Welcome to the Best Case Scenario

Well, back in the summer, I was pretty down on the idea of Charlotte going for broke for the playoffs this year, and you guys told me I was wrong. So I thought through it from an optimist's perspective and wrote this, which you may remember (I predicted 46 wins and a 5 seed as a best case).

It is sort of a life practice for me to admit when I'm wrong. Well, I'm here to say with a huge smile on my face: you optimists were right and I was wrong. Even if we lose Batum and Lin and Marvin for nothing this offseason, I think we've improved our reputation around the league enough to be a credible destination for up-and-coming free agents (think Paul Millsap a few years ago). We also just made Marvin and Lin a ton of money - which means downmarket but high upside free agents now have two huge use cases for coming here to turn their careers around.

We made a ton of mistakes this past year with young talent (Bismack Biyombo, Devin Booker, Winslow, Bobby Portis, Miles Turner and/or the Nets lottery pick are all going to be on my mind for a while, the way I still think about Klay Thompson or Chris Paul in teal), but we have made great free agency and trade moves with veterans. Kemba Walker made the leap, and is now a credible Top 3 player on a Finals team, the kind of guy who can bring in other top talents. Outside of losing a year of MKG, this was absolutely the brightest timeline. Enjoy these playoffs and revel in the superiority of your optimism, r/charlottehornets. I know I will.