Charlotte Hornets: Next season will be the most pivotal for James Borrego

The Charlotte Hornets are expected to be one of the league’s most fun teams to watch entering the 2021-22 season, and a lot of that will be contributed to the electric play of guard LaMelo Ball as he enters his second season in the NBA.

There will also be continued high-flying dunks from Miles Bridges and promising potential from new draft picks James Bouknight and Kai Jones.

However, with the talk of the roster improving and new players coming in, next season might be most important for James Borrego, who is entering his fourth year as Hornets head coach.

Charlotte picked up the fourth and final year option to Borrego’s contract this summer, leaving him with at least one more season to prove why he can be the guy to help lead these Hornets back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

In three years with Charlotte, Borrego has compiled a 95-124 record, including a 33-39 campaign last season that clinched a play-in berth.

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While that record doesn’t sound very successful, Borrego exceeded most expectations in his second year with the team as the Hornets began the post-Kemba Walker era.

Borrego oversaw the breakouts of guard Devonte’ Graham, the progression of Miles Bridges and PJ Washington, and the borderline all-star play from Terry Rozier.

He did all of this without having a single reliable center during his time as a head coach.

But the way last year ended doesn’t sit well with many Charlotte fans.

The Hornets lost 15 of their final 21 games and six of their final seven. That’s in addition to an embarrassing 144-117 blowout loss in the Eastern Conference play-in game against the Indiana Pacers.

There have been some calls on social media by fans saying Charlotte should have been more successful since they were the fourth-seed at one point during the 2020-21 season but unfortunately, injuries derailed the year.

Borrego has actually done a pretty good job taking over a roster with tons of cap issues and turning it into a team with one of the league’s brightest futures just two years after losing its all-time leading scorer.

With expectations comes pressure, and if the Hornets don’t make a significant step forward this year, Borrego will likely take the fall.

Ball is the future star of the Hornets’ franchise, and up-and-coming players like Bouknight, Bridges and Washington will also have key roles.

If Charlotte misses the playoffs for the sixth-straight year and fourth time under Borrego’s reign, general manager Mitch Kupchak will likely decide that while Borrego has done a solid job developing these players, someone new will have to take them to the next step.