It's pretty obvious that the center position is currently the weakest spot for the Charlotte Hornets' roster. A group of centers that at the end of this past season featured Mark Williams and Jusuf Nurkic has now dwindled down to Moussa Diabate, a familiar face in Mason Plumlee and newcomer Ryan Kalkbrenner. However, being in this situation is far from the end of the world for Charlotte.
Plenty of Hornets fans have expressed the sentiment that if this team had a higher-level option at the five, they'd be in a position to take a big leap and maybe even steal a playoff spot in the East in 2025-26. But I'm not fully convinced they're not already in that position now.
The Hornets' roster from an overall perspective has clearly taken a big leap from where it was at the end of last regular season on April 13. There's a lot more ball-handlers to go around, and the depth has improved tremendously. This team won't be anywhere near as stagnant offensively without LaMelo Ball on the floor as they were last season.
But of course, most are still going to point to the center position as their reason for why this team won't be able to truly level up. Here's the thing: the Hornets don't need to have their long-term solution at center solidified by opening night in October. And in the meantime, they have a solid framework when it comes to figuring that issue out.
The Hornets have a solid plan in place for the center position
Obviously, signing Mason Plumlee was a bit of an insurance move. He's a solid backup that can provide decent minutes in spurts, but I don't think anyone was expecting him to be a long-term starter. He'll come in, play 15 minutes a night, and make Eric Collins go crazy every time he hits a rare jumper.
With Moussa Diabate, it feels likely that he'll end up as the day one starter. Number 14 has already blown away all of our expectations given that even signing him was mostly an afterthought, but his size is of course what's naturally going to limit him. Never doubt his hustle and rebounding abilities, though.
Then when it comes to Ryan Kalkbrenner, this was probably Charlotte's biggest upside swing in the draft. It's probably not likely that Kalkbrenner is able to be a legit game-changer from the jump, but his skillset is very exciting for the future. While he's developing and improving, Diabate and Plumlee will be able to pick up the slack.
So sure, the Hornets may not have a rock solid solution to their center problem on opening night. But in reality, they don't need to. The front office clearly has a plan in place, and they're in a position to bring in another option if something goes awry. Overall, I think this issue isn't as big as it's been made out to be.