Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets should help Dwight Howard’s image, Julyan Stone suffers hamstring injury
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
The Hornets look for their first road win of the season as they travel to Milwaukee to take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at how Dwight Howard can improve his image with the Charlotte Hornets, Julyan Stone‘s hamstring injury and Briante Weber signing with the Houston Rockets.
Hornets should help Dwight Howard’s image (GiveMeSport.com)
"The Hornets seem fully committed to finding success with Howard in Charlotte. While winning a championship is still a goal for Howard, re-establishing himself as one of the NBA’s most dominant centers would go a long way in revitalizing his image and legacy."
Both Charlotte and Howard can benefit from him being with the team. They need a big man who can dominate the interior while Dwight needs a stage where he can revitalize his career. His legacy has taken a hit in the past few years after failed marriages with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks.
I would argue that his image has already been helped in the short time he’s been with the Hornets. The eight-time all-star has not only played well but he’s also had a positive impact with his new teammates as they all speak highly of Howard. It remains to be seen if this trend can continue but so far so good for Dwight and the Charlotte Hornets.
Julyan Stone suffers hamstring injury (NBA.com)
"The Charlotte Hornets announced today that guard Julyan Stone has suffered a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring. The injury occurred in practice on Sunday, Oct. 22 and his expected recovery time is estimated at four to six weeks."
Julyan missed the entire preseason with a groin injury and will now miss at least another month with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Charlotte’s injury bug continues to take it’s toll on the roster with Cody Zeller, Nicolas Batum, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Michael Carter-Williams already out. It will be interesting to see if Rich Cho signs a point guard to help as the team already went after Jameer Nelson.
With both Stone and MCW out, the Hornets have called up two-way players Marcus Paige and Mangok Mathiang. There’s a good chance that Paige could see minutes behind Kemba Walker considering how thin the team’s depth is in the backcourt. If not Marcus, then Malik Monk will be the primary backup point guard.
Ex-Charlotte point guard signs with the Houston Rockets (ESPN.com)
"Free-agent guard Briante Weber has agreed to a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets"
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Weber appeared in 13 games for the Hornets last season and after completing two 10-day contracts with the team, he signed a non-guaranteed multi-year deal with Charlotte. He was waived on July 28th after a disappointing summer league. Briante will not get his chance with the Rockets which will be his sixth team in the past two years.