Hornets Hive Cast3-7-24 - Chairmen Schnall & Plotkin + Woj on Jeff Peterson
Jeff Peterson, the Charlotte Hornets new Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, was introduced at Spectrum Center yesterday.
On today's HHC Co-Chairmen Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin join Sam to talk about their latest hire.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski was also in town to cover the announcement. He joined Sam Farber as well to discuss Peterson and the state of the Hornets.
You'll also hear from Peterson himself on a jam packed HHC!
Welcome to the Hornets Podcast presented by Charlotte I ear nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen Throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet Time Cast, your Hornets podcast with all the notes, quotes, and daily buzz around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it is a pleasure and a privileged to have you with us here once again on the Hornets Time Cast, brought to you by Santa Charlotte I ear nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen Throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. What a day it was yesterday at Spectrum Center, the new Executive vice President of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson, introduced officially to the Charlotte media, the Charlotte fan base, players, staff, coaches, ownership. Everyone was in town and I mean everyone, and you're gonna hear from a lot of them here on this episode of the Hhcwell, of course, have a couple of quotes from the new EVP of Basketball Ops, Jeff Peterson. We're going to talk to and it's co chairman Rick Snall and Gabe Plotkin. They'll join me in studio to talk about Jeff, why he was the right person to hire, and what their outlook is on the organization moving into the future. And a very special guest was in town, the great Adrian Wardjnarowski, the basically lead scribe of the NBA from ESPN. He was in town for all the festivities, had a podcast of his own with Jeff, and he was kind enough to sit down for our podcast here today. So a lot to get to. Let's jump right into it and let you hear a little bit from Jeff Peterson yesterday. He got a lot of questions from the local media and national media in attendance and had a lot of great answers. All of the content, by the way, available to you right now on Hornets dot com. One of the answers that stood out to me, here's Jeff on what made him the right person for the job as lead decision maker for the Hornets moving forward.
I think they were able to truly see how excited I was about this opportunity. I think it helped that our vision and values aligned. And you know, you guys are gonna get sick of me saying this, but we're going to turn this into the premier franchise of the NBA. And the fact that again that there was no hesitations in terms of how we were going to do it. It may take, you know, a process, and we're not going to skip steps, but I think that's what ultimately helped that we were completely in alignment from that standpoint.
Love that he pointed out that cohesive working relationship with Rick Shnall, with Gab Placin, that just has to be there. And obviously Jeff is going to be the lead decision maker, but really across the board any organization in all of professional sports, the major decisions they run through ownership and so to have a working relationship with Rick Shnall previously, to have already established a positive one with Gay Placin as well, that really bodes well for the future. Another question and answer that stood out to me his message to fans who have been patiently waiting and want to see the franchise back in the postseason. Here's what Jeff had to say.
Just continue to bring the energy. You know, again, I'm fortunate I get to go to each NBA arena and scout and watch games and ever since I was able to do that for a living. Charlotte has always been a place that I thought had the best fans in the NBA. Again, just their passion, their knowledge, their loyalty, and we just have to continue to stay patient and just know that we're going to not skip steps because our main goal is to have sustainable success, right. We don't want to make the playoffs one year and then we're out for another three or four years. We want this thing to be sustainable and turn into a consistent winner.
The passion from Hornets fans it is undeniable. I think it's going to be rewarded in short order. I obviously have a very positive outlook for the organization looking into the future. Hopefully the turnaround is already in progress. In this time next season we'll be talking about playoff plans for the Charlotte Hornets again. The entire media availability for Jeff Peterson is currently available at Hornets dot com. Also several clips available on Hornet social media. Definitely encourage you go out there and check them all out. Coming up next. Rick Schnall and Gay Plockin joined Jeff Peterson on the dais at his introductory press conference and they were both kind enough to sit down with me in studios. So coming up next we'll hear from the co Chairman of Hornet Sports and Entertainment, Rick Schnall and Gay Plotkin. Coming up next here on the HHC. Sam Farbar here with you on the Hornets Podcast, brought to you by SENTA Charlotte ire Nose and Throat Associates, the official ir nos and throwcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. The new executive vice President of Basketball Operations, Jeff Peterson has been put in place here for the Charlotte Hornets, and the two men most responsible for hiring him are kind enough to join us in studio today. Rich Nall and Gabe plockin with us here in our Hornets Hoodcast studios. Thank you both for joining us.
Hey, Sam, how are you doing great?
It's a great day.
It is a great day.
Let's put it simply, why is Jeff Peterson the right person to lead the Charlotte Hornets organization into the future.
And we ran a pretty extensive process and we start arted with a framework of we have our cultural values which are really important to us. Integrity, candor, teamwork, accountability, resilience, competitiveness, and we wanted to find a leader who represented these values, and from the beginning it was clear that Jeff was that leader. I think Jeff has an amazing ability to connect with people, build relationships with players, with coaches, with staff, with opposing front offices, with agents, and with ownership, and so we think that ability will help us build a great team both on the court but also off the court.
Rick, you had the opportunity to get to know him a little bit in the infancy of his professional career in Atlanta. When you were meeting him as he was working his way up the ranks, were You're thinking to yourself, that's the future leader of a NBA contending franchise.
Yeah, I mean when you meet Jeff, even when I did meet him when he was twenty five or twenty six years old, he's a special person.
You know.
He possesses both, as Gabe said, in incredible ability to get along with people, to manage people, so think of it as eq. He also has a high level of intellects very thoughtful, understands basketball, and so he's that unique combination of skills that you don't find often and carries himself in a very mature way. Even did at that young age where you know he's a wise soul. So he's significantly older in maturity than he is in years, and that was very obvious. And I think the last piece is just drive, drive to be successful, drive to win, wants to be the best. And so when you put those three things together, eq IQ and drive, you get great talent. And he's a great talent, and you find great talent and you capture great talent. And we did do an extensive search, but he did shine through as someone who would just be perfect for our organization.
When you ask people around the league about him, the first thing people say back is you're going to love him. He just has a great reputation around the NBA. The second thing that people point out is what you both have mentioned. He's a young guy, but there's a big difference between youth and inexperience. He has the former, He does not have the ladder. He has hit all the rungs along the way up the chain to get to this position, and he's worn a lot of hats in different organizations. What about his experience has stood out for you? They maybe you feel makes him best prepared for this job that he's about to undertake well, I'll start.
I mean he you know, listen, he's been in with four gms. He went through a very difficult time in Atlanta in a transition from Danny Ferry to Wes Wilcox. He was part of an organization that had sixty wins, that was the Eastern Conference's final team, that had a great head coach, that went through an ownership transition, and then went through a significant rebuild in Atlanta where the decision was made to break the team down entirely and to lose for a couple of years to try to get good draft picks, and then was part of an Eastern Conference finals team again after the selection of Trey Young, a transition from West Wilcox to Travis schlank So, seeing another leadership style, and then made the decision as he was promoted to assistant general manager to go to Brooklyn to work for Sean Marks, a great leader with a very different approach, and obviously got there when they had made the very aggressive decision to pursue Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Was part of the pursuit of James Harden and then part of the breakdown of that franchise so I think having only been in this league for eleven years, he's seen a lot of different situations, been with four general managers, seen good teams, bad teams, and obviously has had to live with both decisions on draft picks good and bad, and on trades good and bad, and on free agent signing. So he's been through quite a lot in his eleven years.
He's obviously seen a lot in his past. Now, Gabe, as he was looking towards the future, what was his pitch to you in terms of how he wants to build a sustainable winner here in Charlotte.
I think as we talked through things, we saw eye to eye in terms of what characteristics we want to represent as Hornets players, and so I think there was a real consistency there. I think we said this back in August, but to be a great team, you need to be great at all facets of an organization, and whether that be player development, strategy, sports and performance, player personnel, ultimately you need to be good at all of those things. And his ability to connect to people and people want to work for him, and so already we've seen I mean, his phone is blowing off the hook and people want to come, you know, be a part of this, and it's because they believe in Jeff. I think they believe in our vision as well. But that creates an ability for us to work with existing talent here and also build our talent base. And so I think that was a big part of the pitch, was like, this is a leader that can help us build a great organization. And you know, I think to the outside world to say, oh, this is you know, the head of ops and the president and every decision is there. You know, they own this. And ultimately, you've got to build a team and there's going to be multiple decision makers or people in the room that are having conversations, and he can connect to those people and build a team that's functioning well and all kind of rolling together.
You would hope that some of the excitement around the league to work with him is also to be a part of a strong foundation here for the Hornets. Obviously, basketball is judged and wins and losses, and the team has lost more than anyone would have expected or would have anticipated this season. Injuries probably had something to do with it, but I don't think anyone would say that it was going to be a sixty five win team had things gone a different direction, but probably not the win total that we're looking at for this campaign. But all that being said is you look at the foundation that's been put in place here for the Hornets, the young talent, the Reimagine campaign that's going on for the Spectrum Center, everything that's going on. Where do you feel the foundation of the franchise is right now that Jeff's about to build off of.
I mean we're in the early days, you know. I mean, building what we hope will be the premier franchise in the NBA is going to take time, and so maybe we're in the bottom of the first inning. We obviously have on the business side, making some significant investments into the business so that we can have a premiere facility, a premiere arena, so we can have one of the leading practice facilities in the league in order to attract players and free agents. That's really important. We are investing in our relationships with the community, and then of course Jeff is the first step in investing in the future of our basketball organization. So we feel great, like we're thrilled that we're here, but we know that there's a lot of work in front of us, Like, you know, building something great isn't easy. You can't skip steps. And when Gabe and I came together on this with the rest of our ownership group, number one for us is building a great culture. You can't build a great organization without a great culture, and culture starts with people, and so getting a leader of our basketball operations that we feel represents everything we're about is the first step. So like, we can't argue we're in even in the second ending because we just literally Jeff just started yesterday. So but we feel great. You know, Look, we feel great about what we were able to accomplish in the trade deadline with Mitch and our current group, and we're excited about what we were able to do because that's a step forward, and we're taking this franchise step by step into what will be hopefully a team that competes year and year out and then has a chance to compete for a championship. And we're very focused on that and that's what the premier organization ought to be able to do. But we're in the early days of creating something great.
The other part I'd add to that is like this year, to your point, hasn't been a great year from a win and loss perspective. I do think in reality, when you have two starters that are out for the vast majority of the season, there's not many teams that would have a great record. With that said, I think, you know, we made the decision along with our current front office, that this was not going to be a sixty win team or a fifty win team in the future. But when you look at where we are moving forward from this point and with Jeff beginning, we have had a lot of really good things happen relative to our future this year. You know, the number two pick in the draft, I mean, he's great, He's about all the right things. He has great character, he's great work ethic, and he's obviously reducing at an incredibly high level as a rookie. We picked up a couple future draft picks, We have some young talent that we took in at the trade deadline, and then you know, one of the benefits of having a poor record is you obviously have a great draft pick, and so as you look out into the future, we've gathered a lot more assets for the future than we had to start the season, and we got the number two pick right which was really important, and so I think the foundation is getting stronger, and now we bring in the leadership to help elevate that.
To wrap things up, when I think of your first year in your positions co chairman of for Sports and Entertainment, which isn't even over yet, so we're not even done with year one yet. But I'm reminded of the quote from the late great John Wooden, be quick, but don't hurry. And you guys have very quickly put your imprint on this franchise and on the city in many ways with your plans to reimagine Spectrum Center, adding a practice facility, the work done at the trade deadline, and now bring in a lead decision maker in Jeff Peterson for the front office. But it hasn't felt rushed. Things have seemed to go in the proper sequence and in the proper time. How do you feel this first year has gone for you too? As co chairman of Hornet Sports and Entertainment.
We're having a great time, you know, it's gone well. It's very frustrating to lose. We're incredibly competitive and we're going to be an incredibly competitive organization. We want to have people that hate to lose and we hate to lose, so watching games has been frustrating. But we see the big picture. We see where we're going. And it's only been six months, and it was important to us that we did do things to your question in the right way, that we took time to evaluate where we were as an organization, not to make decisions with haste, but to be patient. And we have had the opportunity to do that. We've had the opportunity to get to know our entire organization, you know, many of the employees, all of our players, all of our coaching staff, our entire front office. We've met with lots of people in the community. We've gotten ourselves to be part of that community, which is important to us. And we you have an ownership group that's been incredibly supportive of us and the team and been around and so we feel great about where we are, but we are not going to be satisfied until we can build the franchise that we set the expectations for ourselves to build and for this city, which is what the city deserves, which is a leading franchise in the NBA.
Yeah, Rick said it really well, you know, the only thing I'd add is us coming in when we did in August and sort of taking the time to get to know the organization, understand the basketball operations, understand where we're at. I think this did give us confidence bringing it back to today and why we're here, that hiring Jeff Peterson was absolutely the right decision at the right moment. From the outside, when you're looking in, you know all the attributes and things you're looking for in that position, you have a good sense of it. But I'd say we have a much sharper sense of it, you know, having lived through our first season together and understanding what we think it takes to take this team to the next level, and so you know that patience which isn't always easy, but I do think it paid off and ensuring that we feel incredibly confident that we've made the right decision today.
Well we are excited for that bright future ahead. Thank you both for sharing your time with us, for your leadership, and look forward to getting to know Jeff Peterson as well here today and throughout the coming seasons. Thank you both.
Thanks Hey, Thanks Sam.
Coming up next. All the local media was in attendance for the press conference yesterday with Jeff Peterson. National media there as well, including the lead writer of everything that has to do with the NBA. He's across all media platforms and this person is as plugged in as anyone on all of it. The Great Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN joins me in studio next here on the Hornet Time Cast. Now, let's welcome from ESPN Adrian Wojnarowski here to the Hornets timee Cast. Adrian, thanks for joining us.
Sam. Good to be with you, guys.
It's great to have you in town here, obviously a big occasion. Jeff Peterson now named the executive vice President of Basketball Operations. Effectively, he's the chief decision maker when it comes to basketball for the Charlotte Hornets from this point moving forward. What can you tell us about the higher and how it will be received around the NBA.
Yeah, I think certainly it's been received really well. I think Jeff is a very popular, respected figure among front offices, among agents. You know, he was front and center in that Brooklyn front office with Sean Marks and had a significant role and I think built a reputation that was starting to get him interviews for jobs earlier than most guys do in their career. Detroit had Jeff as part of their process a few years ago, and it's thirty five now, he's probably thirty one, thirty two, And so when guys start to get those interviews, then you know they're fast tracking a little bit, and certainly Jeff's done that. But I think he's been well prepared in Brooklyn, in Atlanta. A playing career, we start building relationships and playing with and against the Kevin Durant and high school and getting to play for Leonard Hamilton at Florida State. That starts to kind of shape your direction a little bit. And so yeah, I think the relationship with Rick Shanaal I think was a big factor. I think for Rick and Gabe Plotkin, the new ownership here. I think having a partner that they especially Rick new new and he talked about it, his values, how he approached things and getting this opportunity and a market that I think is starved for a winning team for an organization that's not been for a lack of support and Charlotte people care about the NBA here, they cared about this organization, and I think Rick and Gabe with Jeff is a really good fit.
In looking at Jeff's background, and all of this stepping stones that he has traversed to get to this point. Obviously, there's a lot of different paths towards being a lead decision maker, but there's nothing quite like that job. A lot of people get to have some kind of say towards decisions, but only one person gets the finals. Say, what is it that you've seen about Jeff that gives you confidence that he's going to be that next great decision maker here for the Charlotte Hornets.
You know, in my experience, the guys who do really well in these jobs for the most part, are self aware enough, humble enough to learn from their mistakes because you're going to make them in these jobs. Jerry West made mistakes, Arcie Buford made mistakes. The best executives in the history of the NBA. Nobody hits a thousand at it. But how do you handle it when you do make a mistake, and how you own it and how you learn from it. And I think that's such a big part of it. I think Jeff has those qualities of he's going to be tireless and working at it. And he said it when we talked on the podcast. The importance of staff and I think Jeff's going to be able to attract really high level guys and people are going to want to work for him because of his reputation for how he treats people. I think he's going to be a good boss. That doesn't mean he's not going to be super demanding, that doesn't mean he's not going to hold people accountable, but he's going to be honest. He's going to be fair. I think that's how you get deals done around the NBA over a period of time is guys kind of know who they're dealing with, whether that's the agents, whether that's front offices. They may not always like your answer. The agents may not always like your answer yes or no, but they know that Jeff's going to be a straight shooter with them, and I think those are qualities that are really important in this job. And again, being able to put the group around you that it's not a one person job, it's just this job is so big, and being able to have from scouting staff to your front office, all of those things, working with a head coach. I think that's going to be one of Jeff's strengths is dealing with people and dealing with ownership and being able to figure out with them difficult decisions moving forward and then being able to live with them own them.
And so.
Again those are the qualities. Is guys who put the work in, who are honest, and how they deal with other people, and then can be honest with themselves about things that went well, why it went well, why it didn't go well, Because this thing just keeps moving and today's mistake is tomorrow's success. And there's always a little bit of luck in it. There's a lot of factors, and I think there's very few geniuses in this business. I think there's really smart people again who put the work in, have great people around him, and I think even the great ones. I remember, you know Rcie Buford would say to me, we talk about Manu Ginobili and drafting him fifty seventh, and you know Seple say, oh, it was this genius move that transformed the franchise, and you know ourc could look at it and laugh and say, if I thought it was so good, why didn't I draft him earlier? We had like four picks in that draft, right, meaning yes, he got on an airplane and went to South America, scot some other guy in Salmanu and they had that pick, and so if he doesn't put the work in and go and see that guy. But at the same time, like they didn't know what they were drafting and they got a little look in that, you can look at it and say, I got a little lucky. Now, sometimes the luck comes from busting your ass and getting somewhere. But I just think those are all qualities that make people good in this job, and I think Jeff has all those qualities in terms of what he is walking into.
You mentioned how wonderful a fan base there is here in Charlotte and how hungry they are for postseason success. The foundation maybe has already been set a little bit here in Charlotte with the recent draft picks of LaMelo Ball and now Brandon Miller having an outstanding rooking season as well. They haven't really been able to play together a lot due to injuries, but there might be something here already. How do you see the current status of the Hornets compared with other teams that accumulated assets, accumulated talent like Sacramento who broke through a year ago, Orlando who's doing the same right now.
You know, I think when you're in a rebuild, you're always wondering, do we have our best player? Did we draft them, did we acquire them? Charlotte might have their best player now. Maybe down the road it's going to be Brandon Miller. Maybe it's LaMelo. LaMelo's already been an All Star. I think Brandon Miller is going to be and I think people in the league think he's going to be really, really, really good. You've seen it here this year, and I thought a little bit the sense was maybe Scoot Henderson would be a little further ahead of Brandon Miller. You know, I played G League a Knight and was maybe initially it might look different, and it's been the opposite. Doesn't mean Henderson's not going to be really good in Portland. But Brandon Miller's been so good so fast here and I think there were some questions about how quickly it would come, and I think he's been even better in the short term than people might have imagined. So, you know, Mark Williams, who's been injured this year, showed some real promise to be, you know, a quality center. So there's some pieces here, but I think there's so much more that goes into it, and it's how do they fit together? And Ha Lamello and Brandon play together, Mark Williams and Miles Bridges. He's an unrestricted free agent. There's decisions you're going to have to make there with him. Certainly has been a very productive player, and so the elements are there of a core, but it's building out around that. And certainly, you know a lot of the guys we are here now probably won't be and rosters are ever evolving. But I do think he's not walking into a Baron situation. And you picked up Brant Williams, you know, bringing him back home. I think playing here is meaningful to him. You know, that's a good veteran role player. And then you pick up a couple of draft picks, one from Dallas, you pick up one from Miami, and the trade deadline deals and I you've got those moving forward that either you're going to use those picks. Obviously have him available if you want to put him in trades. But I think we know what the model is in a smaller market. It is drafting. Well, it's not unrestricted free agency. And you know, Jeff said it in the podcast, is exactly right. We may never see another Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving level guys where they were in their careers. Going into unrestricted free agency, it's just going to.
Be more rare.
It's more you sign for the most money you can where you are, then you just asked for a trade. That's where the league's headed. It's not going into unrestricted free agency, but there'll always be some free agents. And I think if you're Charlotte or if you're Utah or you're Indiana, for the most part, you're drafting, you're trading for your best players, and then free agency is a way to compliment them. It might be your mid level exception, it might be cap space one year. But those are all the different mechanisms obviously to build a roster. But I think, you know, the blueprint for Charlotte is sort of in place drafting LaMelo Ball, drafting Brandon Miller, drafting a Miles Bridges. You know, you start to now is those guys get a little bit older, and you get into a position where you hope that core now becomes a playoff corps, you know, and then a core that can get you a home playoff series, and that's you know, that's I think the process you're undertaking, and especially when you look at kind of where the Hornets are.
Now, He's the best in the business. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, thanks so much for joining us here in buzz City.
Thanks for having me Sam.
That does it for a jam packed episode of the AHC. Thank you to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Thank you to Jeff Peterson, the new executive vice president of Basketball Operations, and thanks to rich S Nall and Gabe Plotkin, the coach chairman of Hornet Sports and Entertainment, for all sharing some time with us throughout a very busy day at Spectrum Center. We greatly appreciate their time, their perspective, and hope you enjoyed hearing from all of these great people involved with the Hornets in the NBA in general. Definitely look forward to hearing from all of them in the podcast to come. Tomorrow, it's a game day. Hornhets are going to be back on the hardwood. They'll visit our nation's capital taking on the Washington Wizards. Will of course have more reaction from the Jeff Peterson press conference and our preview of that contest tomorrow. Till next time for our producer Rob Longo. I'm Sam Farber saying it's been a pleasure of privilege having you along. We will talk to you next time right here on the Hornets Podcast.
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to you by Santa, the official i ear nosen throadcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot com.
