They did pick Napier

6/27/2014 7:00:39 PM

In the end, they didn't

6/27/2014 7:46:04 PM

shoot why u so mad tho

6/27/2014 7:51:58 PM

Napier is my uconn alumnus.

6/27/2014 8:38:28 PM

wake tech has a uconn campus?

6/27/2014 8:43:42 PM

No. I moved from CT down here.
This may be the 2nd biggest mistake Hornets make only after dropping Kobe.

6/27/2014 8:45:31 PM

Vlade Divac is a scholar and a gentleman

6/27/2014 9:14:38 PM

Why is it a mistake to not take napier when we already have a better version of napier on the team playing the exact same position named Kemba?

6/27/2014 10:56:43 PM

Why did Miami acquire Lebron when they already had a similar type of player named Wade?

6/27/2014 11:03:32 PM

Lebron and Wade similar?


Also, LOL at comparing Lebron/Wade to Kemba/Napier. I mean LOL

[Edited on June 27, 2014 at 11:06 PM. Reason : sdf]

6/27/2014 11:05:56 PM

shoot is being an unobjective fucke

6/27/2014 11:08:52 PM

If Lebron stays in Miami and plays with his favorite rookie Napier and gets another champ, what will you say?

[Edited on June 28, 2014 at 9:25 AM. Reason : And I don't see why Kemba/Napier can't be the black version of Hornacek/Stockton]

6/28/2014 9:07:19 AM

If Miami wins a title this year, it won't be because of Napier, and if Miami had PJ and won a title, it wouldn't be because of PJ

6/28/2014 9:47:54 AM

^^jeff hornacek was a shooting guard. in fact he shot 40.3% from the 3pt line for his career.

kemba can't shoot. napier improved as a shooter during his time at UConn, but it is yet to be seen if he can be a good 3 point shooter in the NBA.

please shut up.

6/28/2014 12:16:42 PM

Quote :

"If hoops genius LeBron says Napier's the man at PG, Shabazz is for real June 27, 2014 4:58 pm ET More 2014 NBA Draft: Draft Tracker | Trade Tracker | Complete coverage The biggest steal in the 2014 NBA Draft was Shabazz Napier. I mean it, I believe it, and I'm not concerned even a little bit about being wrong someday. Know why? Because LeBron believes it, too. And LeBron's the best general manager in the NBA. No, really. Said this before, will say it again: LeBron's smarter than most people. Most players, most sports writers, most general managers. Most people. Don't confuse education with intelligence. My grandmother didn't graduate from high school and she talked with a big mouthful of the sun-scorched Oklahoma countryside, but she was one of the smartest people I've ever known. Her brain, her comprehension, just worked at a speed that you had to experience to understand. One of her kids became the highest-ranking enlisted man in the U.S. Army. Another became a judge. They got her brain, and they went places because of it. LeBron's the same way. That brain -- he gets it. Simple as that. And when he focuses that brain on basketball, he gets it like Mozart gets music. Maybe I talk and write in grandiose language at times, but that's not a grandiose statement. LeBron is a basketball genius? That's not an exaggeration. That's an absolute fact. And if LeBron thinks Shabazz Napier will be a great NBA point guard, then that's another fact. KEN BERGER Loaded draft prelude to LeBron, Melo chase And look, I've seen LeBron do this before. He picks and chooses who he will befriend, and when he sees a special talent, he's all over that guy. He's all over that guy before the rest of us, I mean. He saw Kyrie Irving as a high school freshman and latched onto him, knowing a future NBA star when he saw one. He did the same with Chris Paul when they were teammates at the 2003 McDonald's All-Star Game. All those great young players, and LeBron zeroed in on Chris Paul. He liked him as a person? Sure he did. But he respected him as a player, and that's a vital component for LeBron. I remember watching the 2008 NCAA Tournament from the best seat in the house -- following Davidson. Got lucky there, getting assigned to the same region as the Wildcats, and that was the Stephen Curry tournament. He went nuts, scoring 40 points against Gonzaga and then 30 against Georgetown, 25 in the second half. I saw it happen and lamented the fact Curry wouldn't be a star in the NBA, because he was just too small to play shooting guard and not skilled enough to run the point. That's what lots of people seemed to think. Not LeBron. He latched onto Curry, getting to Detroit for the Sweet 16 to take in the show for himself. When Curry made one of the signature plays of that whole tournament -- pump-faking Wisconsin's Joe Krabbenhoft past him, then silky-smoothing a 3-pointer through the net -- LeBron was on his feet, hopping up and down. LeBron was sitting in the first row behind the Davidson bench. How did he get there? He'd called Davidson after the second round and asked for some tickets. Because he knew. Afterward he and Curry exchanged phone numbers. They've been friends since. And Curry has become a superstar NBA point guard. LeBron knew it all along. When Eric Bledsoe was drafted in the first round in 2010, he was the 18th player taken. Hell, he was the fourth Kentucky player taken. But LeBron saw something, befriended Bledsoe, talked him up to everyone who'd listen. And look what happened: Eric Bledsoe, who averaged 11.3 points and 2.9 assists in his one season at Kentucky, is coming off an NBA season where he averaged 17.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.7 apg and 1.6 steals. Only four players reached all four of those figures last season: Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Eric Bledsoe, LeBron James. James just knows. How does he know? I don't know. Same way Mozart knew what to do with all those piano keys, I guess. And now LeBron has anointed Shabazz Napier as his next guy. Check the date. That wasn't Thursday night before the draft. That was April. And then you saw what happened Thursday night in the draft, maybe. You saw the Miami Heat, LeBron's (sort of) team, making a trade with the Hornets to get the 24th overall pick: Shabazz Napier. Trying to make LeBron happy? Well, sure. But also the Miami Heat know what I've been telling you, that LeBron's genius for basketball extends beyond his ability to jump 40 inches and shoot 30-footers and zip blind passes. His genius is in his brain, his ability to evaluate talent. Hell, he basically put together the two-time champion Miami Heat. And now he says Shabazz Napier is the best point guard in this draft? Then Shabazz Napier is the best point guard in this draft. Me and LeBron, we agree."

6/28/2014 1:36:59 PM

^^^ I think Lebron wants Napier to take over Chalmers and helps him handle the ball. Napier can make an instant impact.

6/28/2014 1:43:12 PM

Napier trade might have been a mistake, he does grade out pretty highly...

We coulda let kemba go after next year if Napier panned out. Which would give us a lot of leverage if he asks for any money and doesnt improve dramatically.

The numbers don't love Hairston but i think he could be a really great pro. I think if anything the trouble he encountered in college helps him stay focused. Everyone is a knucklehead at 20 years old, some people get it together.

6/28/2014 2:11:03 PM

Someone can get it together but not everyone.
I think Jordan pick PJ instead of Napier largely because PJ is his alumnus. Also PJ can shoot.
But Napier also has potential. This guy may not be able to make 3 pts a lot. But he can SCORE. He can make his teammates better... He's influential.
Shooters are not hard to find, but MOP is.

6/28/2014 2:29:17 PM

You can't play Kemba and Napier together for extended minutes. Too small. Ask Brevin Knight and Raymond Felton.

I wouldn't have minded at all if we hadn't done the trade, but hopefully PJ can be a good scorer for us.

Plus, he's one of my favorite Tar Heels right up there with McCants and Marvin Austin.

6/28/2014 3:01:32 PM

Quote :

"please shut up"

yeh, that will surely work

6/28/2014 3:03:56 PM

Why do they need to play together? Kemba is for now and Napier is for the future. He can start as a backup of Kemba and learn sitting on the bench.
Anyway, let's see how it is going in Miami and judge if this trade is a mistake.

BTW, your favorite is not Lebron's favorite

6/28/2014 3:06:23 PM

The Heat didn't have a point guard, so Napier is a good fit. The Hornets already had probably the best PG in the league. Huskies!

6/28/2014 3:08:44 PM

Would you regret more if I say he could be the next Iverson?

I'll stop here.

6/28/2014 3:09:58 PM

Napier could be the next Iverson. PJ could be the next Jordan.

Neither of them will though.

6/28/2014 3:10:39 PM

Quote :

"Krzyzewski compared Napier to a current NBA All Star point guard. Napier reminded me some of Chris Paul in the tournament. I’m not saying anyone is as good as Chris Paul, because he’s the best the world at the point guard position [...] Chris can get by you and get into the lane and he doesn’t leave his feet. He’s still dribbling and making a play in the lane with his feet and dribble in control. Guards sometimes go in there and penetrate and leave their feet and dish, or they go in there and they dish or shoot. Napier, he does some of what Chris Paul does…he probes when he gets into the lane. It shows a tremendous amount of poise."

6/28/2014 3:17:25 PM

I'm just glad Napier will finally be able to afford food

6/28/2014 3:21:47 PM

I don't believe that story. That's just created to attract eyeballs.

6/28/2014 3:36:36 PM

I believe he spent his money on clothes and shoes and whatnot, rather than food.

6/28/2014 4:52:24 PM

Uconn has plenty of money to serve him.

6/28/2014 5:09:11 PM

http://hornetsplanet.com/

6/28/2014 6:04:35 PM

The face websites love Vonleh and hate Hairston.

Late firsts are usually throaways anyway so I'd be fine if that's how the players work out. Although, those sites would've loved our draft if we had just kept Napier.

Biggest thing I like about Vonleh is that he reclassified late and those guys usually have underwhelming freshman years in college and are underrated as prospects as a result. Drummond being the biggest example.

6/29/2014 9:46:43 AM

The good thing that has come out of all of this Napier talk is that I have found out the few on here that know absolutely nothing about basketball. But hey, if Lebron says it, its gospel! Napier for Heisman!

6/29/2014 7:55:06 PM

Quote :

"LeBron's the same way. That brain -- he gets it. Simple as that. And when he focuses that brain on basketball, he gets it like Mozart gets music. Maybe I talk and write in grandiose language at times, but that's not a grandiose statement. LeBron is a basketball genius? That's not an exaggeration. That's an absolute fact."

6/29/2014 8:06:55 PM

You don't think they said the same thing about Jordan in his day? And that SOB drafted Kwame Brown, Sean May, Adam Morrison, etc. Just because you can play your ass off on the court doesn't exactly mean that you know how to evaluate/draft players.

But please...continue to try and tell us how Shabazz would have fit in on this team.

6/29/2014 8:17:57 PM

He means that Lebron is a genius player, not a genius GM.
Genius player knows who he should choose to be his teammate from a player standpoint, not GM.

6/29/2014 8:46:29 PM

This is the same guy that chose Bosh as his teammate, right?

6/29/2014 9:55:18 PM

Bosh is an elite player for sure. He's soft but he was the backup for Howard in dream team 08'. I think without Bosh, Heat can't get to the finals this yr.

6/29/2014 10:03:44 PM

I think you're being awfully generous with the term "elite"

I can name 10 big men in the league that are better than Bosh

Granted, some of them aren't American so they couldn't have backed up Howard on Team USA

6/29/2014 10:18:56 PM

Gasol, Howard, Chandler, Noah, Big AL, Duncan, who else?
Bosh's prime time is certainly in Raptors, but he's still good in the last four yrs. He just got hided by Wade and Lebron, even Allen.
Remember who grabbed the reb in Game 6 of last yr and passed it to Allen to make the clutch shot.

6/29/2014 10:50:18 PM

The shabazz love affair is a little overblown. The chance of either him or pj even making an impact is fairly low, and if they do make an impact it'll be as a role player or a specialist.

This Hornets draft will be ultimately graded on how Vonleh pans out. And when you're a small market like Charlotte, I'll always support higher ceiling, riskier picks like him over lower ceiling, safer guys like McDermott, who I was terrified was going to be our pick.

6/29/2014 10:51:18 PM

Quote :

"And when you're a small market like Charlotte"

This is the main reason why they choose PJ. They don't want to gamble on the future of Napier. Signing a regular shooter and a native NC guy keeps the risk to the lowest level. And PJ is also from UNC, which is the school of the owner. That makes sense.
But even pick like this, u still need to take the risk that PJ may become a bad boy again.

6/29/2014 11:03:33 PM

Quote :

"Gasol, Howard, Chandler, Noah, Big AL, Duncan, who else?"

Dirk, Aldridge, Love, Griffin, Cousins, etc

You seem to say PJ was a homer pick by MJ, a UNC guy. Yet many of your arguments for Napier are as a UConn homer

6/29/2014 11:45:23 PM

I think the PJ pick had less to do with him being from UNC and more to do with the fact that we got the 3rd best 3 pt shooter in the draft at the 24th pick. You know, something the Hornets REALLY need...

6/30/2014 12:02:46 AM

You don't know what Hornets REALLY need. You judge it from previous loss. But we are not building a PERFECT team. We are building a team which can WIN.

Napier is a better SCORER, not only a shooter. You can buy a shooter through trading. Or you can train a player to become a shooter. You don't have to waste a draft pick to get a damn shooter and send a MOP to your enemy.

Narrow view.

6/30/2014 9:28:29 AM

^^^ Yeah, he's a uconn homer. But he's really good. You guys don't know. I just introduce him to you. I'm objective.

Aldridge, Griffin, Cousins are PF/SF. Bosh is more of C.

[Edited on June 30, 2014 at 9:34 AM. Reason : ;]

6/30/2014 9:30:42 AM

this thread is giving me a headache.

6/30/2014 9:37:18 AM

^^None of those guys are Small Forwards, shoot. And Bosh plays more like a stretch 4 than a true center. He probably wouldn't even start for the Beijing Ducks.

6/30/2014 1:30:25 PM

Alridge and Griffin can play SF. They are quick.
The current center of Peking Ducks is Raldoph Morris. You think Bosh is even worse than him?

6/30/2014 1:46:48 PM

Raldoph Morris would take Bosh to school

6/30/2014 1:53:13 PM

He's from University of Kentucky, former teammate of Josh Smith, Dwight Howard and Rondo.

6/30/2014 2:02:41 PM