The Hornets Roster FINALLY Has Promise | Evan Turner & Chris Mannix

The Hornets Roster FINALLY Has Promise | Evan Turner & Chris Mannix

All right, let’s talk about Charlotte because I’ve been waiting, Evan, for a breakout season in Charlotte for some time now. Uh, it hasn’t happened yet. We are now in year six of the LaMelo Ball era and of those six years, only one of them have been a season that finished above 500. The last three years, the results have gone backwards. 27 wins, 21 wins, 19 wins. last season. They have changed coaches. They have changed front offices. They have changed owners of this team. Nothing has worked up until this point. This is the year in Charlotte that it has to work. And look, it starts with LaMelo. He has to stay healthy. He has played more than 51 games just once in his first five seasons. That’s unacceptable. Um, he has to be better with the turnovers. Those numbers are cartoonish right now. He’s got to be better with the shot selection. No more one-footed jumpers. That’s not winning basketball. But if he can do that, I love him. I think he’s an all-star. And look, I like Brandon Miller a lot, too. I mean, his efficiency numbers stink, but I think once he settles down, he can be a second option on a good team and maybe a third option on a great team. Coniple has not shot the ball well in the preseason, but I’m choosing to believe that he can be a floor spacing wing. You got Miles Bridges, Colin Ston, Grant Williams. This is the year Charlotte has to make a move. The Eastern Conference stinks. They’ve got enough talent to make the playoffs. They’ve got to be like a 500 team or better this year. I think that’s enough to get into the uh into the postseason. What do you think? Absolutely. I think they also have to stay healthy. When you see LaMelo healthy with his two main wings with Miles Bridges and and and Brandon Miller, it’s not saying much, but their point differential is plus. You know what I’m saying? And also too, a lot of people have a lot of things to say about LaMelo Ball, but he’s a proven scorer. He’s averaged 25 points per game in the league. And correct me if I’m wrong, he’s the youngest allstar ever. And I think uh some of the negativity that comes with it is the front office. like he hasn’t really been put with the right team, the right type of pieces in order for him to be successful. You see, three or four years ago, they were able to make it to the playin game and that helped tremendously and that was pretty impressive. And then after that, they got hurt a couple year a couple times, LaMelo had a 50-point game versus Milwaukee, 44 verse Orlando, and then injuries ensued after that. So, he only got 47 games, and then Brandon Miller only got 27 games. But if you look at this skill set and this talent just individually amongst the other younger guys, it’s pretty impressive. And if you get Miles Bridges in who’s been talking very very good in the preseason last game versus Memphis, he had a hell of a game. I believe he had like 29 105. He’s a man amongst boys. He’s been talking about everything positive and has been a vocal leader. And I think uh with you know Charles Lee the front office kind of changing their energy around Khan Canipple he’s not ready yet and it’s not fair for him like ready yet but he has great good uh get good defensive instincts and shooting always translates. They just have to get better at at the big man position and give them a great opportunity for the young kids to be able to continue develop be able to stay healthy and make a strong push. Their top three is tough this year. Yeah, they’ve got a uh if they can stay out, they’ve got a good top three. I’m looking at their depth chart right now. LaMelo, Brandon Miller in the back court, that’s solid. Coniple, Miles Bridges, uh Musa Debbate. I mean, they gave away all their centers in the offseason, so they’re kind of rebounding out today, too. Yeah, I I think look, I’ve heard good things about what Colin Ston’s doing down there. I thought Colin had a bit of a revival in Utah. I think he can be a really good sixman for that team. Josh Green is fine. Trey man is fine. Um Liam McNeely is still young. Pat Conan, what does he give them? I I don’t know. Look, it’s not it’s not a contender, but is it a 500 team? Yeah, it should be a 500 team. Like when LaMelo Ball is, you know, playing, you know, 65 70 games with Brandon Miller, that’s enough to compete in the Eastern Conference. Like it should be more than enough. And also too, I think one thing that’s an understatement is they they rebuilt culture. They they built winning players. You’re like, I don’t know what Pat Connor Connisson is going to do. is great leader, great locker room guy and he has championship experience. You move forward with Charles Lee, you see his pedigree. He was under a lot of great coaches. He’s unbelievable. You look at Josh Green, he came from a great situation with the Mavericks. You Liam McNeely, he played for Yukon. He played for that psycho hurley. Like I think I think the personnel is a little bit different than when it was four or five years ago. you know, even sign James, he has a history of uh, you know, being affluent, taking the game very seriously. And I think it’s all about the personnel. And sometimes it comes back down and like you can’t win with, you know, idiots or jerks or sometimes the little things that occur is like taking preseason very seriously. Miles Bridges is like, yo, I’m I’m taking this preseason very serious. So towards the end of the year, it’s like second nature to me. That conversation out there and how they’re trying to move is at a completely different level. And and I believe it starts with the culture. And whether we think so or not, Grant Williams is amazing for culture. Grant Grant Williams. Grant Williams, who I like. I like Grant Williams. I got to know him pretty well in Boston. I actually just talked to him this summer for a different story. Uh you’re never not going to not talk to Grant. My mom always said, “I talk to Grant Williams like once a quarter somehow.” [Laughter] Um, look, they were bad in every category last year. Their offense was 29th, their defense was 24th. They played with the 20th pace. Look at that pace number, Evan. They got to play faster. Like, they’ve got too many guys that fly around. And if LaMelo’s out there healthy, they’re going to play a lot faster this year. I think that’s going to help that offense get maybe in the top half of the league or around there. They’re just there there’s just too much good young talent there. Uh especially if Canipple can wind up playing reasonable minutes for them this season for them to be in the mix. Yeah. Also too, when it comes down to being young, that’s the perk of having energy. Like as a player that’s been on veteran teams, we hate seeing youthful teams and seeing teams getting the ball up and down the court running. You got high flyers. You have a great passer like LaMelo. I expect Miles Bridges. I stack Brandon Miller. Even when you look at uh Mason Pumbley, I expect him to stay on the rim, play on the rim. So, I think in order they have to be able to stop, get defensive stops and turn it into offense. Yeah. I I think the for LaMelo, the discipline factor in this is real. Like, he can’t play games like he’s in a summer pickup game. Like, his his turnover numbers are outrageous. They’re always around three and a half, four per game stacked against like seven, eight assists per game. That’s a bad assist to turnover ratio. Like that’s not that’s not what winning players do. And every highlight reel I see of LaMelo, it’s like these one-footed off-balance jump shots that are going in. Well, how about the ones that aren’t? And I’m sure there are a lot of them that aren’t going in. He’s got like I think there’s there obviously is all-star talent in there. I think he’s just got to just harness it, channel it, be a more disciplined playmaker. Get the ball to guys like Miller, who I think is going to be an automatic bucket in the years ahead. Miles Bridges, who loves playing with LaMelo, thrives in these games with LaMelo. Just just play more discipline. Get that turnover number down to around like two per game, get the assist numbers up to eight or nine. He’s off to the races, man. He’s I think he’s got to be a special player. You’re absolutely right. And I can compare him with another 12 point guard like Tyresese Hallebertton who steadily goes and gets 30 points, 15 assists, and leaves out with one turnover. And all he’s doing is is controlling a pace at a high high level and keeping the game efficient. He knows his killers on wings. He knows his system and he knows where his kill spots are. And I believe like just a few years ago like LaMelo was an allstar and Tyrese wasn’t, you know. So when you think about the the potentiality of what he can do, it’s like it’s doable. He just has to reel it in like you said and and look how that offense in and in in Indiana has been running. I think I do think LaMelo benefited greatly from the fan vote which was overwhelmingly in support of LaMelo that year. Absolutely. But he wasn’t one of those like personalities or players when I was like, “Bro, this guy should not be in this Allstar game.” Yeah. No, no, he had the numbers. soon as his team stunk and they were putting Yeah. Of course. Of course.

Chris Mannix and Evan Turner break down why the young talent and new roster pieces assembled around LaMelo Ball finally give the Hornets a chance to compete in the future

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