Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
Now that Carmelo Anthony has joined the Thunder, is Dwyane Wade next? (@UpTheThunder) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ season primer, Cam Newton being cool with Dwight Howard and Isaiah Canaan signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Hornets’ season primer (SirCharlesInCharge.com)
"Consistency and health has stood in the way of the Hornets in the past few years. Can Buzz City get the required overall consistency needed make some noise in the East?"
Tony Webb put together a complete 2017-18 season primer for Charlotte highlighting the team’s key offseason move, three headlines to watch for, a potential breakout player and a prediction. The most intriguing part to me is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist potentially being the surprise player. Fans have been expecting a breakout shooting year from the former second overall pick for a few years now, maybe this will finally be the campaign where he can knock down outside shots with consistency.
The prediction has the Hornets finishing four games over .500 with a 43-39 record which will be good enough for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Considering how weak the East has become, don’t be surprised if that record is good enough for a fifth or sixth seed. A return to the all-star game for Kemba Walker is also in the forecast.
Cam Newton is cool with Dwight and ready to support (Twitter/ @AshNoelleTV)
"Cam on @DwightHoward : “I’m cool with another super man being in Charlotte. I’ll be showing my support come basketball season.” #hornets"
With Howard’s arrival in Charlotte, there are now two Superman’s in the Queen City. Carolina Panthers’ superstar quarterback is okay with sharing the city with Dwight. Like he has in previous seasons, Cam will show up to a few Hornets’ games and sit courtside to support the team.
Howard said earlier this summer that he wants to connect with Newton and work to give a lot back to the community. (ESPN) Hopefully, Dwight can have the same impact with the Hornets that Cam does with the Panthers. In terms of off the court/field celebrity, both players have a big following.
Isaiah Canaan signs with OKC Thunder (Shams)
"Sources: Free agent guard Isaiah Canaan has agreed to a non-guaranteed deal with Oklahoma City."
Next: Dwight snubbed from ESPN's top-100
Canaan was one of eight point guards to work out for the Hornets earlier this summer. Charlotte ultimately signed Julyan Stone to be their third string PG behind Kemba Walker and Michael Carter-Williams. The strange thing about Isaiah’s signing with OKC is that they had a deal in place with Trey Burke just a day before but the player backed out last minute which opened up the opportunity for Canaan.