Charlotte Hornets: Building a dream offseason
The Charlotte Hornets are coming off a season in which the organization can feel good that they overachieved but at the same time can only be disappointed that the season ended as sourly as it did. You can point fingers in a lot of directions, the pile-up of injuries at the tail end would be the direction I lean. However, it’s no secret that the Hornets are still a long way out from being a true contender. This is a massive offseason for Mitch Kupchak and this Hornets team and could be pivotal in the direction that we go moving forward.
The Hornets are a youthful squad, statistically fielding one of the younger squads in the NBA. The fact that they found themselves in a play-in game this year is a testament to the great work head coach James Borrego and his coaching staff has done with player development since arriving. The front office will be hoping to continue to add solid young players to the young core that they’ve already built.
This young core being led by no other than rookie of the year winner, LaMelo Ball. After finally striking some lottery luck in 2020, a year later the Hornets are finding themselves in a wonderful situation with Ball leading the charge. In his rookie campaign, Ball did things many of us thought he wouldn’t be doing until this 2nd or 3rd year in the league. Hitting shots consistently before the injury, attacking the rim successfully, creating on his own against high-level defenders. These were all things that were marked as red flags going into the draft and he showed almost immediately that he has these tools in his bag. Combine that with the elite playmaking, height, and length, and the Hornets are looking at someone who can be a primary initiator on a playoff team in the future.
Along with Ball, the Hornets have Miles Bridges (23), who reached new heights this year (literally). PJ Washington (22), a player a lot of people have a lot of high hopes for who didn’t have a stellar season but is still a pillar of consistency. Malik Monk (23) and Devonte’ Graham (26) who they will likely have to choose between, and a cast of young rotation players still trying to carve out their role in the league. In addition to the youth movement, Charlotte has added a couple of savvy veteran scorers in Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier, both of whom looked like they could receive some all-star votes at some point during the season.
Kupchak and the gang aren’t going to be able to get every player on their wishlist. It never happens that way. Heck, fans may not get a single guy they deem worthy to don the purple and teal. Let’s have some fun, and map out what we think a brilliant offseason from the Hornets could look like.