Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets’ Playoff Hopes Are Done, Players to Target in Offseason
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The Charlotte Hornets dropped their second straight game as they fell to the Miami Heat on the second night of a back to back. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the team’s playoff hopes being done, three players they should target in the offseason and one question the Hornets must answer this summer.
Charlotte’s Playoff Hopes Are Done (TheCharlottePost.com)
"In his fifth season, coach Steve Clifford has taken the Hornets to the playoffs three times. He struggled to engage this year’s squad with buying into the team’s typical defense-first mindset and attributed their demise to simply being gassed."
The Hornets’ late-season push for the playoffs was all for nothing. Even though they aren’t officially eliminated from the postseason, Charlotte has less than a 1% chance to make it. (FiveThirtyEight.com) With only three games left, it would take a miracle and a half for them to get in. And that’s just not going to happen.
It was fun while it lasted but the season is now over for the Hornets. The last few games won’t count for much. All in all, this was a pretty disappointing season for Charlotte. They just ran out of time. Their final stretch, playing six games in nine days, was simply too much to ask from this team after the hole that they had dug themselves earlier in the year.
Three Players the Hornets Should Target in the Offseason (iSportsWeb.com)
"General manager Rich Cho and owner Michael Jordan must be looking forward to figuring out what exactly went wrong this season and will have to improve a club that has only managed a 36-42 record this year. With a solid core of young players, Charlotte has a lot in place for them. With the help of a few more players that can add consistent numbers on a nightly basis, they have a real shot being one of the better teams in a weak Eastern Conference."
Serge Ibaka, Malik Monk and Shabazz Muhammad are the three players listed. Ibaka is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer while Muhammad will be restricted. Those would each be options through free agency but Monk would be an option through the NBA Draft. With the limited cap space the Hornets have, they will be hard pressed to lure Serge or Shabazz unless they make some trades to free up their salary cap a bit.
On the other hand, Monk is a top-10 talent in the upcoming draft. The article mentions that Charlotte could package Marco Belinelli with their first round pick and maybe some other players to get the Dallas Mavericks’ first rounder which will likely be in the top-10. All of these players would surely make the Hornets a better but actually getting them is a whole different story.
One Question Charlotte Must Answer (BleacherReport.com)
"If Charlotte’s going to step out of the shadows, it may have to count on internal improvement—from youngsters like Frank Kaminsky and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in addition to a bounce-back campaign from Batum—unless general manager Rich Cho is able to trade his way into another cornerstone."
Next: 2019 All-Star Game to Charlotte?
The Hornets definitely need to add another scorer. Whether or not Nicolas Batum is their secondary scoring option or third, the team needs another consistent scorer on their roster to add to Kemba and Nic. While they had a lot of problems on defense this year, having another scorer could help cover up some of those problems and it would allow Charlotte to not rely so heavily on Walker every night.