The Hornets’ first season after losing their star point guard Kemba Walker went a lot better than expected. They received great contributions from both rookies and sophomores alike, as well as their “big signing” Terry Rozier. But the biggest takeaway from last season was the emergence of 2nd-year point guard Davonte Graham as an absolute sniper. Trust me, nobody expected him to put up the numbers that he did: 18.2 points, 7.5 assists while shooting 37.3% from three-point three-point land on 9.3 attempts a game. This was exactly what the Hornets needed, development from their young players and hopefully, more development is instore next season. All of their young players (plus Nicolas Batum) will be on the roster next season, barring any trades in the offseason.
Even with all the pleasant surprises, this season wasn’t all positives for the Hornets. They struggled to finish and to stop their opponents inside the three-point line. On offense, they had the worst FG% and 2P% in the league (43.4% and 48.9% respectively,) and on defense, they allowed the 2nd best 2P% (55.8%). To get to that 55.8%, their opponents only shot 52.5 two-pointers a game, 24th most in the league, yikes.
Coach Borrego: "Guys can you please guard the paint?!"
Hornets players:
But this was a great building block year and the Hornets now know their strengths and what they have to improve on for next season. Let’s look back on their previous season and talk about the signings, trades and take a sneak peek at their offseason.
June 20th - 2019 NBA Draft and Rookies
The Hornets held the 12th, 36th, and 52nd pick in the draft and they took: P.J. Washington (PF), Cody Martin (SF), and Jalen McDaniels (SF) respectively.
I like Washington; I think he’s very versatile as he can play both the three and four. In some cases, he can even be a small-ball five. He wasn’t afraid of shooting behind the arc and if he improves his three-ball and his defense he will be a centerpiece for this franchise. Cody was okay, I need a bigger sample size but he looks like he’ll be a good rotation player in the future.
Preseason:
Trades:
July 6th - The Hornets trade their star player for the last decade “Cardiac” Kemba Walker and a 2020 2nd round pick (least favorable between Knicks and Nets) to the Boston Celtics for Terry Rozier and a 2020 Celtics 2nd round pick (sign and trade).
Terry Rozier came over with a 3 year $56.7 million contract. Sure it’s an overpay, but at least he’s playing well unlike Batum when he got paid.
Signings -
October 19th - The Hornets signed undrafted rookie Caleb Martin to a 3 year $4.19 million contract. He’s the twin brother of Charlotte’s rookie Cody Martin. Good to know they care about family.
Midseason:
Trades & Signings - Nothing to report here
Waving the past goodbye:
February 8th - The Hornets bought out and waived Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist. Charlotte drafted him with the 2nd pick in the 2012 draft (yikes, they’re bad at drafting) and he never really panned out. He later signed with the Mavericks on February 11th.
February 8th - The Hornets bought out and waived Marvin Williams. He was also a former 2nd overall pick (2005 draft) that didn’t pan out. At least he was a good defender. He later signed with the Bucks on February 10th.
Preview
The Draft:
The Hornets somehow lucked out and moved up to the 3rd overall pick in the lottery. Charlotte should be praying that LaMelo goes 1st or 2nd, so they can have their pick of either James Wiseman or Anthony Edwards. Wiseman is the better option just because the Hornets truly need some sort of presence in the paint both offensively and defensively. Having him in the middle takes some attention away from guys like Graham, Rozier, and Washington. Edwards however, can fill the much-needed SG position because Graham will be more effective running the point and Malik Monk is smoking dope.
Worst case scenario, if both of those players are taken before their pick they should pick up LaMelo. They’ll have to find a way to have them all get touches. My best guess is that LaMelo would be the PG, Graham will be in at SG because of his great shooting ability and they’ll demote Rozier to 6th man. I’m not a big fan of having three ball-dominant point guards trying to get touches, it may hinder the development of both Graham and Ball but c'est la vie.
November 18th - 2020 NBA Draft
The Hornets ended up selecting LaMelo Ball with the third pick. As expected since Edwards and Wiseman went off the board. I just hope that he improves his shot selection and tries on defense. They also held the 32nd and 56th pick where they selected Veron Carey Jr. and Grant Riller respectively.
Free Agency:
The Hornets are set up very nicely in terms of cap space and contracts for the 2020-21 season. Most of their core players are on contracts for the next few seasons except for Zeller and Graham. For their free agents: Let Bacon walk, he just can’t shoot or do anything properly. Try to bring back Biyombo cheap, maybe like a 2 year $10 million contract or something. Bring back Hernangomez, he’s a big man that can shoot the three, if you don’t bring Biyombo give Hernangomez more minutes to see what he can do.
The Hornets are actually in a decent spot to give out a decent big-money contract this offseason and still have space for the one in 2021. I think they should try to go after veterans to help mentor the young talent they already have on their roster. I expect the Hornets to go after either a SG or a SF in free agency.
A guy like Jae Crowder (SF) could be a good signing, he can shoot the three and is solid defensively. He can make a good mentor or even replacement to Miles Bridges if he continues to regress. If not take a chance on Rondae Hollis Jefferson, he plays good defense and can finish at the basket well. If you want somebody with more offensive power, go ahead and try to push for Malek Beasley. He isn’t a good defender but he’s a lights-out shooter and also plays both the two and the three which are the Hornets’ weakest positions on the team.
Lastly, I’ve been seeing tweets and reports that the Hornets are very interested in trading for Russell Westbrook and I would just like to calmly suggest to them: DON’T DO IT. I know the appeal of getting a superstar is massive, especially in Charlotte where nobody wants to be but It’s short-term satisfaction. I don’t have to explain why getting Westbrook will do you more harm than good because you already know what I’m talking about. A trade would most likely involve Washington, Rozier, or Graham and some picks, that’s all their core pieces gone, and for what exactly?
Final Thoughts.
Their main priorities next season is to ensure they have enough room to resign Graham if he continues to develop and to establish a system where they can increase their pace. With all these young players it’ll be a waste to continue to have them operate at the slowest pace in the league (95.8). The Hornets have set themselves up for future success, I just hope they don't screw it up.
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