Charlotte Hornets starting lineup: Locks, fringe and potential break-ins
The Charlotte Hornets had a busy offseason, trying to weapon up to make a playoff push in the Eastern Conference, and this year’s rotation will be vastly different than last season’s.
The Charlotte Hornets added a lot of talent to the roster through the NBA Draft the team picked up an incredible haul. The Hornets do have a handful of lineups to use going into this season, which is right around the corner.
With preseason games coming up in two weeks, the roster will be preparing for a long, restructured season. Inexperienced rookies are soon going to learn about the workload and NBA teams will have a lot of adjusting to do.
Locks for the Charlotte Hornets’ starting lineup
Devonte’ Graham, Gordon Hayward, PJ Washington
These are easy locks for the starting lineup.
Gordon Hayward is easily the best player on the roster, the previous All-Star brings so much to the table. Last season he averaged 17 points per game and really showed big improvements since his gruesome injury in his debut for the Boston Celtics. Hayward got a massive paycheck this offseason and he’s likely to bring a lot of energy to Charlotte.
Devonte’ Graham definitely fits very well into the shooting guard position, and the organization will need him to play that role. Graham’s shooting and scoring greatly improved, making him a Most Improved candidate last season. Graham is offensively great and as only a sophomore, he’ll definitely a start for the team.
PJ Washington cemented himself as a starter after a great rookie season. Washington made the All-Rookie team and undoubtedly deserved it. Washington even showed out and broke the record for the most three’s in a rookie debut. Washington may start at either the four or the five but regardless, he’ll be there at the beginning of the tip.
Washington can play either the center or power forward position and Hayward can play either the small forward or the power forward so those two players can affect the rest of the starting lineup. If the Hornets decided to run a small ball lineup with Washington at the center, that opens up a lot of opportunities for other young talents to get some starting minutes.