3 reasons for the culture shift going on in Charlotte post trade deadline

The holdovers 

The four guys who have been playing for the Hornets all season and are still in the rotation are players who have seemed to have the most buy-in all season (plus health, of course). Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Nick Richards, and Cody Martin aren’t guys whose effort or intensity I would question. Even at the worst of times, I’ve never really questioned their intentions.

I’ve been especially pleased with Miller, of course, who really looks like he cares and has shown more and more promising signs that he’ll someday be a great leader (and hopefully a superstar player). He seems like he wants to learn and to get better, and has welcomed a new batch of veteran leaders. Those guys will all help him and he seems like he will embrace that help.

Miles was already cooking on offense, but he seems even more locked in these past two games, as he’s been scoring super efficiently while also cranking up his assist and rebound numbers. I’m sure the security of knowing he won’t be traded (at least for the rest of this season) has allowed him to be more focused on just playing basketball.

Richards and Martin have always been rock-solid role players and that certainly won’t change. They were two of the only plus defenders on the team before the deadline, and I’m sure they’re happy to have added some talent on that end. Cody has been overtasked with a lot of ballhandling and the new additions should ease some of that burden and allow him to focus on defense and spot-up shooting.

Richards is (at least until Mark Williams gets healthy) the only real rim protector on the team, a role he has owned. He’s also the only real rim-running threat. His constant effort is needed and he brings a skillset that can’t be replicated by any healthy players on the roster. His block on Isaiah Jackson’s dunk attempt in the fourth quarter was amazing. No knock on P.J. or Gordon, but it seems like the Hornets kept the right guys around.