The Charlotte Hornets lost many of their key players from last season in free agency this summer. They were forced to find replacements on the open market.
These three departures all helped the Charlotte Hornets in many ways, so lets see if them leaving has a positive or negative impact on the teams progress.
In part three of this series, the biggest departures the Hornets had this offseason will be assessed. These will be mainly graded on how much impact the loss will have on the team next season. If the grade is higher, it means that this will have a closer to positive impact on the team and vice versa for a low-grade. Without further ado, let’s get to the most important departures of the Hornets offseason.
Al Jefferson
New Team: Indiana Pacers
Contract Info: three-years/$30 million
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In the summer of 2013, the Hornets made Al Jefferson (at the time) the biggest free agent signing in franchise history. In his first season with the team, he would average 21.8 PPG and 10.8 RPG on 50.9% FG. This would lead to a surprise playoff berth in the 2014 season. He would finish 3rd team all-NBA and 8th in MVP voting that season. From there, the numbers would begin to decrease as he missed a lot of time due to injuries and suspension.
Big Al was always a great offensive force when he was on the floor with one of the best back to the basket games in the NBA. However, on the other end of the floor, he wasn’t a great rim protector. His numbers went down in every season he played in the Queen City. A lot of money has been spent in this NBA free agent period and Al chose to go somewhere that could pay him well and that place was the Pacers. Considering the Hornets got better defensively by replacing him with Roy Hibbert, it doesn’t seem bad but the offense will be missed on the second unit next season.
Grade: B+
Courtney Lee
New Team; New York Knicks
Contract Info: four-years/$48 Million
Losing Courtney Lee certainly hurts as he’s an excellent three and D wing player. He’s also the ultimate professional and players really respect him. During his 28 game run with the Hornets, he averaged 8.9 PPG, 1.2 SPG, 44.5% FG, and 39.2% 3PT FG. He makes the plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet and has continued to so over his eight year career.
This summer, Lee decided to leave for the New York Knicks and they gave him some really good money. It’s hard to lose a really good shooter Courtney Lee, but the Knicks needed talent around Carmelo Anthony and Lee certainly helps with that. Lee was playing shooting guard while Nice Batum was the small forward this past season because Michael Kidd-Gilchrist missed so many games due to injury. With MKG coming back, it’ll allow Nic to return to his more natural shooting guard role. This will help fill the void of losing Courtney Lee but of course he will still be missed.
Grade: C-
Jeremy Lin
New Team: Brooklyn Nets
Contract Info: three-years/$36 Million
Man does Jeremy Lin have a huge following or what? Lin had a pretty up and down season with the Hornets coming off the bench as a second point guard. Lin had very huge highs and very huge lows but was always good in providing a spark if Kemba Walker was struggling. Lin is very capable of being a starting point guard in the NBA (as his fans always say on Twitter). As a starter with the Hornets this season, he averaged 17.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 4.8 APG 46.1% FG and 46% 3 PT FG.
The Brooklyn Nets gave a long-term opportunity to Lin on the free agent market. He will now get paid an average of $12 million per season over the next 3 years. Losing Lin means that the Hornets will have lost one of the important pieces to the success of the second unit last season. Lin was really good at getting into the paint when he played and got great minutes down the stretch in some important games. Lin will be missed and this is a big chance for him to prove that Linsanity is still running wild.
Grade: C+
Next: Hornets Offseason Grades (Part Two)
Overall, this has been an interesting offseason for the Charlotte Hornets. There have been many low risk moves made to help revitalize the careers of certain players. Also, the Hornets have made great long-term signings to have continuity for the next few seasons and that certainly helps. The ultimate goal is to get the Hornets to take the next step in the Eastern Conference so we’ll see if it happens.