Charlotte Hornets Player Breakdown: Frank Kaminsky

Charlotte Hornets’ young big man, Frank Kaminsky, had a good rookie season but there are parts of his game that he must work on this summer to become a better player.

Well the NBA off-season is fast approaching and when it arrives, it is time for players to begin resting. For young NBA players that rest is short lived. Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky is one of those young players.

If he is serious about improving as a player he will be working on certain parts of his game this summer. He will need to spend a lot of time in the practice gym and with the summer league team this off-season. We are going to break down the things he needs to work on and things he already does well.

Things He Needs To Work On

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Rebounding

One of the major problems that Kaminsky has is his rebounding. Plenty of times throughout his rookie season he looked weak when rebounding against players at his position. Good rebounders tend to be one of two things, either athletic or strong. Kaminsky was neither in his first season in the NBA.

Since Kaminsky cannot change how athletic he is, for the most part, he will need to bulk up some this off-season. Adding strength will help him grab more rebounds and be more physical in the paint when boxing out players at his position. Frank’s strength, or lack there of, was a major weakness that team’s were pointing out about him before the draft last year.

Back To The Basket Offense

Kaminsky is already a good offensive player but his game would go to the next level if he had more back to the basket moves. It is incredible seeing him do the spin move lay up but he would really benefit from having some Al Jefferson like moves to his game. With Legendary NBA big man, Patrick Ewing, on the team’s staff, Frank should be able to learn a few things from the former Knicks’ play.

Pump faking, backing down smaller players, and a running hook shot would really help create mismatches almost every time he touches the ball. He is already a great stretch four player but adding more traditional big man offense is the next step for him.

Defense (ALL THINGS DEFENSE)

Very rarely do rookies come into the NBA and play great team defense. Kaminsky takes that to a whole new level though by playing downright terrible defense. At times, he looked lost and at other times, he was out muscled down low by players that he should not have been out muscled by.

Kaminsky was a pick and roll defensive liability. He struggled blocking shots though that might not be fixable. In other words, Kaminsky needs to work on every facet of defense. Literally, everything. Good thing for him because defense is something that can be taught and learned.

Things He Already Does Well

Shooting The Ball

Even though his numbers do not suggest it, Kaminsky is a good shooter from deep. It takes time to adjust for almost all players when coming from college to the NBA. Kaminsky should improve over time with his shooting as he gets more and more adjusted to the NBA game. He has a great shooting form for a big man and defenders closing out on him does not affect his shot much.

Beating Defenders Off The Dribble

One thing I noticed about Kaminsky is that he easily beats most NBA big men off the dribble. Quite a few times the defender closed out on the perimeter to affect Kaminsky’s shot only to get beaten off the dribble instead. There were also a few times where the defender was just beaten off the dribble all together. Kaminsky seems to know how to use this ability quite well. It is definitely to his advantage and it most likely will not change for him.

Moving Well Without The Ball