Page 8 of 11
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 11:20 am
by Monster
rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 10:37 am
Some of the top comments getting upvotes in the last Hornets game thread on reddit about Naz.
"im all good on the naz raid experience"
"I agree trade him before his value tanks. Airballs a fkn layup and then jogs down the court after. Can’t believe we traded melo for this bum"
"fr that's the worst part. losing our franchise player for him? HIM?"
"To be fair to Naz, I don’t really care much about the missed floaters and turnovers. I agree that’s mostly overusage. It’s the awful defense, lazy habits, and complaining. It just doesn’t fit this “Hornets culture” that’s been sold to us for the past 2 years, and he was like this on the Timberwolves, so I know it’s not changing. And because of that, I was never really in, and now I’m definitely out."
I saw his stat line the last game wasn't super great. My guess is he will right the ship to some extent and shoot better etc. It's not like Ball has been awesome this year either.
I think the interesting thing for me is let's say there was ability to trade Kuminga for Naz Reid straight up. I think it would be an interesting discussion and I'd guess some people would rather just keep Kuminga. I might be one of those people and I was definitely a skeptic about him before he signed.
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 5:21 pm
by Q-is-here
rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 10:37 am
Some of the top comments getting upvotes in the last Hornets game thread on reddit about Naz.
"im all good on the naz raid experience"
"I agree trade him before his value tanks. Airballs a fkn layup and then jogs down the court after. Can’t believe we traded melo for this bum"
"fr that's the worst part. losing our franchise player for him? HIM?"
"To be fair to Naz, I don’t really care much about the missed floaters and turnovers. I agree that’s mostly overusage. It’s the awful defense, lazy habits, and complaining. It just doesn’t fit this “Hornets culture” that’s been sold to us for the past 2 years, and he was like this on the Timberwolves, so I know it’s not changing. And because of that, I was never really in, and now I’m definitely out."
That is really interesting and makes me wonder if we viewed Naz through rose-colored glasses. He's the greatest development story in franchise history, which is what made him a folk hero. Or may be he just hates it in Charlotte and is letting it show in his play.
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 5:45 pm
by Phenom
Naz has always been a hot and cold player. That's easier to accept as a 6th/7th man
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 6:08 pm
by AussieWolf3
I'm not putting a lot of stock in random Reddit comments. The benching wasn't a good look obviously, but when I looked into the day of, most of the commentary was confusion and anger at the coach.
The unfortunate thing is Charlotte likely made a trade that makes them worse and Kon is also out, so while all of that's happening Naz is the one who gonna get blamed by the fanbase. Maybe he deserves some of it, idk, but he's probably shouldering unrealistic expectations from the fans
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 6:13 pm
by Q-is-here
Phenom wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 5:45 pm
Naz has always been a hot and cold player. That's easier to accept as a 6th/7th man
Fair.
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 7:44 pm
by Monster
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 6:13 pm
Phenom wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 5:45 pm
Naz has always been a hot and cold player. That's easier to accept as a 6th/7th man
Fair.
I'm a big Naz fan but there was at least a couple times I said to my laptop screen even last season "that's why he isn't a better player than Randle." He has some flaws which is fine to some extent. Naz as a starter makes plenty of sense though especially if you need shooting.
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 8:07 pm
by Q-is-here
Monster wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 7:44 pm
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 6:13 pm
Phenom wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 5:45 pm
Naz has always been a hot and cold player. That's easier to accept as a 6th/7th man
Fair.
I'm a big Naz fan but there was at least a couple times I said to my laptop screen even last season "that's why he isn't a better player than Randle." He has some flaws which is fine to some extent. Naz as a starter makes plenty of sense though especially if you need shooting.
Yeah, he had some stints that were literally disastrous and I begged for him to be out of the game, but over a full season the good outweighed the bad of course. His lows were really bad though!
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 8:20 pm
by Lipoli390
I’d say it’s a little early (UNDERSTATEMENT) to start drawing conclusions about Naz Reid beyond what we already know about him and safe to say we know a lot about him as a player we watched for many years in both regular and post-season play. He was streaky offensively but overall highly effective offensively as a 6th man and also effective in his stretches as a starter. He could defend fairly well in space but not in the paint although he could block shots, which Randle couldn’t do. He was a very good player for us over multiple season, including one season in which he was recognized League-wide as 6th man of the year.
So now he’s about 6 games into a season with an entirely different team that no longer has their main engine, LaMelo Ball, who drove their offense last season. He’s learning and adapting to an entirely new team that isn’t very talented. And I also suspect Naz is a bit depressed. Randle wasn’t the only player on our team last season who seemed prone to getting down emotionally.
Apparently, there’s something called “Hornets culture.” We’ve seen reports that Ball was traded in part because he didn’t fit that culture. Well, if there is such a thing at “Hornets culture” it’s clearly a losing culture. The Hornets may end up moving on from Naz after this season or maybe even at the trade deadline and that will be good for Naz. As for the Hornets, they’re not going anywhere. They’re a bad organization and not getting any better. Wherever Naz ends up he’ll do well. I still think he’s a high quality starter on a good team where he fits well. He’s already proven to be one of the League’s best in the 6th-man category.
I hope Naz does well and think he will. But I’m more interested in how LaMelo plays. So far, I’m not satisfied with Ball’s play but he needs time to adjust to playing with an entirely different set of players and on a winning team with championship aspirations. I still love that we have him and can see the potential.
We’ll see how things are going for both players by the time January rolls around.
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 9:39 pm
by Monster
Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 8:20 pm
I’d say it’s a little early (UNDERSTATEMENT) to start drawing conclusions about Naz Reid beyond what we already know about him and safe to say we know a long about his as a player we watched for man years in both regular and post-season play. He was streaky offensively but overall highly effective offensively as a 6th man and also effective in his stretches as a starter. He could defend fairly well in space but not in the paint although he could block shots, which Randle couldn’t do. He was a very good player for us over multiple season, including one season in which he was recognized League-wide as 6th man of the year.
So now he’s about 6 games into a season with an entirely different team that no longer has their main engine, LaMelo Ball, who drove their offense last season. He’s learning and adapting to an entirely new team that isn’t a very talented. And I also suspect Naz is a bit depressed. Randle wasn’t the only player on our team last season who seemed prone to getting down emotionally.
Apparently, there’s something called “Hornets culture.” We’re seen reports that Ball was traded in part because he didn’t fit that culture. Well, if there is such a thing at “Hornets culture” it’s clearly a losing culture. The Hornets may end up moving on from Naz after this season or maybe even at the trade deadline and that will be good for Naz. As for the Hornets, they’re not going anywhere. They’re a bad organization and not getting any better. Wherever Naz ends up he’ll do well. I still think he’s a high quality starter on a good team where he fits well. He’s already proven to be one of the League’s best in the 6th-man category.
I hope Naz does well and think he will. But I’m more interested in how LaMelo plays. So far, I’m not satisfied with Ball’s play but he needs time to adjust to playing with an entirely different set of players and on a winning team with championship aspirations. But I still love that we have him and can see the potential.
We’ll see how things are going for both players by the time January rolls around.
To be fair to the Naz and the Hornets they are playing without their best young player and Coby White who is a pretty good offensive player. White is supposed to return tomorrow so that will help. On top of that Sion James has started every game. The guy has been terrible offensively. The Hornets top Pick Chris Anderson Jr has been pretty bad too so bad he hasn't been able to get a whole lot of minutes despite White being out. It's a really bad offensive team that looks like it is at least averagish defensively.
The Hornets moving Naz at some point makes a lot of sense because they have some young bigs that could be ready to get minutes if they move them. Despite whatever flaws Naz had or has I think the thing that also endeared himself to the fan base was it seemed like he cared about playing. I really doubt he guy is intentionally playing bad but I could see him being down after getting traded and to a team that's really struggling to start the season. Naz has enough of a diverse talent base to just completely fall off the map although despite him not getting as many opportunities I'd guess there was somethings that Finch did that helped utilize him well.
Re: Around the NBA 2026-27
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2026 10:03 pm
by FNG
Monster wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 11:20 am
rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2026 10:37 am
Some of the top comments getting upvotes in the last Hornets game thread on reddit about Naz.
"im all good on the naz raid experience"
"I agree trade him before his value tanks. Airballs a fkn layup and then jogs down the court after. Can’t believe we traded melo for this bum"
"fr that's the worst part. losing our franchise player for him? HIM?"
"To be fair to Naz, I don’t really care much about the missed floaters and turnovers. I agree that’s mostly overusage. It’s the awful defense, lazy habits, and complaining. It just doesn’t fit this “Hornets culture” that’s been sold to us for the past 2 years, and he was like this on the Timberwolves, so I know it’s not changing. And because of that, I was never really in, and now I’m definitely out."
I saw his stat line the last game wasn't super great. My guess is he will right the ship to some extent and shoot better etc. It's not like Ball has been awesome this year either.
I think the interesting thing for me is let's say there was ability to trade Kuminga for Naz Reid straight up. I think it would be an interesting discussion and I'd guess some people would rather just keep Kuminga. I might be one of those people and I was definitely a skeptic about him before he signed.
Really interesting question, monster, and I guess I might be one of those people that would lean toward keeping JK. I really enjoyed "the Naz experience", but as Q says, we may have looked at him through rose-colored glasses. And the more I hear about him, it seems he might have been a bigger contributor to the "moodiness" than even Randle. I'm always going to cheer for Naz and I have to admit I'm a little surprised at how he is being received there, but JK just might be a better fit there...and at a much better price point!