NBA Season Preview: Charlotte Hornets

Last season: 33-49, 11th seed in the East

This season (projected): 34-48, 12th seed in the East

MANILA, Philippines – Last season was supposed to be a major coming out party in the East for the Charlotte Hornets.

They got rid of the Bobcats monicker and returned to the popular Hornets tag, which came with a total re-design of the franchise: uniforms, playing arena, colorway, logo, name, and more. Heck, even Hugo the Hornet, clearly one of the best mascots in the NBA, made his anticipated comeback and was wearing Jordans.

Unfortunately for Michael Jordan’s franchise, their performance on the court didn’t live up to the hoopla leading into the season.

The signing of Lance Stephenson turned out to be a bust. Franchise big man Al Jefferson looked injured, slow, and out of shape for most of the season. Kemba Walker threw up bricks. Actually, the entire team threw up clanks as they played 90s NBA basketball while the rest of the league got in bed with the pace-and-space era.

The defense that helped them land a playoff seed just the season prior was still around as they ranked top 10 in opponent points and field goal percentage allowed. Their offense, however, was a picture of disaster: they ranked 28th in scoring, 29th in field goal percentage, and 30th in 3-point shooting percentage.

Entering the 2015-2016 NBA season, there’s new hope for the Hornets. Reliable old faces are returning while a couple of new ones arrive with the promise of a better shot at the postseason, which is where it feels like this team has to reach, otherwise a blow-up of the roster is in store.

Key offseason changes:

Added: Nicolas Batum (trade), Spencer Hawes (trade), Jeremy Lamb (trade), Jeremy Lin (unrestricted free agent), Frank Kaminsky (draft), Tyler Hansbrough (unrestricted free agent)

Lost: Lance Stephenson (trade), Gerald Henderson (trade), Noah Vonleh (trade), Bismack Biyombo (unrestricted free agent), Mo Williams (unrestricted free agent)

Reasons to be excited:

Goodbye, Born Ready

Stephenson, 23, was signed to a 3-year, $27 million contract by the Hornets who hoped that after his breakout season in Indiana the year before, he would become the third member of their Big 3 with Jefferson and Walker.

Instead, he found himself on the bench early into the season.

His numbers were borderline disastrous: 8.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists a game while shooting 38% from the field, 63% from the foul line, and 17% from downtown. That 3-point shooting clip of his? It’s the worst shooting percentage ever for anyone who took at least 100 attempts from downtown.

The fact that he’s gone should give some excitement for Hornets fans.

Reinforcements are coming

Charlotte was busy during the offseason as they managed to pick up Nicolas Batum, Spencer Hawes, Jeremy Lamb, Jeremy Lin, Frank Kaminsky, and Tyler Hansbrough.

Batum is the obvious best player from the pack. Known so long as a swiss army knife, he averaged 9.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists a game last season on 40% shooting.

Do those averages look familiar to Stephenson’s? Sure, but you need to utilize the eye test to know how much more contributions the French national player can give compare to Lance.

Unlike Stephenson, Batum doesn’t have the habit of stopping the offense’s flow by dilly-dollying with the ball in the perimeter then deciding last minute to take a contested jumper or drive into 3 defenders. Heck, some would even say Batum is unselfish to a fault, and needs to look more for his own shot.

“Nic has always been [the] third or fourth option. Now he’s going to be [the] second or first option,” Hornets head coach Steve Clifford told Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.

Batum is also a plus defender. His wingspan and agility allows him to stay with smaller defenders, switch on the pick and roll, and bother bigger guys when he plays as a small-ball power forward. You can rely on him to shoot 3-pointers. He does a lot off the ball: cutting, providing screens, etc. Basically, he’s the opposite of Stephenson.

Lin, meanwhile, is someone who Jordan considers will be their “biggest acquisition.”

Yes, we’re talking about THAT Jeremy Lin, in case you guys forgot about Linsanity.

“We just got Jeremy Lin, who I think is going to be our biggest acquisition. His penetration, his shooting capability, his point guard savvy, he can really pass the basketball, his energy about the game of basketball is something,” said MJ, via Xinhua News Agency.

Let’s dissect what His Airness said about Lin, who, by the way, is expected to back-up Walker.

Penetration? Yes, he can do that due to his quickness and smarts when it comes to being the ballhandler in the pick and roll.

Shooting capability? The 27-year-old shot the ball 42% last season from the field and 37% from downtown, so not too bad.

Point guard savvy and passing the basketball? He distributed 4.6 assists a game in 25.8 minutes of action with the Lakers. Not too bad as well.

Energy? When put in the right team, he can provide that, not to mention get fans up on their seats. Charlotte’s no New York or Los Angeles, but if Lin can be a combo guard off the bench who provides instant production in spot minutes, that will get Charlotte fans more optimistic for victories, which didn’t come easy last season.

Spencer Hawes is a minus defender, but he does provide floor spacing as a stretch-4 for Jefferson. The same can be said for the rookie Kaminsky, who according to multiple reports, Charlotte wanted badly enough with the ninth pick that they reject 6 first round picks from the Celtics.

Kaminsky, 22, is intriguing. We know he can shoot – it’s something he did quite well with Wisconsin, but I believe he’s also underrated as a rebounder and cutter and roll man. I scratched my head at why the Bobcats picked him up since they already have Cody Zeller, but it’s never too early to have back-up options in case Jefferson leaves in free agency.

Hansbrough provides energy, hustle, and some timely psycho-ness when necessary. After all, his nickname is Psycho T. Lamb can also be very useful if he gets to shoot the 3-ball consistently.

A better Jefferson and Walker give hope

Al Jefferson averaged 16.6 points. 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 65 regular season games last year. Those numbers aren’t bad, especially when you take into account his 48% shooting from the field. But to anyone who watched Big Al from last season and the year before, there was a clear disparity.

He looked slower and even lazy at times. His defense, which made strides to improve in 2013-2014, reverted to its bad form last season. Safe to say we can hold his knee issues accountable for the decline.

That’s why Charlotte fans should be happy that the big guy, who’s in the last year of his contract, has dropped 25 pounds entering the year.

“It’s like somebody took a 25-pound man off my back,” Jefferson told the Salt Lake Tribune. 

“It was something I needed to do,” he later added. His point guard, Walker, said: “He looks great. It will definitely help him and will play to his advantage. You can see how hard he has worked in the offseason.”

Speaking of Walker, he had an okay campaign last season: 17.3 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.5 boards a game, but the concern was his shooting woes: 39% from the field and 30% from downtown. As a point guard in today’s NBA, that’s just not acceptable, especially since he got to the free throw line just 4.6 times a game.

We know Jefferson will be better because of his dropped weight and evergreen ability to score in the post, where he doesn’t need athleticism to fool defenders for easy baskets. Will Walker be better? I believe he will, simply because the presence of the big man will draw more defenders, thus letting Kemba get more open looks from long range. He might have shot it miserably from deep last season, but leaving him open is still never an option.

Welcome to the 21st century, Charlotte

The Hornets took a 24th least 19.1 3-point attempts a game last season and converted a 26th worst 6.1 a contest. 

Based on their offseason pick ups and 3 preseason games, it looks like they’re in the process of avoiding the same issue.

In 3 victories against the Magic, Heat, and Clippers, they’ve taken 87 shots from deep – an average of 29 attempts a game. And don’t think they’re firing blanks, because they’ve also already hit 33 3-balls. That percentage of 38% is the same mark the East-leading Atlanta Hawks shot last season, and just one percent lower than the Golden State Warriors, who won 67 games in the regular season and the NBA title.

Of course you should take it with a grain of salt because the sample size is small and it’s the preseason, but is it something to just scoff at? Absolutely not.

Reasons for concern

No Kidd-Gilchrist

Only basketball purists will really appreciate what former second overall pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist brings to the table.

He won’t be the type to drive in against and finish over multiple defenders in the paint like a LeBron James. He’s not the type to hit a variety of 3-pointers like Steph Curry. I’m not saying he’s even remotely close to as valuable as the two guys, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t offer a lot of assets to a team.

He’s the Hornets’ best defender, one-on-one and in set situations. He’s a hellacious rebounder. He’s a threat on the open floor. 

Want to know how valuable he is? According to Yahoo, the Hornets got outscored by 333 points in just under 2,400 minutes when he was off the floor last season. 

Unfortunately for them, it’s likely he won’t be on the floor for any time in their upcoming season.

He tore his labrum and dislocated his shoulder in the preseason game against the Magic, eventually leading to surgery that will keep him out of action for 6 months. The timetable for his return is towards the end of March or early April. By that time, Charlotte could already be out of the postseason race and the team might elect to just sit him out the rest of the way for his safety.

Speaking of the playoffs.

Tough mountain to climb

Knowing Jordan and his unrivalled competitive spirit, making the playoffs may as well be mandatory for these Hornets. The problem is, they might not have enough to get there.

Jefferson, if healthy, will be a stud, and Walker will be better. Batum and Lin are solid pick-ups. But there are questions with the rest of the roster.

Has Zeller improved at all? How quickly will Kaminsky get minutes and get used to the NBA game? Will Hawes be a rotation player or eventually fall out of favor with his coach due to his lackadaisical defense? Even Lamb has defensive issues – the type that can’t be offset by his inconsistent offense. Marvin Williams (7.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 42% FG, 36% 3PT FG) clearly lived down to the contract he signed last season. They’re paying him $7 million this year, and he will have to contribute a lot on both ends of the floor with Kidd-Gilchrist going down.

Here’s another issue: the rest of the East may just be too good for Charlotte.

Cleveland has their Big 3. Chicago still has quite a talented roster. Miami, health-permitting, is easily a top-4 team. Atlanta will still be good despite the loss of DeMarre Carroll, who’s now in Toronto where there’s a slimmer and improved Kyle Lowry, a more seasoned Jonas Villanueva, and DeMar DeRozan playing in a contract year.

Even the Bucks are better after getting Greg Monroe. Washington is still legit with John Wall and Bradley Beal leading the way. Indiana has Paul George returning, plus a key guy in Monta Ellis joining the fold. Boston has a genius in Brad Stevens, and now a legit PF in David Lee. Those are already 9 teams that, in my opinion, are already better than the Hornets. – Rappler.com