The Charlotte Hornets have had quite a season. They started the season 4-14. They lost several of their starters due to injury. They were 0-4 in games decided by five points or less. With so few players healthy and a new coach at the helm, the team was destined to struggle in a competitive Eastern Conference. Before the season was two months old, it was obvious that the Hornets were not going to be as good as the previous season’s play-in participant squad.
So suddenly the coach hired to get them into the postseason was set to teaching a bunch of young players who hadn’t spent much time together about playing winning basketball. On the season, the Hornets have had 25 different starting lineups this season. They are 27th in net rating (-6.2). And they are dead last in offensive efficiency on the year. Their offensive weaknesses are likely exacerbated by their best offensive player, LaMelo Ball, enduring multiple injuries throughout the season.
Is Charlotte Hornets’ hero on the way?
In the movies, this season would have had a hero come and save them. Where an unexpected contributor suddenly finds the inner strength to succeed. Or perhaps the protagonist would find a pair of shoes previously worn by a great player and don them, gaining the player’s skill and acumen.
While there has not been a miraculous, Disney-style ending to this season, there has been a reason for some optimism as the team heads into the home stretch. The unexpected play has come from the likes of rookie Mark Williams, the second Hornets’ pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Williams has shown a remarkably steep learning curve, eight of his nine double-doubles have come in just 15 starts.
But if the first-round pick isn’t unlikely enough, perhaps Svi Mykhailiuk is. The fourth-year, 6’7 wingman was an addition late in the season before the trade deadline. In just 16 games with the team, he has racked up a career-high in points (26) and assists (8). Perhaps the heroes necessary to turn the franchise around are already wearing the uniform. Or perhaps he will don the teal this summer at the NBA draft.
Whatever the shortcomings of this team have been, there is reason to believe that there are better days ahead. Maybe the end of the season isn’t an end to the movie. Perhaps, instead, it’s the end of the first act.