Charlotte Hornets Rely Too Heavily on Kemba Walker to Carry Them

It is clear that Kemba Walker is the Charlotte Hornets’ best player but the team may be relying on him too heavily to win games.

Kemba Walker is an outstanding player with the ability to lead the Charlotte Hornets to the playoffs for a second consecutive season this year. The problem is that the team relies too heavily on him to create and score far too often. Even though he is a great talent, the point guard can’t do it on his own and it is becoming more evident that he needs more help.

Almost to a fault, the 26-year old point guard is an expert at both creating his own shot and also finding his teammates. Aside from Nicolas Batum, there isn’t another playmaker on the Hornets this season. Even then, Nic isn’t always the most reliable scorer each time out.

It is evident when watching games that Charlotte relies on Kemba to not only carry them late in games but also in the beginning and when they need to make a run to get back into a game. A considerable drop off is almost expected everytime Walker leaves the court. The on/off numbers support that argument as the bench/second unit isn’t giving him nearly enough help.

More from Swarm and Sting

• Hornets: Where does Brandon Miller’s ceiling rank among other rookies?
• Charlotte Hornets grade out mostly average in position-by-position ranking
• Hornets News: P.J. Washington makes bold statement on Brandon Miller
• Grade the mock trade: Hornets snag Tyler Herro, flip Gordon Hayward
• Will the Charlotte Hornets be in the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery?

With Kemba on the court, the Hornets are a +5.5 with a team-high 108.7 offensive rating. Those numbers fall significantly when Walker heads to the bench. With him off the court, the team’s a -5.4 which is the lowest mark for any Charlotte player while they are off the court. Their scoring also stalls as the offensive rating drops to 99.8. (NBA.com)

Those stats result in a 10.9 net differential between when he’s on the court and off which is the second most on the Hornets behind Cody Zeller‘s 11.8 but the big man’s numbers are directly correlated to Walker’s. Another telling stat is Kemba’s usage and scoring rate. He has a 29.2% Usage percentage which is the highest on the team 16th most in the NBA.

Charlotte’s point guard also ranks 16th in the league with 30.6% of his team’s points. (NBA.com)

Not only does he carry his team through games but he also has to shoulder the load down the stretch of close games as well. Kemba is ninth in the NBA with 88 points scored in five-point games in the final five minutes of games. Just to put that in perspective, Nic Batum is the closest teammate to him with only 38 points this season in those situations. (NBA.com)

Here’s a look at each player’s offensive and defensive numbers on the team:

As you can see, while Walker’s defensive numbers aren’t the greatest, he is by far (can’t stress that enough) the Hornets’ best offensive player. It’s not even close either.

While Kemba has the ability to carry the Hornets, it is becoming a detriment to him and the team as a whole. They are relying on him so heavily and with minimal help, Walker will come up short more times than not. It is pretty clear that Charlotte needs to add better offensive players to help take some of the scoring burden off of their star point guard.

Next: Four Trades to Help the Charlotte Hornets

So while LeBron James is crying for more help (see here), it is Kemba who really needs the help. Hopefully, the Charlotte Hornets can make a move before the trade deadline to add more playmakers/scorers either off the bench or to play alongside Walker. If not this year, then a move must be made this offseason because they can’t keep relying so heavily on him to shoulder the load offensively and carry the team through an 82 game season and into the postseason. There needs to be at least some help.