Bouknight

[husky429]

I disagree with this. You probably would have been arrested for more than one "driving incident" if caught at his age. He wants to play is the other thing and he has been buried on the bench and sent down repeatedly. Woulda been better off with one more year of domination at UCONN. I truly believe this, never hurt Rip or Ray.

You do realize they both played their sophomore season 25+ years ago, right?

 

[alphasigko]

"Don’t get me wrong he’s exactly the piece we need, a go to scorer, but I wonder how the rest of the team would’ve developed if they had had Bouk to defer to."

That is THE question because last season he was really the "go to" guy and the other 4 guys on the floor with him always looked to him to shoot, or pass to CV when Bouk was not open as a 2nd desperate option. But they always looked to Bouk first, and the opposing team always knew that. If Bouk had stayed it would have been up to Hurley to coach them to play as a team rather than as a one "go to" player offense.

The same thing happened this year with the constant passing of the ball inside to Adama. Both strategies exposed the other team members as not being proficient at making shots, so much so that they could ignore them and focus only on Bouk and Adama.

 

[Beowulf]

he's off to a similar start that jeremy lamb was, who didn't play over 20 minutes a game until his 6th season and still has banked over 50 million in career earnings

we're criticizing his decision to leave early and his rookie contract isn't even 1/4 completed yet. maybe we take a deep breath and let things play out.

how much would he have even improved his draft stock if he came back? he certainly wouldn't go over chet, jabari, paolo, ivy. so we are thinking best case he has a johnny davis type year and goes 5/6 at best? risk a year of injuries and guaranteed millions for a 5 spot improvement? maybe he irons out some of his issues in an extra year, or maybe he gets exposed, maybe he doesn't take a leap in shooting or creating for others and teams back off. we don't know. what we do know is that he is on an nba roster, practicing with nba players, and has shown flashes when called upon. you guys just need to let things play out, you don't need to play the what-if game when he's 60+ games into his career. there will be plenty of time to monday morning qb


as for the ray/rip comparisons...it was just a different era back then. guys stayed longer. no one is even saying that it's impossible for things to have worked out better for bouknight if he stayed....who knows! but you're criticizing him for risking this sure-thing guarantee just so you could dream about potentially hanging another banner in your garage. it costs you nothing if he returned, it could cost him everything. he's set now, he's been exposed to an nba season, hope the offseason is productive for him.

 

[Pmac923]

He is a marginal talent, with baggage. Surprised?

Marginal talent? We haven’t had a player with his “talent” in the last 8 years. Stick to evaluating high school mix tapes

 

[Palatine]

There is a reason Charlotte has been mired in mediocrity for their existence. We're watching it play out.

 

[Tenspro2002]

"Baggage" overstates it, but it's not an exaggeration to suggest some maturity issues -- probably not uncommon among NBA rookies, but ones that certainly hold him back for a guy who wasn't a top 5, franchise-altering caliber of pick.

 

[Kitaman]

At UConn:
1) Evading Responsibility
2) Interfering with Police
3) Driving Without a License
4) Driving too fast for Conditions
5) Driving Another's Car Without Permission (oops, my bad, she "forgot" that she gave him "permission").

6) Verbal altercation with Hornets coach after logging fourteen, yes 14, seconds in a loss to the Miami Heat.

7) Classy (not) behavior on the sideline in UConn's victory over Xavier at Gampel.

That's not baggage, you're describing maturity issues. Some get there faster than others. He could just need a mentor, especially now with the money he's making and of course the 'fame'.

Nonetheless this has nothing to do with his basketball skills. Give him time, a lot of us have been there.

 

[BlueandOG]

Wish he stayed for (at least) one more year. Would have been good for his development and great for our program.

 

[Palatine]

Wish he stayed for (at least) one more year. Would have been good for his development and great for our program.

On the other hand, he is making over 4 million dollars this year.

 

[Chief00]

This is NOTHING in terms of NBA baggage. Literally nothing.

You do realize they both played their sophomore season 25+ years ago, right?

To think that James doesn't already have NBA baggage is similar to living under a rock.

How often does a player get kicked off the bench to the lockeroom by the head coach for basically insubordination. Gee, just what every team needs. Let’s pretend that has no impact on trade value or next contract. And being a 1st round lottery pick and not stepping foot on the court for a month at this stage of the season - is let’s pretend a nothing to see here event.

I guess we have to put what happened in Vegas aside, because it was in Vegas, it was early in his professional career and what happens there stays in Vegas.

The Gampel fiasco was during All Star Break, but if you don’t understand that as someone spiraling out of control, then you are either delusional or lack maturity yourself.

If you don’t think he needs to turn the page and stop being a headache and start doing things the right way. You are no friend or alley of his.

I pray he starts on a better path very soon.

 

[Incursio007]

On the other hand, he is making over 4 million dollars this year.

Poor guy - just an awful decision by him. Move on.

If things don't end well in Charlotte, then he will be one of those "random" free agent, or afterthought players included in a bigger trade that turn into a steal.

 

[AdamaNation]

Bouk has an ex-girlfriend that he can't seem to get over

Future UConn natty champ coach!!!

 

[AdamaNation]

At UConn:
1) Evading Responsibility
2) Interfering with Police
3) Driving Without a License
4) Driving too fast for Conditions
5) Driving Another's Car Without Permission (oops, my bad, she "forgot" that she gave him "permission").

6) Verbal altercation with Hornets coach after logging fourteen, yes 14, seconds in a loss to the Miami Heat.

7) Classy (not) behavior on the sideline in UConn's victory over Xavier at Gampel.

You forgot :
Ran with scissors
Drank out of the carton
Mixed recycling with trash
Probably lied (very immature for a 19 year old)
Walked on your lawn

Unknowing victim of hot take.

 

[ThabeetDown]

As I said on Draft night, to much criticism on this board, the Hornets are a terrible organization and this was arguably the worst possible landing spot for James. Lamelo Ball's talent outshines their overall incompetence. If he doesn't get out of there this offseason his career is very much in jeopardy. When he's actually been allowed to play, he's been great. But the team hasn't played him many minutes and even when they do, they get taken away so he can't even get to improve on his shortcomings. I'm not going to go through the stats again, but out of all the teams he could have been drafted to, their first round picks have gotten substantially more playing time.

Also, as for you Bouk haters who say he deserves this, has baggage, should have stayed one more year -- you're entitled to your opinion but it is the wrong opinion.

Once again, the silence from the Pro-Hornets crowd on this board is deafening.

 

[ThabeetDown]

he's off to a similar start that jeremy lamb was, who didn't play over 20 minutes a game until his 6th season and still has banked over 50 million in career earnings

The Thunder won 60 his first season in OKC. The Hornets are a middling .500 team. Completely different situations. Plus, he averaged 19.7 minutes in year 2 but those .3 min doesn't quite fit your argument.

 

[Icehawk]

I used to work in real estate here in Miami and had a few benchwarmers on the Heat as clients. I was shocked when one of them wanted to buy a home and his budget was very low, his handler explained to me his salary was something like $150k. Jump to 2022 and that guy makes at least another zero with the same job (a quick Google suggest $1mil is basically the bottom for all but a couple outliers). Changes everything.

If James stood to make $200k I would have said he was nuts to leave but $4mil? Bye, good luck! Hopefully he's got good support, one big challenge for the younger guys is they are surrounded by older guys with lots of money and I've seen with some of them blowing all their money trying to keep up, trying to party at that level, etc.

This ain't the '90s or even the '00s anymore, for good or ill the world and basketball has changed.

 

[Northbound]

Goodness this topic has been pounded to death - god bless those that can keep thinking about it.

 

[Beowulf]

The Thunder won 60 his first season in OKC. The Hornets are a middling .500 team. Completely different situations. Plus, he averaged 19.7 minutes in year 2 but those .3 min doesn't quite fit your argument.

nah was just illustrating that it took him 6 years to become a starter. something james still has 5 years left to accomplish.

 

[Chief00]

To the take your short term money and run crowd. Andre Drummond has made $133 million and counting. So while $4 million is a start it’s hardly aspirational. If you have James’ best interest at heart, as Chief does, you would take a longer term view. Built a solid foundation and do the things necessary to get a good second contract, since that’s where the big money can be made.

 

[ThabeetDown]

nah was just illustrating that it took him 6 years to become a starter. something james still has 5 years left to accomplish.

It truly is remarkable what Lamb has been able to accomplish $-wise so in that sense his career is very successful.

 

[UconnFanDC]

He is a marginal talent, with baggage. Surprised?

This comment is just ridiculous.

 

[BGesus4]

1) Evading Responsibility
2) Interfering with Police
3) Driving Without a License
4) Driving too fast for Conditions
5) Driving Another's Car Without Permission (oops, my bad, she "forgot" that she gave him "permission").

6) Verbal altercation with Hornets coach after logging fourteen, yes 14, seconds in a loss to the Miami Heat.

7) Classy (not) behavior on the sideline in UConn's victory over Xavier at Gampel.

8) baseball cap worn facing backwards

 

[pj]

My prayers are with James that he can turn the page and be the best that he can be. It’s been a very difficult pro career for James, starting in the Vegas when MJ had to intervene during the summer league.
Not everyone needs it, but as Chief advised a year ago, James would have benefited from another year of college and maturity before starting his pro journey. Unfortunately, he got involved with inexperienced advisors who thought it was all about taking the short term money on the table rather than building a solid long term foundation and very lucrative career.

Maybe the best path for him to gain maturity was to struggle in the NBA.

Failure can be a good foundation for success. It inspires introspection.

 

[Dean Wormer]

At UConn:
1) Evading Responsibility
2) Interfering with Police
3) Driving Without a License
4) Driving too fast for Conditions
5) Driving Another's Car Without Permission (oops, my bad, she "forgot" that she gave him "permission").

6) Verbal altercation with Hornets coach after logging fourteen, yes 14, seconds in a loss to the Miami Heat.

7) Classy (not) behavior on the sideline in UConn's victory over Xavier at Gampel.

8) Skrewed your GF when you wasn't looking. And no, you're not bitter!

 

[AdamaNation]

8) baseball cap worn facing backwards

No chance of the ring of honor with that stuff!!!!