Charlotte Hornets Round Table: Five early predictions for the 2019-20 season
Another topic up for debate is who will shoulder the scoring burden now that their two top scorers are now on other teams?
Giovanni Spillman:
“It’s going to be Terry Rozier, unless Bridges or Bacon comes out and has a career year. Terry Rozier has averaged 16+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists per game as a starter. I think his new role in Charlotte will be huge for his production, and he should have the best season of his career.”
Zachary Padmore:
“With Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb signing elsewhere in free agency, there’s going to be a lot of shots up for grabs. Charlotte’s newest point guard, Terry Rozier, is in line for a huge season. He’s going to play a lot of minutes and take a lot of shots, good ones and bad ones. He won’t make the biggest impact when it comes to W’s and L’s, but I can see Rozier averaging around 20 points per game in 2019-20. Dwayne Bacon is another guy I see taking a big jump offensively.”
Filippo Barresi:
“I have some faith in Terry Rozier, maybe a little bit more than I should. He is going to be the leader of our offensive game, creating offense for the whole team and for himself. James Borrego already underlined his role heading into next season, he will be the key of our game, he is capable of scoring the ball. Rozier was able to score a lot during his Celtic period, even with limited playing time and a rough role coming from the bench.”
Nick Vetrone:
“Cody Zeller. With 10 points per game, Zeller was the Hornet’s third-highest scorer last year (tied with Marvin Williams), just behind Walker and Lamb. Although I like the idea of Dwayne Bacon leading the team in PPG, Zeller is a veteran big who knows how to score and will likely be the team’s starting center to open the season. My gut tells he will simply have more consistent opportunities to score this season.”
Elijah Edwards:
“This is a hard one considering all the unknowns the team has right now. Perhaps with Kemba Walker gone, Nic Batum could finally be what the Hornets thought he would be, but I’m not convinced he will, at least not yet. Terry Rozier is a strong candidate, especially if Charlotte thinks he could be a decent facsimile of Kemba. My candidate, however, is Dwayne Bacon. Last year, he showed a lot of fans that he could be a decent scorer and with Coach Borrego giving him increased playing time last year, I think he has a shot.”
Brendan Boylan:
“Charlotte lost three of its top five scorers in terms of points per game last season (Walker, Lamb, Parker). Marvin Williams who averaged 10.1 points per game last season has the highest PPG mark of any returning player from last years roster. To reference my answer to the previous question the “Young Bugs” (Bacon, Bridges, Graham, Monk) should receive the majority of the minutes this season. With that being the case heading into next season it would only make sense that one of the fore-mentioned players take the role of go-to scorer. While many would point to Miles Bridges, Dwayne Bacon has proved his ability to stoke the three-ball (over 40% 3PT last season) and had a very impressive Summer League. Look for Bacon to sizzle in a starting role next season.”
De White:
“I think it’ll have to be between Terry Rozier and Dwayne Bacon, if he’s a starter. The team clearly trusts both of them, and I believe the only reason Bacon didn’t make more of an impact this summer is because the team wanted him to expand his game in summer league. But in the regular season, I think he’ll settle more into his comfort zone and make around 16 PPG However, I think Rozier could possibly go off for about 21 or 22 PPG. It’ll be interesting to see the two play together. because it’s clear Rozier can also be a facilitator when he wants to be.”
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Owen Watterson:
“The leading scorer debate for next season is tricky. Charlotte lost both of its top scorers last season, and it will be interesting who is willing to step up and attempt to carry the load. Terry Rozier is a guy who is not afraid to try and score the ball, but has not been very effective in his time as a pro, but despite this I think Rozier will take a slight leap and lead Charlotte in the PPG column in 19-20.”