Charlotte Hornets: The Good and Bad from the Returning Core

Cody Zeller

The Good

James Borrego seems to want every player to dribble the ball this year. Cody happens to be a pretty good ball handler for a center. In these preseason games, he’s been taking lumbering big men like Aron Baynes off the dribble more with some success. The most likely outcome is that he passes out of a drive, but he’s able to draw fouls from that action consistently as well. Naturally, that will open up shooters in the corners as help slides toward the basket.

As an aging center on an expiring contract, it’s clear Zeller and his agent have seen the writing on the wall. Cody began taking open 3 point shots last season, and it seems he’s intent to improve on that developing skill to stay relevant in the modern NBA a la Brook Lopez. He’s hit on 3 of 6 attempts through 4 games, which isn’t much but is something. A world where Cody is a threat from beyond the arc certainly opens up driving lanes.

The Bad

Cody is by no means the Tin Man, but the faster pace of play the Hornets have employed seems to not quite agree with him these days. He’s not old yet, but he’s getting there by the standards of a 7-footer with an injury history. He’s not doing the limited defense of the undersized backcourt any favors as a rim protector either.

With the small-ball lineup of PJ playing center in the experimental stages, and the only alternatives being two second-round rookies and the offensively-limited Bismack Biyombo, the Hornets will probably rely on Cody to play solid minutes close to what he did last season.

The development of Washington as a viable small-ball 5 or the emergence of Vernon Carey Jr or Nick Richards as at least rotation-level centers will play heavily into the decision to trade Zeller near the deadline or attempt to re-sign him to a team-friendly deal after the season. He’ll probably dig deep to show out for that payday, which is a good and bad thing.