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Charlotte Hornets: Dwayne Bacon is ready to make the jump

By Noah Purser

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Dwayne Bacon #7 of the Charlotte Hornets handles the ball during the game against the Washington Wizards on March 31, 2018 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Dwayne Bacon #7 of the Charlotte Hornets handles the ball during the game against the Washington Wizards on March 31, 2018 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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After one of the more surprising rookie seasons in the NBA last year, Dwayne Bacon didn’t let the second-round label slow him down. Now, he might be ready to make the next step in his young NBA career for the Charlotte Hornets.

Dwayne Bacon wasn’t the flashiest of second-round picks, with players like Semi Ojeleye, Jordan Bell and Dillon Brooks getting a majority of the late draft buzz. However, there is an argument that the Charlotte Hornets‘ wing was one of the more intriguing players to come out of the second-round.

The Queen City team made a draft night trade with the New Orleans Pelicans in order to acquire Bacon who was selected with the 40th overall pick in the second-round of the 2017 NBA Draft.

Considering Charlotte’s lack of success with second-round picks, it was easy to write off Dwayne early on but after an impressive summer league, he went into the season with a lot of hype and actually challenged for, and earned, a starting spot when Nicolas Batum went down.

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Bacon ended the 2017-18 NBA season averaging just 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds, but the simple season averages don’t exactly tell the whole story. Bacon was a plus-player for Buzz City this year, as was evident upon viewing some advanced analytics.

Bacon started the year in the starting lineup, with MKG sidelined with another injury. The lineup of Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, Dwayne Bacon, Marvin Williams, and Dwight Howard is the squad that Bacon saw the most action with. Additionally, this lineup was incredibly productive for the Hornets, as they outscored opponents by an average of 18 points per game while they were on the floor.

Expanding upon how the team success correlates with Bacon’s play time, Charlotte’s defense decreased in overall efficiency when Bacon wasn’t on the court. He slows down the opposing team’s offensive pace and decreases their assist percentages by more than 5%. Dwayne Bacon hasn’t been shy about letting the people know about the work he puts in either, often tweeting about his excitement for the upcoming season:

Dwayne Bacon is caught behind multiple wings on the Charlotte Hornets’ roster including Malik Monk, Nicolas Batum, Jeremy Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and the newly drafted rookie, Miles Bridges.

It will be interesting to see how new head-coach James Borrego manages the rotations amongst those wings. Hopefully, Bacon sees the court enough to prove he’s worth the opportunity.

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The Hornets *rarely* find success with prospects in the second-round but it certainly looks like they found themselves a diamond in the rough with Bacon. If he can continue to improve on a couple of the minor areas of his game, he could become an integral part of the franchise’s future as a tantalizing “3&D” player.

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