Charlotte Hornets: How will the new Hornets guards fit the team
By Billy Carson
How the Charlotte Hornets new additions fit the team: Ish Smith:
Fans didn’t have to wait long to see who would become the new backup point guard, with general manager Mitch Kupchak striking a deal with veteran journeyman Ish Smith in the first week of free agency.
Smith is a quick point guard who we hope can come in and keep pushing the pace, something Graham sometimes struggled with as he is a slower placed player and his body is not built to run every play, judging by his occasional knee problems.
Smith has been a thorn in the side of many middling teams, such as the Hornets, due to his speed, which allows him to push the pace against bench units that are usually filled with youth, inexperience, and situational veterans.
He likely won’t play often, if ever, with Ball but he ensures that we always have the threat of the fast break on the court, and that is something the Hornets missed last season.
He can attack the basket with ferocity, allowing him to score at the rim, or, considering his lack of scoring prowess demonstrated by only scoring 20 or more points five times over the past two seasons, making the right pass to a cutting Miles Bridges, Kai Jones, or Jalen McDaniels, for example.
Smith can win battles of the second unit due to his style of play but is less likely to do anything more with his lack of a scoring touch from outside. He is a classic backup point-guard, where you get steady play and 6-12 points a night with good ball movement, but he isn’t going to be finishing games or overshadowing our franchise cornerstones in the guard corps.