprises like Grant Williams and Tre Mann, Doug explains why each name matters to the future of Buzz City.

Then, Doug reacts to Paul George’s now-viral comments dissing the Hornets as a team with “no winning culture.” Is he wrong? Doug gives a passionate defense of the organization’s direction, outlines what real success would look like in 2025–26, and what it’ll take to change the narrative.

There’s also time for some fun—Doug reveals the costume he’ll wear if the YouTube channel hits 10,000 subscribers (spoiler: it’s not Grandma Ma), reflects on Bobcats nostalgia (or lack thereof), and pitches his dream Hornets uniform comeback. He even picks the exact day in franchise history he’d go back to as GM for a day, with a surprising answer tied to Ray Wooldridge.

Finally, Doug previews the Hornets’ critical Summer League Game 4 and makes the case for why Kon Knueppel should play, citing real developmental stakes for this young core. Packed with insight, hot takes, and Hornets heart, this episode is not to be missed!

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Top 35 Hornets Nicknames of All-Time According to Doug Branson: https://hornets.substack.com/p/the-top-35-nicknames-in-hornets-franchise

Top 35 Hornets of All-Time According to Walker Mehl: https://hornets.substack.com/p/the-top-35-players-in-hornets-history

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