TRADE: Charlotte Hornets get Josh Green! What does it mean for Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball?

TRADE: Charlotte Hornets get Josh Green! What does it mean for Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball?

the Charlotte Hornets did something they exercised free agency and trading at the same time to improve their roster novel concept we talk about the addition of Josh Green today un locked on Hornets plus this and hornets are going to be a top four seed coming up next oh yeah no qualifiers we’re going to the playoffs baby you are locked on Hornets your daily Charlotte Hornets podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day in the minute cuz we live [Music] it’s locked on Hornet part of the locked on podcast Network it’s your team every day thanks for making us your first to listen we’re free and available anywhere you get your podcast and that includes YouTube today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel you can make every moment more as playoffs wind down the sports stops sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started there’s something for you right there Doug Branson substack every Hornets boox score.com he’s texting you there as well you can find the sub text information on his substack with a picture of Doug eating a sub from Subway I’m Walker mail you can listen to me on WFNZ listen to me every day from 12: to 300 p.m. also your WFNZ app the Hornets did something Doug all that that poking and proding with the stick telling him to do something they finally did it and yes that’s even after the draft cuz they would select somebody they wouldn’t just forfeit their pick technically they were supposed to do something every single NBA draft and they did but then free agency would roll along and they didn’t have to and they didn’t this is the time that they did with Jeff Peterson as the EVP Executive Vice President of basketball operations Gabe Plotkin Rick schn schlotkin as we like to call they trade for Jos I don’t know if they like us to call him that H yeah that’s true that’s true but we’re doing it anyway schlotkin Jeff Peterson everybody involved with the Hornets they trade for Josh Green as a part of the Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks deal and in order to get Josh Green all they gave up was a couple of second round picks Doug it feels just like a good piece of business for the Hornets doesn’t mean they’re going to be a top four seed next year but if you want to see good smart decisions stacked on top of one another this is thrown into the pile so let’s talk about what a Josh Green is because I’m not sure that a lot of folks are even familiar with Josh green because he played sort of a smaller role on that Dallas Mavericks team important role at times but smaller role so he’s a shooting guard 65 200 PBS uh versatile Defender point of attack Defender I mean I think one of the main things this does for the Hornets in the short term is that it gives them a guy that can give lamelo ball and Brandon Miller a little bit of breathing room H to improve their defense because both those guys have to improve but this gives you somebody that you can put on the best guard on the other team you can hide lamelo and Brandon a little bit as they as they continue to progress it allows you to play Brandon Miller at three which is I I think is ultimately going to be you know his position of strength as he grows into that uh I think it also gives you somebody that projects as an improved shooter on low volume someone that’s been really good in in transition particularly with his passing I think that’s the thing that’s going to shock a lot of folks I was talking to Nick angad of locked on Mavs and that was like the one skill that I think even Maverick’s fans uh were were a little bit surprised with is his ability to move the basketball not just in transition although I think that awareness is really good but also even in the half court just the drive and the kick I know Walker you you looked at some film and saw something on his finishing as well yeah I mean he’s been a very good finisher at The Rim uh pretty much his entire career which is nice and he gets there pretty frequently last year his role changed with all the shooting and then Luca and Kyrie taking over and so he didn’t get to the rim as much but even still when he got there he was able to shoot pretty well if you go to cleaning the glass all the numbers are there that has him at the high percentile shooting accuracy frequency got there in the 55th percentile but before he was towards the top of the league like towards the Top 20th percentile or 80th if but you get the idea so he was finishing really well and he got there quite a bit even if if it’s not necessarily off the dribble all of the time this is somebody that’s going to be set up by smart basketball players in lamelo and Brandon Miller theoretically cting assisted on a lot of his attempts so he’s not a high usage player and the other thing I like that I tweeted out about he played with a couple of high usage guards in LCA donic and Kyrie Irving like that’s going to be coming in seamlessly into a role here and fitting pretty nicely in this puzzle because Brandon Miller and lamelo ball those are going to be the guys that the basketball in their hands most of the time rightfully so you just need somebody that can cut and can shoot like Doug he takes the right kind of shots and I think some fans were a little frustrated with his reluctance to take some of the shots they wanted him to take more particularly from three when he was open and maybe he would pass those up but man if you look at the shot chart he is the analytic dream right not the dream maybe because the free throws aren’t there doesn’t get to the foul line all that much but he takes threes he gets to the rim and I’m good with that and he’s good at both on low volume for sure low usage player that’s just what it is but he’s good at both and he’s strong we finally have some beef in the back court physical yeah so like it’s it’s lamelo and Brandon they could hula hoop through a Cheerio right very skinny Josh Green somebody that has some beef to him yeah I $12 million tradeable contract worthwhile contract only for two seconds uh yeah they’re not going to be a top four I just they’re not going to be a top four seed because this selection but like it’s just good business why why do you have to qualify you keep you keep feeling the need this I think this is the radio text line getting to you you feel the need to qualify this as like not it’s not a huge maneuver but we’ve been preparing fans on this show for this kind of free agency for a couple of weeks now where there was there wasn’t going to be a big fish there wasn’t going to be a big move that would get them into playoff contention we didn’t expect that um but this is as you said they got Josh Green from Dallas a team that didn’t want to give up Josh green at the trade deadline for PJ Washington the Hornets wanted Josh green at the deadline schlotkin uh identified him along with all of these other players that they were they were trying to acquire they ended up settling on Grant Williams who gave them major contributions last year and looks to do the same this season and then they waited waited waited for Dallas to lose the finals get a little bit more desperate want to up grade their shooting guard position they wanted Klay Thompson Golden State wanted a trade exception they didn’t want to take back any more salary they wanted the opportunity to upgrade their roster and so here come the Hornets taking advantage of an opportunity they give up two seconds they got what three seconds for Reggie Jackson in that deal that that gave Denver some salary cap relief so it’s just again looking for these opportunities Jeff Peterson and Company have been very savvy so far um and and you just got to take your half off to him right now if you understand what the plan is the plan is not let’s suit up and get ready to like compete with Boston and Philly and Miami for the East next year the plan is take these opportunities to acquire assets that is you said are movable like Josh Green best case scenario he because he has holes in his game let’s not get it twisted like he’s he can be a reluctant shooter he can be a streaky shooter and you know defensively there’s some issues like through screen sometimes like it’s not like he’s an elite Defender it’s just he’s a plus defender on a team in the Hornets that had two plus Defenders Cody Martin who didn’t play all that often and Mark Williams who didn’t play all that often so you know and Josh Green I think pretty durable right if I’m looking games played uh played 57 but I don’t know how much of that was injury and how much of that was just falling out of the rotation with which you know falling out of the rotation is for a reason and you enhance your roster at the deadline to go for an NBA final trip but it it actually it’s not like he ever fell completely out for a really long time even in the playoff run he would get back in when they wanted this jolt and actually performed decently well like was leading their team and scoring for a significant portion of a playoff of Finals game so still not scared of the moment when he was thrust back into that position but look the team keeps telling us that they’re bringing all of these Player Development folks Charles Lee Player Development coach he’s filled his staff with Player Development coaches and and just like the salon pick in the first round to me this is the front office telling Charles Lee all right you’re a Player Development coach let’s see it let’s see you take Josh green and improve it because here’s the thing best case scenario he’s improving your team short term you get a little bit better and you’re developing your other players as well and that contract as you said he’s making 12.6 this year 13.6 14.6 in the final year that becomes an extremely valuable trade ship to further improve your roster possibly acquire more Assets in the draft or go after that big fish eventually yeah last couple things as far as the evaluation on him goes you tons of corner threes last year and even in previous Seasons it’s easy to see with Luca Dallas they love having Luca drive and then just throw one-handed Fireball Baseline passes to the corner we saw him do it in Charlotte it was one of the more impressive things I had seen live in the Spectrum Center in quite some time and he was on one in that game but green could be the beneficiary there lamelo ball same thing right just drive kick Josh Green Spot up shot and we need some Corner three help by the way like it’s just been this weird thing we’ve talked about every now and then but we didn’t really shine a light on it all that brightly but this team hasn’t been great with their accuracy shooting from the corner so if Josh Green he he was okay like he was I think right at the 50th percentile lots of attempts but just right there average at knocking him down I’ll take it though like that’s totally fine average isn’t bad so if you’re just knocking more shots down from the corner like 39% something like that last year then that’s also another positive and the other thing that you could identify with him and this team they got a type Doug they love themselves some high motor basketball players because that’s what Josh Green is and they are spreading that message all over the organization and the Queen City we will go after salon at 6 overall because his intensity is through the roof we will draft KJ Simpson because his intensity is through the roof and then after he gets drafted he says I’ll run through a brick wall and has one of the best post-draft interviews of any player selected well he’s already injured so we don’t need run I just need to get the message to him don’t run through any brick walls Josh Green same thing no brick walls uh keep it safe they got a tipe but every I mean they’re sticking to it they’re walking the talk right now and who they value and they are setting a competitive nature that’s when you go culture change and then you just go after all the dudes that try hard 110% of the time yeah man I welcome that with open arms here you’re right about the drive and kick stuff though I mean it was because the Hornets had no problem getting into the paint it was what happened after that because they couldn’t finish at The Rim they were missing a ton of layups and then when they would kick it was more like driv and kick you in the because they couldn’t hit a shot you’ve done that before I asked you to elaborate I won’t now um all right you know what bleep it man Hornets are going to be a top four for seed coming up next yeah no qualifiers we’re going to the playoffs baby it it’s it it’s written in stone coming up next on the lockdown Hornets podcast don’t go to sleep on the Hornets just yet I have a take that might go the other way just a little bit just a little bit with a little bit of just allowing myself to think negative thoughts and I’m hoping Doug can talk me out of it we’ll see if he can on the other side of the break on lock down hornets [Music] this episode is brought to you by FanDuel I love sports I know you love them too I love them so much I never really want them to stop but as the playoffs wind down we get fewer games and the sports aren’t sporting like I want them to but FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want and all I have to do is open up the app and dream up bets anytime I’m in the mood and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fand / lockon start making the most out of your summer FanDuel the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball more locked on Hornets ahead one more thing on the drive and kick the corner three stuff I was looking for the stat in the first segment but if you look at just the frequency in which the Hornets were shooting Corner 3es they were towards the bottom in the league Dallas was number one they were taking the most corner 3es of anybody in the NBA and then if you go to accuracy Charlotte was already towards the bottom in frequency they’re even worse in accuracy they were 29 out of 30 Memphis the only team worse and so Josh Green going to help him out if the offense dictates itself to that if Charles Lee starts to experiment with that more Josh Green is somebody that is in that role Doug and I mean average on this team from corner three is a beautiful thing because they haven’t been that the last couple years well it’s the same thing defensively like you you know getting The Scouting Report from Nick angstead of locked on Mavs you know he was poking some holes in the defensive part of his game and I’m like that’s that’s fine like you can do that like if you’re an elite team but if you’re not an elite team you gota you got to take what you can get so oh but did he try though Nick well yeah perfect okay sign welcome so I did have some intrusive bad thoughts Doug I don’t know if you can help me out okay you have some intrusive bad thoughts I want to hear those and then I have a few questions for you okay that yeah intrusive bad thoughts so you mentioned it in the first segment the Hornets went after Josh Green a part of the negotiations in the PJ Washington trade deal right mhm they wanted Josh Green Dallas didn’t want to give him up and so they settled for the high first round pick top two protected and that was a huge asset hell yeah welcome you know who wasn’t a part of the organization at that time that I knew this is where you were going I knew this is where you were going you you know who wasn’t a part of the organization at the time that they inquired about Josh Green the first time Jeff that’s right the Executive Vice President of basketball operations who was supposed to be your head decision maker Jeff Peterson he was not a part of that org at that point and now that he is the head decision maker what do you know what a coincidence Josh Green still ends up on the roster I talked with Mac earlier on the Mack and Bone show and I said I don’t want to be the monkey that questions why the cookie shows up when I ring the bell I should just enjoy the cookie it’s tasty I love it who doesn’t love cookies is there the process that I should be questioning here as to why it shows up no just eat it it’s fine is that going on with me Doug should I question it or should I just eat it and enjoy it and shut up and take my Josh Green cookie so I think as long as the cookie tastes good and as long as the ingredients in the cookie aren’t wildly different than what you’ve been expecting then I think you absolutely should eat your cookie and shut up okay because because here’s okay so I I understand and I think it’s important to allow the bad thoughts in you can’t avoid the bad thoughts that’s that’s a problem that’s just burying feelings you’ve got to allow them in and then you’ve got to let your rationalization part of your brain take over and that part of my brain is saying look certainly schlotkin had to have conversations with Jeff Peterson and the leadup to his hiring I AG there was there were things expressed ideas expressed rumors that that Peterson probably already knew about um and and they had to sort of you know head shake nod wink wink like we like Josh Green right wink wink okay let’s let’s go forward you know no tot that that’s the Saving Grace and I thought about that too because what was it when Mitch said the comment about how he was surprised at how much Intel shellin had on some of the players and and probably even specifically Rick schn because he’s just been doing this for a lot a lot longer and he has the relationship with Jeff Peterson there was no prior relationship between gay Plotkin and Jeff Peterson but if if Jeff is like looking to get this job and he might have an inside track then it would be in his best interest to set himself up for possible success and so he’s like hey if if you can throw Josh Green into the deal that would be great and I have to imagine that Rick and Jeff were talking so that’s the Saving Grace for me too it’s that they were all on the same page even before Peterson was here in the Spectrum Center SL Low’s building because of Renovations yeah now there is the potential for this to go wrong because people get upset with the owner meddling when the team is bad I mean I didn’t hear a lot of people complaining about Mark Cuban’s medling when the Mavs were winning uh a few championships here and there but when when things go AR that’s when PE now I would have been upset if you know they would have gone out and done what Washington did and signed yonis valent chunis or I mean they could still go after d rozan there are like two or three cats that have been linked to with the Hornets like Drummond I think is out so he I think he got signed uh Tobias Harris another name d rozan there are a couple of these other names that have been linked with the Hornets in the past that if they were to suddenly end up on the roster I would be like yeah what’s what’s going on here but Josh Green is not one of those names like it it all makes sense so as long as it keeps making sense I’m going to be I’m going to be a little bit concerned but I’m not going to be concerned enough you know to make a big stink about and and the messaging too probably doesn’t help you because messaging has always been we’re a team we’re in this together it’s never been this is Jeff’s team it’s never been that it’s never been this is my responsibility so whatever uh have a few questions few question what are your questions shoot how does this affect do the Josh Green acquisition affect the miles Bridges negotiations in any way I do not think so um I think now and maybe you have a better understanding but as far as the new CBA uh goes to my understanding you can trade for a player and use your mid-level exception 12.8 is allowed with the mle Josh Green is making 12.6 so that would eat up all of your mle if you’re absorbing him into the mid-level exception which means you still have all the cap space in the world to work some kind of deal with Miles even if it wasn’t like I just they’re not necessarily the same position you’re talking about somebody smaller with Josh Green who if you’re talking about versatility you’re looking at what like two through three for green for Bridges we know what it is with him we’re looking for three through four maybe desperate times Center but it’s three through four so no a short answer I do not think that it affects miles Bridges all that much I I would say that they’re still looking to figure out what to do with Miles no I I think you’re absolutely right I don’t think this affects it at all because you have bretton’s contract that can be restructured there are a number of ways that they could make this happen because the Hornets really they aren’t capped out unless they want to be so um there’s there’s no issue there I agree on the fit the other thing too is I think the offer for Bridges is on the table right I mean I think this there’s an offer that’s probably this is pulation but it’s probably similar to the offer that they had on the table for him uh prior to him in the previous offseason prior to him accepting the qualifying offer and so that offer is sitting there if miles Bridges wants to take it he can uh and he’s you know doing what I think he should do which is go and explore the market the market right now so far has said wow we’re good and you know then then it becomes all right is there a sign and trade opport so yeah I don’t think this uh now there is an interesting thing where the Hornets have like a couple too many players right now we have to see where the two-ways shake out but like roster spots the Hornets that’s why I say like and this would be my next question are they done and I think the answer is probably no right because they’ve got to figure out you know which of these players are moving out and which are staying around still I mean they Josh Green is still it’s wing and also like guard forward like he he he still has a little bit of that backcourt flexibility which means that you still have a lot of backcourt players um do you have another question for me that was it are they done yeah but I I think I think the answer is clearly no they’ve got some more moves whether it’s a whether it involves a miles Bridges signing trade or it’s you know we had a rumor from fiser that the Zeke Nagi who’s a power forward that’s sort of buried on Denver’s bench right now that his $8 million contract could be used to acquire vasam meic because they need guard help but then Russell Westbrook has also been linked to Denver but I but I think there’s still some maneuvering to do because the problem with the Hornets roster as as you look at it now is you’re right they have too many guards like they you got to figure out Trey man vasam meic uh Cody Martin Nick Smith Jr where does he fit into this whole equation and they don’t have enough particularly if they don’t bring miles Bridges back they don’t have enough forward help still have some work to do for sure um let’s there’s still lots of stuff to talk about with this trade coming up next on the lockdown Hornets podcast don’t go to sleep on the Hornets just yet yeah maybe we dabble in to how the rotation is affected with Josh Green’s presence not only who are the guys that are on the outside looking in but even the guys we expect to make the roster do any of them get less playing time we’ll give you our finishing thoughts on Josh Green Plus yeah more bad thoughts more negative things to discuss we we got an injury report from Hornet PR that’s not so good yeah we got to read it though take your medicine folks next welcome back people you recognize it I think from last year it’s our rotation guide Doug has curated it once again explained to the people Doug what we have not only for the listeners the Watchers the viewers on YouTube but also the people that only consume us via an audible space yeah look I’m trying to make sense of all this I’ve got a document here I’ll share it I’ll share a link to it uh in the description probably on every Hornet box score.com and so I’ve got the start I’ve got some starters I’ve got some reserves I’ve got some uh oh I’ve got some swarm I’ve got James naagi is in Spain I’ve got come back James no come on he’s injured right now I don’t think he’s ever coming back that’s true and lost in cap space where I have Reggie Jackson don’t know if he’s going to play for the Hornet probably not Seth Curry got waved uh but there was some idea that he might return and then miles bridg is lost in cap space right now there there are too many questions this is so preliminary there’s too many questions to be answered yet that I don’t have any kind of minutes in here for any guys yet but I’ve got lamelo ball Josh Green Brandon Miller Grant Williams Mark Williams as the starters I’ve got Trey Man Behind lamelo ball and meic behind him and I only did that because I think meic is your better point guard option but I think meech is just gone like I just I don’t see him returning next season it feels like that it does it feels like that which means is probably not going to happen it means Mee is just probably going to suit up whether he likes it or not um behind Josh Green I have Cody Martin and then Nick Smith Jr I’m just giving Cody The Edge because of the defense because of the two-way play because of the of of the veteran presence but Nick Smith Jr way better shooter so you know he might actually have the edge then Brandon behind Brandon Miller I’ve got Salon Behind grant Williams I’ve got povi and then Braton and then Richards behind Williams okay my first question is all really about Cody Martin does Josh Green’s uh acquisition mean it’s the end of Cody as a meaningful player when healthy for this squad because you have him as a starter and I would agree I think you’d put Josh Green ahead of Cody Martin right now if it came down between those two guys a lot of it probably does have to do with health but remember when we would go and I think just better offensive player too in Josh green but I will say Remember When they hired Steve Clifford after they got rid of bgo we were trying to figure out who Cliff’s guys might be on this team and we hypothesize JT Thor was a popular answer honestly didn’t really work out but I don’t think it was because cliff didn’t like it but just didn’t work out because of Thor who are Charles Lee’s guys and it feels like Cody Martin Doug would fit right into that mold as somebody that Lee particularly likes so it doesn’t mean that Cody would get traded although it’s a nice tradable contract 8 million 2025 26 is not guaranteed for Cody so it’s really only three years I guess guaranteed and then that fourth year is none so it’ll be easily tradeable deal if you wanted to um or you could just have him as some bench help not have to rely on him so much like you did defensively last year and then when he was hurt you didn’t have anybody to help you it yeah all that considering is this the end of Cody Martin in a hornit uniform as a important player when healthy I mean the contract number for Cody Martin would help get a deal done the problem is that the injuries have bottomed out any kind of player value because he hasn’t been able to progress as a player and also teams are going to be concerned with how many games he’s missed so he would be part of a deal only in the sense that it could make the money work there are a number of reserves that the Hornets have right now in Trey man and uh Nick Richards I would and Davis prons that would be interesting trade pieces either because of their contracts like Davis or because of their potential as players uh Nick Richards I mean somebody’s gonna need a backup some backup center depth and his contract is perfect and then Trey man I think some some team could see the upside I hope the Hornets see the upside of Trey man and retain him uh but so there there are a lot of questions here I don’t think it’s the end of Cody Martin this season but it is important to note Walker that he is extension eligible on July 6th and I don’t think he’s going to get an extension actually pretty about that um mentioning deadlines though there are a few others povi has his contract guaranteed I believe on the eighth and then Bryce McGowan’s um who I have over here in the Swarm category still still not breaking the rotation although I guess I could slot him in the uh oh slot in the in the second Wing feels pretty uh oh for Bryce right now I would say well his contract is is non guaranteed up until July 18th I believe I may have and Bryce swap there one is the eth and one is the 18th but they’re both making around $2 million and they are both slated to be guaranteed full season guarantees um this July so the Hornets have to make calls on both of those and I would say for me poku is a 5050 because look seven footer who has a potential to shoot a big that can actually shoot did some interesting things like I think he’s worth hanging around for $2 million uh but you still got he’ll be in that space forever though like hey man this guy can shoot he 7 feet we should hang on to him for 2 million I feel like that’s going to be the sales pitch as to whatever team holds on to them once the Hornets drop them there’s going to be another team that has that same sales pitch to ownership and say hey I like it why not sign him well and I’ve talked on this show before about how you’ve got Charles Lee coming in and Jeff Peterson and all they’re talking about are guys that are character guys No Nonsense guys work hard play on both ends of the floor and poku in the past has gotten a little bit of a label of a diva who wants to who views himself as a unicorn but isn’t a unicorn that tries to do too much now I don’t know if that’s how he is anymore post flaming out in OKC but you know that’s why I have it at 50-50 I’m not sure how he’s going to react to to the new way that things are happening here in Charlotte so I have to see but but Bryce I think it’s purely about Play It’s just like yeah where where does he fit I’m not sure anymore I’m not sure they’re sure anymore so I would put that more at like 7525 that they don’t renew that or they don’t uh guarantee that contract through this season and they do the same thing that they did with Seth Curry and say you know good luck we’re going to try to find some options elsewhere because KJ Simpson you know we talk about these injuries like he’s gonna be back salon’s fine like you’ve got to find time to help develop these rookies this year too Bryce has had his opportunity and just hasn’t been able to fully take advantage of it all right so we’ve procrastinated long enough let’s get to the bad news you just mentioned the injury news Hornets PR put it out and so did Rod Boone with a little more detail I’ll just read Rod Boon’s tweet sequence here yesterday said Hornet summer league team news tojan salon and KJ Simpson will not be participating in summer league mini camp in Sacramento this week per the team Salon suffered a minor laceration near his knee but is expected to be available for Las Vegas summer league later next week so that’s good however Hornet say Simpson will miss the entire summer league slate after suffering a hamstring injury during the pre-draft process team says he will continue his rehab he’s expected to be fully recovered which is nice and available at the start of training camp but the joke not so joke that everybody made once KJ Simpson a point guard was drafted was not oh hopefully he can break the rotation oh man maybe he is a break glass in case of emergency guy in the regular season no it was thank God we have a Summer League point guard and that has been taken away from us because well Hornet summer league that exists and we can’t have nice things yeah we’ve got a full summer league preview coming up later in the week we have some idea of what the roster looks like but it’s still coming together so we’re waiting a few more days before we put that preview together uh but yeah disappointing that KJ Simpson who again said he was ready to run through a brick wall and now he’s got to sit down it was going to be exciting to see exactly what they got in that player so you’re not going to see salon and Sacramento but it is good that we will see him somewhat at summer because so many times we’ve seen Hornet’s draft players that missed their first summer and that has Ripple effects particularly for a player in Salon that is going to need some significant development you know you don’t want to see him missing too much time so listen I get um I I get the inclination to be supremely disappointed by this news but it’s not terrible news injuries are a part of the NBA they’ve just been so significant for the Hornets and they’ve targeted the most important players on the roster that there is some just inbuilt trauma that I think for the next season two seasons it will be ridiculous in that any slight injury news is going to irritate the bowels of the sicko and make you vomit and at some at some point I would just encourage enage you to allow some healing to take place to to make some room for an injury to occur and it not be the end of the world well I’m gonna fire off some Twitter jokes still okay you can’t talk me out of that as soon what are we doing it’s Twitter I’m here for the jokes people but in all seriousness I will say like I am really disappointed in KJ Simpson not being able to play Summer League like that sucks and that’s a legitimate thing because yeah like here we are talking about Brandon Miller struggling in Summer League last year and then he goes into the NBA and is really good it’s because a point guard helps so much with this squad spreading things out getting guys in the right position now we are in a spot where I don’t know who the Summer League point guard is going to be and I look we should give this front office the benefit of the doubt based off what they’ve done since the NBA trade deadline but yeah it sucks with KJ like and I’ll say this I don’t know how hot a take this is it’s as hot a summer league take can be Doug I would have said KJ Simpson had a great shot to be the leading scorer for this squad and may have been the best player on this team if we were to just evaluate who had the best summer league St three-year player out of Colorado averaged 20 points per game was dishing out assist was also a good rebounder like what do you want it felt like he could be one of those guys that would have been the best summer league player on this team depending on like McGaw or whatever but like KJ could have been that guy to me well this is some this is some serious Nick Smith Jr eraser if KJ Simpson were your best player coming out of Summer League that would to me signal the end of Nick Smith Jr um in this rotation and and going to Nick Smith Jr if he does have to play some more point guard if there is a silver lining we could see if there has been some improvement in his passing which is something that I harped on last season U not because I expected him to be an elite passer but because he wasn’t making just sort of functional basic passes particularly in transition which is going to be important Charles Lee is going to be looking to get it up and down so everybody’s got to be able to to make those functional passes so Nick Smith Jr you’re going to get I think a better look at some of the improvements that he’s made but I think you’re right Walker I just you know in my lifetime I would like to witness the Charlotte Hornets win a summer league championship that’s all I want that’s all I want is just in my lifetime to see them hold up the Summer League Cup yeah I would love it too okay we can go through the schedule next episode still lots of things to celebrate this is a really good move just smart for this team they acquire Josh Green for a couple of second round picks they go get him in the Klay Thompson to Dallas deal and we have something to talk about this free agency period buddy pleasure doing business with you love talking some actual news here during free agency by the way I called the Klay Thompson to Dallas you thought clay was going to go to La well you you thought Wendy thought that Klay was going to go to La I told you it was going to be D I’m not saying you got it wrong I’m saying Wendy got it wrong what was this weird FES that you had to fit in before we got out of here well it well hold on I’m going to tie it back because that does leave an opening in Los I think the Clippers are they’re out I think they’ve they’ve already filled enough roster spots but I think there’s still a gap there in LA I think Chicago is still doing weird things Utah I I think there are still some sign and trade possibilities as the market continues to dry up options continue to dry up for teams that are looking to compete I think that’s where the opportunities are going to be for Miles Bridges sign and trade for the Hornets to bring back some more assets there and we’ll talk about it once if it happens here on lockdown Hornets we’re with you daily thanks for making us your first listen we’re free and available anywhere you get your Podge that includes YouTube go check out Doug substack every Hornets boox score.com listen to me talk about all this stuff again on sports radio 927 WFNZ every weekday from 12:00 to 3 p.m. have a great rest of your day we’ll be on standby for any breaking newss any emergency pods that might need to happen in just your regularly scheduled programming see you tomorrow [Music]

The Charlotte Hornets traded two 2nd-round picks in exchange for Josh Green, landing a young player in the Klay Thompson to Dallas deal. Was this smart business for Jeff Peterson and company? How does Josh Green fit with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller? Finally, Walker and Doug share their thoughts on the lack of news surrounding Miles Bridges and close with unfortunate Summer League updates.

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