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Grading all four Charlotte Hornets picks in the 2020 NBA draft
"The Charlotte Hornets took a leap forward with the picks in the 2020 NBA draft. Let’s grade their four picks.
Since the Charlotte Hornets traded Kemba Walker to the Boston Celtics they have been lacking star power. They have not had a player who can take over the game and drag the team to a win the way Walker could since he left.
It is not as though general manager Mike Kupchak made any significant deals on draft night. All he did was select players in the order that was allotted to him, with the exception of trading for the 42nd pick by giving up a 2024 second-round draft pick.
The Hornets ended up with four picks in the 2020 draft. Their first was pick No. 3. They then had two second-round picks before trading for the third. They have several holes in their roster, some of which were addressed with this draft.
Some of the areas the Charlotte Hornets needed to address with the draft.
While the Hornets guard play last season was dynamic with Terry Rozier and DeVonte’ Graham, they are undersized with both players standing only 6’1″. The Toronto Raptors have a similar-sized backcourt but both their players play above their size, the Hornets pair do not.
The next area the Hornets needed to address was their issues at center. While Cody Zeller is a solid worker, they need a rim protector as they gave up the highest field goal percentage in the NBA last season.
They also needed to address the fact that they were the lowest-scoring team in the league, averaging just 102.9 points per game. Despite all of these weaknesses the Hornets still managed to finish ninth in the East last season. Let’s now grade these picks."Los Angeles Clippers Face Masks
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s smart game-planning has been a huge advantage in its series against the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA playoffs. "The Miami Heat are up 2-0 in against the first seeded Milwaukee Bucks. They need to win twice more to earn an Eastern Conference Finals berth, a height that no one saw them reaching when they retooled their roster last offseason.
Several of the Heat’s newcomers have been impactful in Miami’s two victories against the Eastern Conference’s best team but one of the longest-tenured people in the Heat organization deserves credit as well: head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Miami’s two-time championship-winning coach has proven to be a cut above the rest yet again. The culture he fosters in the Heat organization pays dividends, attracting stars like Jimmy Butler and developing guys with few, if any, expectations to be big-time contributors at the NBA level into key starters (see: Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson).
While the play on the court is always the most important aspect of the game, coaching makes a tremendous difference, and it’s showing in this series. Spoelstra has run circles around Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer. Spo’s decisions have put the Miami Heat in a prime position to take the series while Bud’s have cost his team momentum and possibly the outcome of games.
For one, Spoelstra has managed his rotations better than Budenholzer, who still has a reluctance to play his best players through the entirety of crunch time.
Spoelstra has made minimal substitutions near the end of the fourth quarter. By roughly half-way through the final period, Spo has his key players in for the remainder of the game. Budenholzer has struggled with this.
With 5:06 left in Game 2, Middleton picked up his 5th foul. He was subbed out for Wes Matthews and subbed back in with 3:32 left. In that time, Matthews committed a turnover and two fouls, one of which was a shooting foul on Jimmy Butler, who made both free throws, extending the Heat’s lead to eight.
The absence of Eric Bledsoe in Game 1 doesn’t excuse some of Budenholzer’s rotation decisions. Pat Connaughton receiving 25 minutes in Game 1 and Marvin Williams receiving 21 minutes in Game 2 are huge lapses in judgment by last season’s Coach of the Year."Los Angeles Lakers Face Masks
Enes Kanter traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in three-team trade with Memphis Grizzlies
"The Boston Celtics finally completed their draft night trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, but with a twist. Boston will send Enes Kanter, who recently opted in for just over $5 million for the 2020-21 season, to the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-team deal.
The deal will also see Boston send the draft rights to Desmond Bane to Memphis. Bane was drafted with the 30th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
The Celtics will reportedly receive two future second round picks from Memphis. The Grizzlies will also acquire Mario Hezonja from Portland.
Kanter played one season in Boston and averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He played 16.9 minutes per game, mostly as a backup to Daniel Theis.
For his part, Kanter seems excited to be headed back to Portland:
In 23 games with the Trail Blazers at the end of the 2018-19 season, Kanter averaged 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds. He then started for Portland during the 2019 playoffs after Jusuf Nurkic was injured.
Boston will create a trade exception of $4.767 million in this deal, as they are taking no salary back for Kanter.
This deal, combined with the recent opt out decision by Gordon Hayward, has Boston well below the luxury tax. That gives Boston plenty of wiggle room to use the full Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception of $9.258 million, as well as possibly the Bi-Annual Exception of $3.623 million.
In addition, the increased flexibility creates room for a potential sign and trade involving Gordon Hayward. That would allow the Celtics to take back additional salary in a deal. Or if Hayward re-signs in Boston, the Celtics could still have the ability to use the full MLE without worry of crossing over the hard cap.
Because this transaction between Boston, Memphis and Portland is taking place at the tail end of the 2019-20 league year, it is now official. Free agent negotiations open at 6:00 PM ET on Friday evening, and then the league year changes over on Sunday, November 21 at 12:01 PM ET."
"Monday night saw the No.1 seed Milwaukee Bucks open their Eastern Conference semi-final matchup in the NBA playoffs with the Miami Heat. For anybody who has watched the Heat play this season, especially in Orlando, you’ll know that we were going to be in for an exhilarating series here. And Game 1 was just that.
There was plenty going on in this one, and if this game was a benchmark for the rest of this series then it’s going to be a special one. The Bucks haven’t looked themselves through their time in Orlando and that’s pretty worrying. But, when you have Giannis Antetokounmpo on your team, surrounded by the depth that he is, then all form goes out the window. The Heat, however, had different ideas, and the area of the game that effectively gave them the basis to go on and clinch this opening game was a surprising one.
The Milwaukee Bucks have the best interior defense in the entire NBA this season, allowing just 38.7 points in the paint per game, while the Heat rank 28th in scoring in the paint, with 43.9 points per game coming in that area. So you’ve got the best defense inside against one of the worst offenses inside. That doesn’t seem like a great thing considering the task that the Heat was coming up against in Giannis and the Bucks. But, that narrative didn’t seem to matter to head coach Erik Spoelstra and his team." Golden State Warriors Face Masks
"Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler went off for 40 points in 36 minutes of play on Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks, securing his team a Game 1 victory in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
He became only the third-ever member of the Heat to drop 40 in a playoff game, putting him in excellent company amidst former Heatles LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and made headlines after disclosing he didn’t invite any family to the NBA bubble, calling it strictly a “business trip.”
(Virgos will Virgo.)
But despite Butler’s dominating offense and strong work ethic both being a thing of beauty, they aren’t the sole reason that Miami came out on top.
New best friend Goran Dragic scored 27 flashy points of his own, shooting a whopping 60 percent from the field (including 40 percent from downtown) and knocking down all seven of his free throws. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists, hitting everyone with a friendly reminder of what it truly means to be a well-rounded point guard.
Bam Adebayo also carried his weight (all 250-plus lbs of it and then some), collecting an impressive 17 rebounds, alongside 12 points, six assists and two steals. And perhaps even more importantly, he held Giannis Antetokounmpo to 18 points and 10 rebounds – a modest statline for the former MVP."
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