The Charlotte Hornets could use Davis Bertans’ mix of size and range

While there is little to no news regarding the Charlotte Hornets’ potential moves this coming offseason, they are surely weighing their options in free agency.  Davis Bertans could be one such option.

It’s been 100 days since the Charlotte Hornets last played a basketball game. Normally, it’d be about a month shorter than that, but the world is a much different place now. Still, now that they can focus on improving the team during the offseason, the front office is undoubtedly working hard figuring out ways in which to get this team back into the playoffs.

With the Hornets expected to have quite the chunk of change coming up by simply letting certain contracts expire, they have enough to potentially sign a few free agents that could help turn the odds to their favor come next year.

There’s a lot of talent out there, but some of it might be out of reach for Hornets. One name that could be snagged, however, is that of Davis Bertans, the 6’10” forward who has played for both the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards.

The 27-year old out of Latvia was first taken by the Indiana Pacers back in the 2011 NBA draft and has since become a respectable player, most notably this past season, putting up career-highs in points and rebounds while in D.C.

The Charlotte Hornets have needed a guy who can help spread the floor for a while. Perhaps Bertans could be that guy.

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His 15.4 points and 4.5 boards per contest might not sound like much, but it’s his ability to score from just about anywhere on the court that makes him so appealing. His 43% overall shooting is pretty good considering he’s more of a spacer than an under-the-rim kind of guy and his 42% from three was the highest on the Wizards by any player who saw meaningful minutes.

The real question, of course, is: Do the Charlotte Hornets need him? They have plenty of forwards and could possibly add another big-man in the draft, so one could argue that Bertans would be superfluous.

Then again, some of those forwards will be leaving via free agency and the Hornets would best be served by not offering them new deals. Not to mention that few of those forwards can do what Bertans has shown.

Charlotte was well into the bottom half of the league in terms of three-point field goal percentage last season, with the bulk of the outside scoring coming from their two guards. P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges can hit from a fairly consistent basis from that range, but they’re a little undersized at their positions.

Cody Zeller is not an outside shooter at all and outside of Jalen McDaniels and the center they can hopefully land in the draft, that’s all the inside guys they have. Bertans can play both near the basket and has range, so he is an interesting offensive weapon, should the Hornets go after him.

He’s not the best defensively, with a defensive rating of just 113.9 this past year. That’s certainly an area the Hornets need to improve upon, so that could be a factor in whether or not the team pursues him. Of course, being on the worst defensive team in the NBA wasn’t doing him any favors.

Bertans made $7 million last season and with his skill set being in high demand in today’s NBA, he could fetch a pretty penny if enough teams are interested. Charlotte certainly will have the money coming in this offseason and with the big-name free agents likely to avoid a small market rebuilding team like the Hornets, these sorts of middle-tier guys could be the answer for a young team finding their identity.

Bertans would provide the Charlotte Hornets with added firepower and that obviously never hurts. With much of their perimeter shooting coming from the backcourt, adding more in the frontcourt could make teams respect them more on the offensive end.

There is plenty of time to speculate between now and the beginning of the season and that’s all we can really do until then. Charlotte will definitely be adding pieces before then and Davis Bertans could be one of them.