What will Bruce Kreutzer bring to the Hornets?

Bruce Kreutzer is returning to the Charlotte Hornets to join Steve Clifford’s staff. A seasoned coaching veteran, Kreutzer previously worked under Clifford in Charlotte from the 2015-16 season until the end of the 2017-18 season.

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Kreutzer is renowned for his ability to coach the art of shooting, a skill that was evident during his first stint in Charlotte. In his first season, the Hornets improved from 30th in three-point shooting to 8th. Notably, Kreutzer helped Kemba Walker improve from a 30.4% three-point shooter in 2015 to a 37.1% three-point shooter in 2016. The 30.4% mark in 2015 represents Walker’s lowest figure in his career, and within two seasons of working with Kreutzer, Walker was shooting a career-best 39.9% from three-point range.

The Hornets were a top-eight three-point shooting team in two of Kreutzer’s three seasons with the team. The fell back into the low teens after Kreutzer’s departure until last season, when they finished sixth in the league. Charlotte also had the ninth and sixth-most three-point attempts in the NBA in 2021 and 2022, respectively, heightening the importance of teamwide accuracy from beyond the arc.

The Hornets also improved from 19th in free-throw percentage to fifth in Kreutzer’s first year of his initial tenure. In his second season, Charlotte led the NBA in free-throw percentage. While they dropped to 24th in Kreutzer’s final year, much of that can be attributed to 57% career free-throw shooter Dwight Howard leading the team in free-throw attempts that season. Charlotte ended last season 27th in free-throw percentage and improving from the foul line will immensely benefit a Hornets team that lost 16 games by single digits last season, including 11 by four points or less.

Bruce Kreutzer is returning to a familiar city to do familiar work

Kreutzer had an instrumental role in Charlotte’s most successful season in their current iteration, as the 2015-16 team won 48 games, captured the 6th seed, and took the Miami Heat to seven games in the first round of the playoffs.

He has also worked at Queens University of Charlotte and UNC Charlotte, helping the former to reach the NCAA Division II Final Four in 2003.

The Hornets will hope that a familiar face in a familiar place doing what he has always done can help them to replicate the success of 2016 during Kreutzer’s second first year on the job.