With the NBA shifting towards a position-less brand of basketball almost league-wide, the traditional center is becoming more and more obsolete as the games roll by. The Charlotte Hornets would od well to consider this.
Think of all the elite centers now, most are not the typical back-to-the-basket, board-crashing, hard-screen setting, don’t move more than two feet out of the paint center anymore. Nikola Jokic has the *elite* playmaking and vision of a point guard, Karl Anthony-Towns can spread the floor that he couples with decent playmaking, Joel Embiid is sort of the typical center but even he can knock down a three at a respectable rate.
So why would signing Harrell, Whiteside, or even Drummond if he opts out, make much sense? Yes, there are the Rudy Goberts of the world, but they are normally elite at other things, and in Gobert’s case, that is being a two-time DPOY winner.
I’m not saying it is impossible to build a contender with the typical old-fashioned center, but most teams who have one know their ceiling is capped, or they have multiple other players who can consistently create their own shot at an elite or all-star level, which is something the Charlotte Hornets do not have.
While P.J.’ Washington’s floor spacing allows the Hornets to be decently successful on the offensive end with even Bismack Biyombo as the 5 on the court, Devonte’ Graham is the only Hornets player currently who can consistently create their own shot, and even he isn’t necessarily the greatest at doing so either.
Sure Malik Monk can, but he seems to be tailor-made for a bench role, and neither him nor Devonte’ are Elite at creating their own shot just yet. Look at the past three teams to win a championship: the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Toronto Raptors.
The Warriors played mostly with a small ball 5, and having Steph Curry and Kevin Durant—for a couple of championship runs, at least—definitely helped. The Raptors rolled out Marc Gasol in the starting lineup, who shot 44% (in limited attempts, but still) from three for them, as well as Lowry/Kawhi/Siakam.
Yes, the Cavs had Tristan Thompson, but they had Lebron and Kyrie, so it worked out. Basically all of those teams either had centers who could either shoot or were solid playmakers or if they did have an Andrew Bogut or Tristan Thompson on the court, they had the star power and/or multiple shot creators and playmakers to make up for it.
Which again, is something the Hornets lack currently. And although maybe they draft/acquire one or more, or maybe the players they already have may blossom into them. Why sign a player who does not necessarily fit well into this team for a quick fix on a team that is not really close to competing yet? This leads me to my final point.