It’s reasonable to leave Panthers GM Dan Morgan, Head Coach Dave Canales, and Cap Specialist Brandt Tilis to the business of getting Burns and Luvu signed for Evero’s defense. Check out the Hornets, post-almost everyone you might’ve known, and welcome back, Miles Bridges.
When its stated as ‘The Hornets are 13th in the East,’ the Detroit Pistons lost 28 in a row to start 2023 season, are 8-46 in Central Division, and the 9-45 Wizards are still in the NBA, if not noticeably better, behind them. Grant Williams, whom I disliked as a Celtic, may be an acquired taste if he becomes productive again in teal. ‘If LaMelo…’ and his almost 24 ppg when available overarches almost everything possible in Charlotte, Bridges and Brandon Miller are solid solid.
Goodbye to Gordon Hayward, a productive guy in many respects, a firebird from the ashes physical story to be hanging 14.5 ppg/4.7 reb./4.6 asst, and 46.8 shooting, but thirty-four and ending a 4 yr./$120M contract, Hornets got some resources for him, he should help in OKC too. PJ Washington to Dallas (for Williams) hasn’t impressed anyone in a while.
Gone also is Mitch Kupchak, long time Hornets GM/President. Things needed to change, Charlotte will always thank Michael, who is still a minority owner, but there is still a huge disconnect between the beloved Bugs of yore, who led the league in attendance seven straight years, and whats needed now.
The last exciting team Charlotte had was 2015-16, Jeremy Lin doing a flashback to his Lin-sanity year in New York. Clifford did get them to playoffs with defensive emphasis. https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/12/18/10575088/jeremy-lin-highlights-stats-hornets-helping
New Owners
Rick Schnall has been a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks, and is co-president of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC. Gabe Plotkin is the founder and chief investment officer of Tallwoods Capital LLC, had previously acquired a minority stake in the Hornets in 2019, and is now a majority owner. Both men previously served as alternate governors on the NBA Board of Governors. Without having checked any Forbes profiles, and having heard some plans about improving the arena area, deep pockets to improve team personnel and civic engagement are desirable traits.
Not dramatic histories compared to the early years at The Hive, no more GOAT who didn’t (usually) spend for stars to come to Charlotte. Okay, no more cheapo-creepo Shinn, or Bob Johnson wondering, “Where’s that local support I was supposed to get for bringing b-ball back?” (fyi -Hubie Brown said he didn’t want to coach any of the 12 over-priced guys on the roster, there was nothing special about product or the boxes either.)
Clifford has now logged eight seasons in the Hornets organization, perhaps a surprising 196-214 in first term (2013-2018), and finished in the top 10 in both points allowed and defensive rating five times. Defense still wins games in the NBA.
Really, who is playing the next 28 games?
On the most positive side, rookie stud Brandon Miller is as advertised. He clearly has the tools to score twenty-plus every night, not afraid to mix it up on defense. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/brandon-miller-proving-why-he-was-worthy-of-no-2-pick-just-a-minute/ar-BB1ikQe9 Hornets have a worthy pair of forwards with Miles Bridges on floor again. His 21.5 ppg/7.1 reb./3.4 asst. makes him the rock to build with, being an unrestricted free agent after this year is an interesting fact. (They will pay the man, count on it)
Two other ‘A’ grades will go to recently added Grant Williams, whom everyone hopes is now in a good place to blossom his leadership and game, and the hard-working Nick Richards, a true 7′ rim-runner who is putting up 10/8 nights off avg. 26 minutes, shooting 69% from floor. At 25, he is coming into focus as a strong role player, considered a bargain at $5M. https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4278076/nick-richards
There’s some hesitation in whatever gets written about LaMelo Ball as face of the franchise, and 7′ Mark Williams, both of whom are productive when on the court. Williams (12.7 ppg/9.7 reb) and shooting 65% has only been in 19 games (26 min. per), Melo (23.9 ppg/8 asst) only 22 games. Seeing some franchise-level production before his 5 yr./$205M extension kicks in should include on court minutes.
Appreciating their numbers doesn’t make them the primary assets they need to be, call them ‘teachers pet C ratings,’ and Williams more like a D for missing so much time. Its been a while since Hornets have produced a strong center presence, at twenty-two, Williams will continue to get some time to develop.
If anyone has seen Nick Smith, Jr. play in 37 games this year, he ran a decent point, good to know for future, because he’s going to get more reps in G-League for foreseeable future. Hornets like his 45% gunning on 113 threes, more is better, and he won’t turn 20 until April.
Sorry, then some Other Guys
Seth Curry, J.T. Thor, Tre Mann, Bryce McGowens, Cody Martin are bench players with lesser profiles. Mann is a 6’3″ guard, OKC’s #18 pick. We shall see, nobody would deny keeping anyone besides Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench. https://www.nba.com/thunder/news/afterallstar-240219
McGowens and Martin are B players, McGowens (6’7,” 21 y/old) out of Nebraska is seen as a rotational player fitting a ‘3 and D’ role, Martin has the physical part of guarding on the perimeter down, his 34% on 3s and 53% FT makes him an offensive liability. The 6’10” Thor is in his 3rd year, and hasn’t shown any defensive extra or battle on the board strength to make up for minimal offense – being 21 can’t be an excuse for nothing. Does Curry have anything left in the tank at thirty-four.
Coach Steve Clifford
Clifford has now logged eight seasons in the Hornets organization, a surprisingly decent 196-214 in first term (2013-2018), has finished in the top 10 in both points allowed and defensive rating five times with several teams. Defense still wins games in the NBA, especially when you haven’t had reliable 3-point scorers to keep other teams honest. Clifford has the career nuts https://www.nba.com/hornets/news/charlotte-hornets-name-steve-clifford-head-coach to indicate where Hornets are heading, and with proven scorers and some healthy added stats from Melo and Williams along the way, there’s still only 28 games to go.
New management is going to be careful, but ten more wins, 23-59, that might be enough to avoid Loserville tag.
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