Charlotte Hornets Training Camp: What’s on the line for each player

Back up big or third-string big

Willy Hernangomez has the inside tracks on the backup center position, but nothing is guaranteed in this league, so he must have a strong training camp for the Charlotte Hornets. Like I touched on earlier, he’ll be battling for minutes with Bismack Biyombo.

Hernangomez is only 25 years old and still has plenty of upside yet to be unlocked. As long as he looks good in training camp, I think Hernangomez will get the most playing time of his career since his rookie season in New York. He may be the center of the future in Charlotte.

Last season, Hernangomez averaged 7.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in just 14.0 minutes. He can fill up the stat sheet in a limited amount of time. What’s kept him off the court during his entire career has been his lack of defense. He’s poor on that end of the floor and needs to show improvement now that he’s in his fourth NBA season.

Hernangomez will be a free agent after this season, so this is a critical year for him. In fact, I included him in my list of players who are entering a make-or-break season in 2019-20. To this point, Hernangomez has shown flashes of upside, now he just needs to put it all together.

Earning the backup center spot in training camp will be a great way to begin the season for him.