Charlotte Hornets: Youth movement will hit hard next season

Charlotte Hornets Miles Bridges and Devonte Graham. (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
Charlotte Hornets Miles Bridges and Devonte Graham. (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)

With Kemba Walker gone and the Charlotte Hornets entering a new era, fans can expect to see younger players getting more minutes.

The Charlotte Hornets are entering a new era of basketball, and younger players will begin to get more minutes. The loss of Kemba Walker during free agency changed the Hornets franchise, sending the team in a new direction.

With this new direction, the team is going to play younger players more, while also keeping some of the veterans around for the time being. On Wednesday, radio broadcaster John Focke did an interview with General Manager Mitch Kupchak on the Hornets’ new look.

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In the interview, Kupchak told Focke that he intends to set the team up so it can have substantial long-term success. With that being said, Kupchak wants the Hornets to be a team that can compete at one of the highest levels one day.

Kupchak looks to continue the success of the team following the 8-4 record in the last twelve games of last season. This stretch of games had younger players playing more minutes than usual.

Kupchak also stated that next season will feature familiar veterans like Cody Zeller, Nicolas Batum, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Marvin Williams. Kupchak noted that they will still get minutes, but he’s aiming to continue the growth of Charlotte’s younger players.

This growth, according to Kupchak, can contiune to be built upon; fans witnessed what the younger players could do at the end of last season. Kupchak also told Focke that he intends to win games moving forward, while also continuing to develop the younger players.

Kupchak has a lot to work with heading into next season. Players like Dwayne Bacon and Miles Bridges may finally get to start consistently, while the team also has a new starting point guard with Terry Rozier.

The Hornets have a lot of doubters right now, but the players are not letting the negativity get to them. Players like Bacon and Bridges usually are vocal on social media when it comes to proving critics wrong.

Bacon averaged 12.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game as a starter last season, while Bridges managed to average 9.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a starter. It will be interesting to see how these players have grown since last season.

The team also has Malik Monk, who’s role has not been set in stone yet. Monk has proven that he can be an efficient scorer off the bench, but he has not started in a single game yet; that could change next season.

It will be interesting to see how Coach James Borrego and GM Mitch Kupchak contiune to develop Charlotte’s younger players. Fans can expect the younger players to make their mark in this upcoming season with the increased playing time.