With Dwayne Bacon in the G-League, the Charlotte Hornets will have an interesting decision to make this offseason.
It has been quite a roller coaster ride for the Charlotte Hornets and Dwayne Bacon this season, but, as it winds down, it is becoming more and more apparent that he will not be a part of the organization going forward.
It was a bit surprising to me when he requested to be sent down the G-League, but when it happened, I think he knew his time in Charlotte was nearing an end. So, where did it all go wrong for the third-year shooting guard?
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There’s not a lot of mystery here; Bacon wasn’t very good on either side of the ball. His shooting numbers were abysmal, and he never took the steps forward in other areas many people had hoped he would after how he finished the season last year.
Bacon has never been much of a three-point shooter, although he did finish last year shooting 43.7% from distance last year. However, that mark is sandwiched in between two years of shooting 25.6% and 28.4% this year, so it is reasonable to think that last year was just the outlier and can’t be expected going forward.
The glaring shooting stat this year is how Bacon has converted at the rim at a pathetic rate, 44.9%, a stark contrast to shooting almost twenty percent better through his first two seasons. I mean that number is really bad, and with a third of his shots coming at the rim coupled with his inability to connect from long range, you simply have a putrid offensive player.
I thought Bacon showed some signs as a defender last year, but he has taken a big step backward this year. Bacon could have helped this team with his size at the off guard position, but he doesn’t have the best lateral quickness and quickly got exposed on a nightly basis when he was starting. He gives you little else in terms of playmaking and is an average rebounder for the position.
When Bacon recently told Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, “Maybe I’m not meant for this organization, or maybe they don’t want me. I don’t know,” I was not surprised at all that. I mean, imagine having a bobblehead giveaway for a player who isn’t even part of the team anymore.
I’m sure he is frustrated, and maybe the Hornets gave up on him too soon, but either way, Bacon will be playing elsewhere next year, and he seems to be perfectly fine with that.