....based on the aggregate of chatter on the interwebs.

Have to believe that would be a tell on Hammonds, or a tip that someone else on the current roster is moving on.

I wouldn't object to Hammonds leaving because he will be a SR next season and is not any kind of leader-he seems quiet and also is so inconsistent it is frustrating. I would love to find a grad transfer PF type that can help us just get rebounds-offer some inside scoring consistently. We have enough guys jacking up 3's, we don't need our big out there on the perimeter too which is where Hammonds like to be. If one of the newcomers can't provide that maybe Peake can in year two. That killed us last year, rebounding, poor defense and poor shot selection-much of the time by Edwards.

You're nuts if you think Hammond leaving isn't a bad thing.

Agreed, cause I can't see us adding anyone near his talent level. He can be a difference maker, and at 21 is far from a finished product (so that becoming more consistent, "tougher", a "better leader", among other improvements could well be made over a summer).

But should he depart, I'm not sure what I'd want. Best player possible I guess since we need all the upside we can get considering what's already lost. Then again, if it's a potential future stud in what's likely a stunted, odd, asterisk style season anyway coming off this pandemic, and a kid who won't be much in year 1 but could be big time in years 2, 3, maybe 4 (ala Claxton), then that makes a lot of sense too. There isn't a clear need in the roster position wise, just a need to keep getting better. Much much better.

Wheeler has point. Kier gives us a 2 or 3. Camara can work fine at 4 or 5. Is Taylor an immediate starter at 3 or 4? Johnson able to work at SG (or be a bigger PG type that allows Wheeler to move off ball)? Brown ready to step up, or Walton at SF? Peake take a leap up as a starter inside? McMillan or Ned an instant impact inside out of JUCO? We assume Fagan and Starks are more defensive oriented backup PG types, but could either be more and surprise us?

So again, not really a positional need depending on how those question marks get answered. Or there's an overwhelming number of needs so that a single player for one year option doesn't give us enough to make a difference anyway.

Does anybody know if the reported Michael Foster flirtation is anything? I assume you take him and make an opening if one doesn't exist?

Yep, he's gone... hired an agent. Not sure anybody cares much. Instead of 6 to 8 wins in conference we're likely looking at 4 to 6 in year three.

We'll still give Crean 5 years, not sure we have much choice. Keeping hope alive that in year four we don't have a losing record in the league.

Concur. Next year looks bleak as of today.

If we don't necessarily see improvement in the overall or SEC record, what I do want to see is exponential improvement of play, and more than one returning player show significant development.

I had hope because Romello White, PF from Arizona State (originally from Wheeler HS in Cobb Co.) had entered the transfer portal. I haven't personally verified it, but I saw a report today that he is headed to Vandy. IMO, we still need another serviceable "big" to be competitive in the SEC next season.

Sadly, Hammonds is no difference maker. I doubt, if he was on the team, it would make any difference to the overall record. He put numbers up against weak teams and generally disappeared against good ones. He's not a leader, so the team doesn't lose leadership. He's a loner in a team game. We do need another post who plays like a post, but that's not Hammonds. Camara can move over into the 4 spot if we can get a 5 who can play immediately. Our backcourt is set with Wheeler and Kier. It's the frontcourt we have to figure out.

I agree Monk....if we can get a legitimate (doesn't have to be a star, just legitimate) post, and the team can stay relatively healthy, we hopefully will have a mid-pack SEC team.

Losing our best player (Hammonds), who would have been our leading scorer and likely leading rebounder, is tough to spin into a positive. It will allow Camara, Brown, Peake and maybe the new guys Taylor or Ned the opportunity to emerge but none will give us the 16pts and 7 boards Rashaun would average.

I was impressed with Wheeler's freshman season but if our backcourt is set with him and Kier as starters, I'm not expecting much. Fagan and especially KD will get their chances too, but I don't see how we can have KD and Wheeler on the floor together for extended minutes. That's just too small on the defensive end. This shapes up to be one of our weaker backcourts of the past 12-15 years.

Camara's a really good 3 who can play some 4. Brown has shown promise; again a 3 who will be forced to play some 4. Peake is more of a 4 who will have his hands full guarding other big's. Add in the unknowns of McMillan, Taylor and Ned and that looks like one of our weaker front courts in a long time.

Weak backcourt plus weak front court will equal us being predicted to finish somewhere between 11th and 14th in the league. A re-classified Foster or some other huge signee with our last scholly is our only hope to finish better.

A reclassified Foster would be a grand slam get - especially because he is 17 and not eligible for the NBA draft until '22.

https://www.zagsblog.com/2020/05/02/class-of-2021-forward-mike-foster-weighing-reclass-to-2020/

Pretty sure it's 19 OR a year out of his school. Not 19 AND a year out. But I wouldn't expect them to make such a simple mistake so ???

Of course, the nba may well change that soon, nor do they really care now that they'll pay high schoolers to just jump to the D League instead of college for that year or so until draft eligible.