Charlotte Hornets 2019-20 Expectations: Dwayne Bacon Deserving Early Hype?

What went right in 2018-2019

One of the most obvious areas of Bacon’s growth was his scoring ability. While only playing 759 minutes across 43 games according to Basketball Reference, the second-year player managed to average 7.3 PPG, up from his rookie average of 3.3. This is indicative of the elevated confidence and aggression of Bacon’s offensive game.

His growing comfort on the NBA court is most clearly seen when looking at his attempt stats, which trended upward across the board last year. Bacon increased his number of total free throw attempts from 25 to 46, his total 3-point attempts from 43 to 87, and his overall field goal attempts from 192 to 257.

Yet this increase in shot volume did not translate into lower make percentages. While attempting twice as many threes as he had during his rookie campaign, Bacon managed to shoot .437 percent from beyond the arc, far better than his rookie mark of .256 percent. The same is true of his field goal percentage as it increased from .375 to sit at a solid .475.

These numbers translate into a .570 true shooting percentage, not only better than his rookie TS% of .431 but also better than the 2018-2019 numbers of fellow 2017 NBA Draft pick Malik Monk and 2018 selection Miles Bridges.

Although last season showed Dwayne Bacon is a capable scoring option at the NBA level, his game on the other side of the ball and as a complete player is still marred by uncertainty.