Charlotte Hornets Round Table: 2019-20 Season Preview
Which returning Hornet will make the biggest jump during the 2019-20 season?
Caleb Baugher (Contributor): “A player to watch for that had an interesting season last year is Nic Batum. Batum averaged 9.3 points a game last season. Batum has become one of the least favorite of the Hornets when it comes to fans. Watch for Batum to get in the double digits when scoring this season.”
Brendan Boylan (Contributor): “Last season we saw flashes of what Bacon and Bridges could bring to the team, especially late in the season. However, many forget a five game stretch in which Malik Monk averaged north of 15 PPG off the bench and looked like the marksman out of Kentucky that had so many Hornets fans excited back in 2017. With that being said, Monk has the most to prove this year. Adding 20 pounds of muscle this off-season only bolsters the belief that Monk is truly ready for a breakout season in 2019-20. In his first season of what could be consistent playing time, expect Monk’s game and shot to be a little more consistent too.”
Elijah Edwards (Contributor): “Dwayne Bacon seems to be the most likely candidate here. I think we’ll see his minutes increase dramatically, allowing him to be a large part of the offense. I’d like to see Nic Batum elevate his play if only to somewhat justify his contract, so he’d be my next likely player. Either of those are primed to take over the scoring duties.”
Noah Farrell (Contributor): “Malik Monk should be the player who makes the biggest jump. My keyword in that sentence is “should”. After a few uncomfortable seasons for Malik, I believe that he will now be fully integrated into this new system that involves youth and a fast paced offense. He thrives in that style of play. I think that his development can be the quickest if he is given the starting shooting guard spot.”
Scott Overbey (Contributor): “It will be Miles Bridges, but proceed with caution, his counting stats will go up but his FG% may bottom out at 41 or 42%.”
Zachary Padmore (Site Expert): “There’s a few good options here, but I’m going to go with Miles Bridges. He’s more of a complimentary player at the moment, but the Hornets are going to ask him to expand his game even more and have a lot of responsibilities on both ends of the floor. Bridges is going to play a lot of minutes, get a lot of shots and a lot of needed experience. There’s a reason why this team thinks he has All-Star upside.”
Giovanni Spillman (Site Expert): “I’m really excited about Dwayne Bacon and Malik Monk heading into this season. Bacon made gigantic strides at the end of last season, and I think his success will carry over into next season. Monk, however, will have more opportunities for playing time after the loss of Jeremy Lamb during the off-season. I think both of these players will score over 10+ points per game this season.”