Charlotte Hornets: Why Treveon Graham deserves more minutes

After an offseason full of improvement, the Charlotte Hornet’s Treveon Graham needs to be given more minutes this upcoming season to show he can be an impact player.

Treveon Graham spent his first season in the NBA with the Charlotte Hornets last year. Although he didn’t play much, it’s clear Coach Clifford loves his work ethic and play style. After spending this off season improving, this season could be a big step in the former VCU star’s career.

November 11th, 2016 will probably be a day Treveon Graham always remembers. It was the first real taste of what having a key role on an NBA team truly feels like.

Just a few games into the season, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was out with an injury. Coach Clifford was forced to turn to his unproven rookie to fill in the starting role for their upcoming game against the Toronto Raptors.

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Stats may not show it because, per basketball-reference.com, in his 24 minutes of game time (his second most of the season) he only had two points, three rebounds, and two assists, but Graham did not have a poor game.

Graham was also assigned to guarding DeMar DeRozan, which is clearly no easy task. DeRozan scored 34 in the game, but he showed he has the potential to be a lock down defender.

Aside from certain moments here and there, Graham really didn’t get many other chances to prove himself this past season. That wasn’t for a lack of hard work or feuding with Coach Clifford. There simply just weren’t too many opportunities or injuries for him to take advantage of.

Fast forward to now.

Treveon Graham’s second season is right around the corner, and he has been putting in work this off season. Msn.com ranked him as the second best player in the Orlando Summer League a few weeks ago. He was clearly a man among boys in every game he played.

It was obvious he had been hitting the weight room over the off season. It was also evident that he had been working on improving his two-way game. Needless to say, he impressed.

MKG is well regarded as the best defender on the Charlotte Hornets. He cannot play 48 minutes, though. Whenever the Hornets are playing teams like the Toronto Raptors that have an elite scoring shooting guard or small forward, I want to make the case that Graham be the guy to step in and guard those guys when MKG takes a breather.

Of course, it will be harder than ever to crack into the Hornets regular rotation. There’s plenty of competition on the bench from guys like Jeremy Lamb, Malik Monk, and Dwayne Bacon. Graham, however, can be a specialist.

Everybody should still expect Jeremy Lamb to get most of the minutes Graham would be getting. Not every game will be for him. Not every game will necessarily fit the style where he is going to be effective, but he should get his moments to make an impact.

Whenever the Hornets are playing a team they know they will have to beat with their defense, it would be smarter to play Graham than Lamb. Also, if the game is close going into the fourth quarter, Graham can step in and provide energy on defense. This will help extend the rest MKG, Nic Batum, or whoever it may be gets as well.

This talk about Graham’s defense doesn’t mean that he is a poor offensive player. Although it is a very small sample size, he shot 60% from three this past season and had an effective field goal percentage of 58.8% (basketball-reference.com). It’s highly unlikely Graham could maintain numbers like that from behind the arc. This just makes it evident he can bring something to the table on offense if he can hit that shot consistently.

Additionally, there have been trade rumors going around that Jeremy Lamb could potentially be traded. If he were to be moved, this would definitely open the door for Graham to become a key role player on the team.

This is a make or break season for the Hornets. They don’t necessarily have the leeway to give certain guys minutes purely for the sake of getting them game experience, but Graham is ready to contribute.

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I firmly believe Coach Clifford should start the season prepared to use Graham in a specialized role for defensive purposes. If he impresses, that could even lead to regular rotational minutes for him. The Charlotte Hornets need to get back to being a defensive powerhouse. Treveon Graham can be a piece of the puzzle to help them get there.

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