Welcome to the Brew Hoop Night Shift. Every evening at 9:00pm (central time), this all-purpose thread goes up, and the comments section is where it’s going down. What Bucks news did we not cover? What topics do you want to break down further? Or is there something non-Bucks that you want to bounce off of one another? Even something non-basketball? This is the place.
Today’s (on)topic: Charlotte Hornets Plunge
Two years ago, the Hornets were a top East team with a young core. Now they're looking to trade their best player.https://t.co/iO8IRPk1PD
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) January 19, 2018
The Hornets had an incredibly bright future ahead of them after the 2015/16 season and not even two full seasons later they are ready to put the kibosh on that future and rebuild. Charlotte is shopping around All-Star guard, Kemba Walker, which would effectively put the currently 11th place Hornets out of any playoff contention.
Charlotte represents the absolute worst-case scenario for what the Bucks’ franchise trajectory could lead to. The article notes that the Hornets have no shooting:
Among Charlotte regulars, only Marvin Williams (45.6 percent) and Treveon Graham (44 percent) are shooting above league average (36.3 percent) on three-pointers.
Among Milwaukee regulars, the Bucks have Tony Snell (42.8 percent), Malcolm Brogdon (37.6 percent), and Matthew Dellavedova (37.3 percent) shooting above that 36.3 percent league average mark.
Luckily, the Bucks have six regular players shooting above the 50.6 percent league average on two-pointers, where as the Hornets only have two: Dwight Howard and the aforementioned Williams. Milwaukee may struggle from beyond the arc, but they convert enough buckets inside the arc.
The second point of evidence for what went wrong in Charlotte is their lack of depth which goes hand-in-hand with their inconsistent drafting. That is a problem that Milwaukee currently has. Since drafting Antetokounmpo in 2013, the only players that have had a significant impact are Malcolm Brogdon and Jabari Parker (who is currently rehabbing his second ACL tear). The rest of the bunch, Rashad Vaughn, Thon Maker, and D.J. Wilson, have become less than confidence-inducing bench pieces and punchlines. However, Sterling Brown is slowly blossoming into a solid role player, but the jury is still out on the rookie from SMU.
The Bucks are not the Hornets and have a more solid foundation today than Charlotte did two years ago, but it’s not a solid enough foundation that would keep the whole house from collapsing in on itself. The lack of consistent three-point shooting and poor drafting are symptoms both teams share.
Today’s (off)topic: National Popcorn Day
Everyone’s favorite movie snack had its own day today, which of course means we can all unilaterally agree that caramel popcorn is the best flavor of popcorn out there. Every single tin bucket that contains butter, caramel, and cheese popcorn always runs out of caramel first. It’s the greatest. Other than popcorn which snack or candy is your favorite to munch on during a movie or television show binge? I have to go with either Milk Duds or Dots. I need something that will stick to my teeth days after eating.
As a general rule, non-basketball topics are permitted in an open thread, provided that they follow the SB Nation Community Guidelines.