The Charlotte Hornets go with Brandon Miller in the NBA draft.

So talk about the twins and more things, NBA. It's time to bring in somebody.

Like I said, we need somebody who's smarter than I am. It is Brian Geissinger. You can find his work at Buzzbeat Podcast. Also, all over the ACC. Your favorite ACC team's favorite website probably has something for Brian Geissinger writing about it.

And one thing he specializes in is the NBA draft, that crossover from college guys to NBA. BG, what's going on, man? How you doing? I'm doing great.

We've got so much to talk about, I might have to extend your time. and they're getting drafted higher and higher, these guys that are coming from overtime elite and things like that where, and maybe it's the people of their generation are following these people, they're not watching their games necessarily, they're following their trend on social media, but is it, like, for you example, we make fun of you for watching obscure college basketball games, does your draft prep now include like watching the whole overtime elite season to see some of these guys that are going as lottery picks? Yeah, for sure. In part because I thought there was a good chance the Hornets were gonna end up picking third or fourth. I mean, they came into the night of the lottery, they came in with the fourth best odds of getting one overall pick, so they would have been right in the middle of Thompson twin territory. So I actually had a man Thompson third on my board above Brandon Miller, and I like Asar Thompson a lot as well. So, yeah, I've watched overtime elite, I've watched a lot of G League night, but that's like a three year trend now, just because going back to Jalen Green two seasons ago, and then also, or three seasons ago, and then also last year, Dyson Daniels, Jayden Hardy, and this year Scoot Henderson, Leonard Miller, Mojave King, Sidi Sissoko. So like, yeah, like college is definitely my focus, especially along the ACC play and sort of like the entire country studying for the draft, because you also need to watch, you gotta watch smaller conferences, you gotta watch Brandon Pachemski at Santa Clara in the West Coast Conference too, if you wanna like be up on all of these guys. But yeah, that prep now, if you're gonna take the holistic approach, it does include watching it at night, it does include finding international teams like Met 92 with Victor Wabunyama, and an overtime elite. Luckily though, Hayes, like these, like overtime elite, some of the G League, like you can find their games like on, sometimes it's on, like when LaMelo Ball was playing in Australia, all those games were on Facebook, so you can find them on Facebook or YouTube, you can find them on, sometimes on ESPN Plus, that's where a lot of like G League stuff exists in terms of their like, in terms of their basketball inventory.

So you can find the stuff, it's just like, are you willing to kind of like commit the time to it? Yep, I might ask you some more philosophical questions about fandom and players, and their track to the NBA a little bit later. Let's break down specifically the draft, and let's start with the local team for us, the Charlotte Hornets. Everyone was mad, everyone says Charlotte got it wrong, Scoot Henderson is supposed to be the slam dunk. I don't think anything otherwise, but just to play devil's advocate, Brandon Miller's like a really good player, and we also don't know like what it's gonna look like in five years, right? Like, is it that easy to say the Hornets definitely got it wrong, just based on the pick?

Yeah, it's tough because like the draft is, it's inexact, and we don't know anything for certain. I'm fairly confident, is maybe how I would frame it, that they got it wrong by passing up on Scoot Henderson, a guy that I think you're gonna build offenses around. I think with his speed, his athleticism, the mid range shooting is someone that's constantly putting pressure on the defense, and is gonna be a player that can be an all star, and be someone that NBA teams build top 10 offenses around for the next decade plus. I like, but to your point though, I do like Brandon Miller as a prospect, and I did have like a top four, top five grade on him for this draft. This is not like the Warriors taking James Wiseman, second overall in 2022, right? Miller is a better prospect.

That year I had Wiseman back end of the lottery. Miller comes in at 20, and there is like a projectable archetype for him, as like the jumbo, big wing, gravity bending, movement shooter that you can also run some pick and roll. I'm sort of like a little less wowed by the handle, and the passing flashes that he showed at Alabama this past season, but I mean he is one of the best three point shooters in the class.

He can shoot off movement, and there are some dribble handoff, pick and roll, play making chops there as well. So yeah, it's an okay pick, but I do think they missed out on Scoot pretty badly. But like if they had the third pick, and they took Brandon Miller, you would say they got it right? I still probably would have had a Men Thompson above Brandon Miller. I know people were sort of seeing this as a three player class, but I just think Thompson's athleticism would give him like the slight edge for me over Miller, who again I think is quite good as a prospect, and I do certainly see the role for him as like tall wing shooter who might be able to run pick and rolls for you one day.

It can guard a couple of positions, and do some stuff as a team defender. So yeah, and ultimately though to your point though, I think the Hornets did well late in the first round, and early in the second round. So like if they had come into the night with a third pick, and they had taken Brandon Miller, and not had the opportunity to pass up on Scoot, and then if the draft night had played out the exact same way, I would have said they had a good draft night, and instead you pass up on Scoot, and probably the two biggest viral videos from last night, not like this should be any real indicator of draft night success. No, I like it. Absolutely, outside of Grady Dick, in where being dressed like BJ from the Righteous Gemstones, the biggest viral videos from last night were Mitch Kupchak's press conference.

Oh my gosh. And the Hornets mascot looking like me after it was announced that the Hornets had drafted Brandon Miller, and literally the video of the mascot putting his head in his hands inside Spectrum Center is a sight to see. Well also, doesn't it just feel like, you know how sometimes when if the Browns have a big playoff game, and you're like, I don't think the Browns are gonna win, and you're like, why? You're like, well, just because it's the Browns, man. That's just the vibe I'm giving up. Like, because it's the Hornets making the pick against the player that everybody says is great, like doesn't it feel just locked in that Scoot Henderson is now gonna be an all-time great, maybe even better than Victor? Yeah, I mean, I don't think he's gonna be better than Victor. Yes, I do feel like Scoot was already on the all-star, all-NBA route, and you could probably get him fitted for a jacket into the Naismith Hall of Fame at this point, too.

Go ahead and get that ready. I didn't see this happen live because we were doing some stuff and recording, and we kind of had a live draft show going on. I was informed by a former Sports Channel 8 listener and a Busbee podcast listener that Scoot's face after Brandon Miller was selected as the number two overall pick. Scoot didn't look exactly pleased, so yeah. So he's gonna drop 45 every time he plays Charlotte? Like, he's gonna average 45 against him?

It certainly wouldn't surprise me, and I mean, I'm pulling for all of the guys, right? Like, I want everyone to be good, and I hope I'm wrong about Brandon Miller. Like, I hope I have missed something and for the Hornets, for this to work out well, I hope I've missed something in my evaluation process with him that he turns into a better player than I think he's gonna be. Like, there is some superstar actual potential with him. But there is part of me that also kind of hopes that Scoot just goes on to have truly an all-time career and also just detonates on the Hornets every time he crosses paths with them. Brian Geiser, you're joining us. Follow him on Twitter, at bguysbird. Can we play the Mitch Kupchak audio, Victoria?

It's in there, because he referenced it, and we haven't quite had a chance to play it yet. It is just, like, you go into the night knowing who you're gonna pick, right? So you know you're gonna get asked, why did you pick this guy?

And Mitch Kupchak, the hopefully and surely outgoing general manager of the Charlotte Hornets, has, this is his brilliant answer. There's nothing like kicking back, tearing open a bag of M&Ms, and hanging with a friend. Now that's a good time. Whether you're at the movies, on a beach, or stuck in traffic, there are so many kinds of M&Ms to enjoy. Milk chocolate, peanut peanut butter, minis, and many more. It's the iconic candy that's all about bringing people together to bond over colorful, bite-sized chocolate candies, delicious flavors, and something else we all have in common.

Fun M&Ms, for all fun kind. Hold on, we're looking for it. I'll give it to you in just a second. But it's just amazing. Do you see it?

It's just. You sound like Mitch Kupchak filibustering right now, trying to get the video ready here. Sorry, it's just above the this man speaks for all Hornets fans audio. All right, because that guy was great, too. That was a Hornets fan that was at the game. All right, here we go with Mitch Kupchak. Well, everything that we, you know, every answer that we got to every question. You know, I would say, you know, he is a freshman, right?

So, you know, he's a little bit, you know, I would say younger than, Steve, I wouldn't say younger. Nah, I bet I wouldn't even go into action, actually. I'll just let it go. What? Yeah, I mean. What?

Yeah. It's not, it's not great. What was that?

It's not great. I would feel better, BG, if he came out this morning and said, hey, it was a long night, we got our picks in, and I had like four beers, and I should have just had two beers. Like, I would, that was just the most bumbling, incoherent thing.

He like contradicted slash corrected himself two different times and still failed to make any point at all. And the question I'm pretty sure was just, how did you guys decide to go with Brandon Miller, the number two pick? Yeah, it's a real hard question to answer. I mean. Yeah, it's just, it's not, it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. It doesn't come across as like a, you know, like a real professional response in that situation.

And, you know, I do want to be like, it's probably worth noting, like, Mitch Kupchak, like, while he has some strengths as an executive at basketball, and I think has done some good team building things through the draft, has made some good picks during his five years with the Hornets. You know, like, sometimes in press conferences, he's not like the best, but this was probably sort of like one of, probably one of his like rougher answers, and just like given the moment and the spotlight of the draft and passing up on Scoot, like, oh, eyes, we're obviously going to be on it. It's one of those things that's like, you do want to be like, I guess, a little empathetic. Like, it was a long day, you know? Like, it's been a long few weeks. And like, I'm not giving, I'm not trying to like give cover or whatever.

Like, excuse me, like, that's not good enough. And that's not really what you want to see after your team draft someone number two overall. But, you know, it had been a long day and whatever. The one other thing I would say, like the other place my mind went to was, because you can hear in that answer, he starts to say like, when he says Brandon Miller was a freshman, which is true, Brandon Miller was a freshman at Alabama this past season, but he starts to say like, he's younger, that part of the clip. Like, if he's comparing Brandon Miller to Scoot, Scoot is a year and a half younger than Brandon Miller.

So it was like, he was about to say something on that, then backtracked, and then just kind of got lost in the middle of the sentence and had no place to go. And look, the one other thing you could probably go to here is like, you know, last week, Michael Jordan agrees to sell his majority stake in the Hornets to two of the team's minority owners. And, but part of the process with that is that he would stay on and like help oversee the draft along with his handpicked general manager, Mitch Kupchak, his handpicked assistant general manager and Buzz Peterson. And I mean, let's not forget the VP of player personnel for the Hornets is also his Michael Jordan's brother. So like, you know, like it's just, so it's one of those things where like it's tough cause is it like too many cooks in the kitchen or did like ultimately did someone above Mitch Kupchak and the only person who would have that authority, I guess, would either be like the outgoing owner or the incoming owners. And like, that's a unique scenario. Jay Cole picked Brandon Miller. Yeah, they're gonna give the Martin twins a max contract next offseason. But yeah, so like, it's just not, probably not what you want. Although ultimately, like after that press conference, like, you know, Mitch Kupchak did rebound and like they had the rest of the draft night, I think was pretty solid.

Like sort of, you know, viral videos notwithstanding. Helping me break down the draft and other NBA news from around here is Brian Geisiger. Follow him on Twitter at BGeis bird, BGeis underscore bird. Check out his work at the Buzzbeat podcast or for your favorite ACC team's favorite website.

He probably writes for them. Does Victor Wabunyama easily make, is he great next year? Like can he step in and be amazing in his first year? Yeah, I think he's gonna be really good next season.

I mean, he'll still be scratching the surface, but yeah, I think he's going to, in part because he just has stuff that like translates, you know, naturally. Like obviously he's gonna have to, you know, probably change up the shot selection with what it's been with meant 92, but he can shoot threes. He's obviously, he can guard, pick and roll in a couple of different ways. He can protect the rim and he's a really good finisher around the basket.

And obviously with that size, like he's pretty special. And like for whatever it's worth, like the Spurs have some stuff, like he's not gonna be playing, they're not gonna be very good. I don't think they're gonna be young, but it's not like he's gonna be playing with like, like he's the only good young player on this roster. Like there's some good pieces in San Antonio, Tre Jones, Devin Vassil, Malachi Branham, Jeremy Sohan. So like, yeah, I think like stuff is in place for him to have, you know, a rookie of the year caliber season and be a top, you know, whatever player in the NBA.

But yeah, I think he'll be good next season from the get go. Two Duke players drafted in the first round, who got the better landing? Taking out the fact that in theory, everyone wants to be drafted higher cause you make more money, but just in terms of team and fit, what do you like better, Derek Lively with the Mavs or Dereek Whitehead with the Nets? Yeah, I like Lively with the Mavs. Like they really went with their draft picks.

You could tell they focused on defense and length. And so Lively is a really nice pick for them at 12 and just a guy that's gonna be happy to set a million screens per game for Luka Doncic. Like he doesn't need the, you know, the Dwight Howard half dozen post up touches to get him working hard on the glass and setting hard screens and stuff. Like he just, you put him on the court and like he gets the ball popping around offensively cause he can pass a little bit. He crashes, he dives and he screens hard. And then defensively, like, I mean, Hayes, you probably watched a lot of Lively this past season at Duke, like especially the back half of the year. I mean, he was like arguably the best defensive player in the country. He can guard pick and roll in every which way up at the level, hard hedge, switch against out onto ones and twos, he can drop. Like he'll have to get stronger, but his ground coverage, his communication, all of that is just so, so good defensively. Like I got to see him up close at Cameron a lot this season.

And he is a guy that like, I think definitely really like takes ownership of a defense when he's like the backline rim protector and the guy that's got to call out screen coverages and stuff. But I also think Darique Whitehead landed in a decent spot in Brooklyn, like no pressure to play right away. In fact, I think they already came out and said that Whitehead won't play in summer league as he continues to recover. The Brooklyn X team doctor is also the doctor that performed surgery on Whitehead.

So- I thought that was funny. Yeah, it's kind of amazing. Yeah, so ultimately, yeah, I think that like both guys landed in good spots and Whitehead's, there's a lot of wings on that roster, but I do think over the next season or two, Brooklyn's going to trade off some of those guys, whether it's, you know, Mikel Bridges or Dorian Finney-Smith. I mean, they could bring side Cam Johnson. I imagine they'll do that this off season as well.

But eventually, like, I think he'll be part of some young team's core and just the main thing with him is just like, try to get healthy because he's a really talented young player. And then Traquakelian Smith, I think you expected him to be drafted. I know a lot of people did. And did he say, I don't know if he has signed with anybody yet. I know those announcements come in a flurry. Was it a shock that he wasn't drafted or just mildly surprising?

I was pretty, I mean, I would stop maybe short of shock, but yeah, I would say it was pretty surprising. And yeah, he did, I believe it was a two-way contract with the 76ers. Philadelphia's scouting department and front office actually did a pretty good job to get some unsigned, or pardon me, undrafted players, like as soon as the draft was ending. You know, it's one of those things where like, I'm sure it stinks for Traquakelian. Like, I think he should have been drafted.

I think he was a top 30 prospect in this draft, you know, maybe at worst a top 45 prospect. But Hayes, I can't remember if I was talking about this with you on here recently, or maybe it was gold actually, but just sort of like, you know, if it... There's nothing like kicking back, tearing open a bag of M&Ms and hanging with a friend. Now that's a good time. Whether you're at the movies, on a beach, or stuck in traffic, there are so many kinds of M&Ms to enjoy. Milk chocolate, peanut, peanut butter, minis, and many more. It's the iconic candy that's all about bringing people together to bond over colorful, bite-sized chocolate candies, delicious flavors, and something else we all have in common. Fun M&Ms, for all fun kind.

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That's dailyharvest.com, promo code harvest for up to $65 off. Obviously you probably wanna be drafted, but if you are gonna go undrafted, you at least have like a little more agency of like where you're gonna go, right? Like your agent can try to find a good spot for you and find a better opportunity as opposed to one of the 30 teams picking you and then controlling your draft rights and being able to move those around in any which way. So it stinks like, you know, Traquavion probably would have been a top 25, 30 pick a year ago. I thought he showed good growth as like a pick and roll passer and decision maker this season. I know he went through a really tough cold spell to end the year shooting wise in an offense that was really relying on him to shoot a lot of tough shots off the dribble from the mid range or from three. I still think he's got, I think he had one of the best handles in this class. Some of the best deep shooting range, but I also understand he's 170 pounds and he's not a great defender. And he was sort of like inefficient as like a shooter from this season.

So I get some of the knocks. I just think as like a creation bet, there's still upside there with Smith that would have appealed to one of the teams. Brian, guys, you're joining us, breaking down the NBA draft lottery. All right, final question, because it was the other big news right before the draft. Chris Paul got moved to the Wizards. Most people thought the final landing spot would be somewhere else, but I heard most people saying possibly the Clippers.

I did not hear many people saying Warriors until it happened. Forget the whole Jordan Poole side of things. Who benefits more from this? Chris Paul, who gets a very legitimate shot at a ring, or the Warriors who get experienced and great. Point guard who maybe knows what his role is in his 18th season. Who benefits more in this move?

Yeah, I mean, I think it kind of worked out for all parties, including Washington. If I had to pick one, I would say, you know, guy like Chris, because he gets out of a rebuilding situation in Washington and he gets to live in a cool city close to his family that's in California and play for a team that has, you know, title aspirations. But I do think it works for Golden State too. I think Chris is a bit of a strange fit in the offense. You know, Golden State, they still run plenty of pick and roll with Steph Curry, but you know, their thing has been off ball motion, split cuts, split action, like all of the, you know, the weird handoff, fun handoff stuff they do with Draymond Green and Steph Curry.

And that's never quite been Chris's game. Like he's an offensive genius for sure, but he's a little bit more methodical, pound the ball, you know, get a good shot, run, pick and roll, et cetera, et cetera. So I'll be curious to see how he fits in there, but I think there's a lot of really smart and talented veteran players and in this coaching staff with Steve Kerr leading it, that's also quite talented that like, I think assuming they bring Draymond Green back, which would be my guess that they'll do that.

Yeah. Golden State wanted another ball handler because Jordan Poole, you know, he needed a change of scenery and he really, really struggled for them in the playoffs this year. They needed someone that could take some of the playmaking load away from Steph and Draymond and some of the ball handling away from Steph. And now you're looking at, you know, Golden State being able to have a top six of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kavon Looney, Chris Paul, you know, Chris probably doesn't have to play every game next season.

He can play fewer minutes per game. And I do think he could look really good in a role next to Steph Curry. I don't, in the gravity that Steph has, I, this is, this move is a little, it's not the one I saw for sure. Like I thought he made, Chris made a little bit more sense in Miami or Milwaukee or Boston or heck, if he got bought out by the Wizards, maybe he, I thought it would be cool if he would just sign with Denver and be Jamal Murray's backup and be the sixth man to play next to Jokic.

I thought that would have been pretty cool, but this was on my radar. I just didn't think it was super duper likely just because they had the pool contract. It seemed like that was a way for Golden State to get off, one, get off of some of pool's long-term money and also bring in a big salary player like Chris Paul, which is, you know, sort of exactly what happened here.

And then they did, the Warriors did, they drafted well last night too, getting Brandon Pachemski from Santa Clara as a really good guard that can really pass and shoot and then getting Trace Jackson Davis, who's basically like the Big 10's version of Armando Bacot at Indiana, but who is really strong, really physical and can pass and maybe do sort of like the, try to do some of the diet Draymond Green kind of stuff in the front courtroom for them. Brian Geiser, you're following on Twitter at BGeiser underscore bird. Check out his analysis of the Hornets and other NBA stuff at Buzzbeat Radio and check out his college hoops work at your favorite ACC team's favorite website.

I keep saying that because basically he writes for so many teams, I can't list them all. BG, have you been to the beach yet this year? I've not, unfortunately, no, I've not been to the beach yet this year. It's a bummer. At some point this summer, I'll get there.

You gotta get down there. Thanks as always for the time and it's summer season, which means it's fill-in guest radio season, which means there's a decent chance you might get another call from me, my man. I appreciate you breaking down as always. Absolutely, yeah, for sure. Victoria predicted that this was good, that I was gonna show up on here today. She's smart, she is smart. She's good at her job. But yeah, y'all have a good weekend, okay? See you, man.