Charlotte Hornets: Rewind of the Oddly Successful 2015-16 Season
What Happened in the Offseason?
Often times throughout NBA history, teams coming off of a surprisingly good season are faced with a tough decision. Continue with the rebuild plan or pursue short term upgrades. For example, coming off of a surprising, near 50 win season in 2014, the Phoenix Suns opted to continue along with their rebuild.
Contrariwise, the Brooklyn Nets aggressively pursued All-Star free agents this past summer after being the league’s surprise team last season. Based on these two examples, it’s fairly clear that when the window is open, teams should pursue the opportunity to get better.
The Hornets took the former route. This is the most glaring reason why Charlotte has not seen a return to basketball in May since. Cho and company completely decimated the team’s bench that bailed them out of numerous close games. This bench brought a heart and upbeat attitude to that team that was sorely missed the following year. Some notable downgrades included:
2015-2016: Lin, Jefferson, Lee, Troy Daniels
2016-2017: Ramon Sessions, Roy Hibbert, Marco Belinelli, Treveon Graham
In addition to mistakes in the front office, the coaching staff completely misused young talent in the following campaign. Christian Wood, now one of the best stretch bigs in the league, rode the bench for Clifford in 2016-2017. Declines in the progression of lottery picks, Jeremy Lamb and Kaminsky only furthered the thought that Clifford may not be the answer long term.
Must Read. Charlotte Hornets: Four Key Decisions that Changed the Course of the Franchise. light
Poor decisions across the board caused the downfall of that cherished 2015-2016 team. These choices signaled the beginning of the end for that era Charlotte’s leadership council.
It truly was a shame the Hornets didn’t take the upgrade root in the summer of 2016. The following season boasted the weakest conference in recent memory. The 2016-2017 Atlanta Hawks finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 43-39 record!
Furthermore, the Boston Celtics nabbed first place with only 53 wins. While this was in the midst of LeBron’s famous streak of representing the Eastern Conference in The Finals, it’s not ridiculous to imagine that Charlotte could’ve made some noise if they got that extra piece.
Cho wouldn’t have had to sell the farm for extra pieces. Serge Ibaka, for example, was an awkward fit in Orland at the time, to say the least. He was on the market for cheap a majority of the season.
Toronto, who eventually landed Ibaka, only had dealt a bench piece and a future first for the defensive stopper. Ibaka, a team player and defensive anchor who can stretch the floor, may have been the missing piece Charlotte needed to turn its season around.
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Nonetheless, the Hornets have been seemingly running in place ever since. However, there is finally a reason for hope. With a young, athletic roster and a flexible coach, Charlotte may soon enough have a prime opportunity to make a run at the Eastern Conference playoff picture.