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Charlotte Hornets: Cody Zeller Improving, Ceiling Still Undetermined

By Andrew C. Fisher

Jan 31, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Cody Zeller (40) dunks the ball during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 31, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Cody Zeller (40) dunks the ball during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
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After two seasons in the NBA, the Charlotte Hornets probably still aren’t quite sure what they’ve got with Cody Zeller. The 7-footer out of Indiana hasn’t exactly played like a No. 4 overall pick in his first two pro seasons. Now following offseason shoulder surgery, his future just got a little more murky.

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The bad shoulder cost Zeller 19 out of 20 games to end the season and the rehabilitation has no doubt temporarily stunted his NBA growth. But the good news is that it sounds like he will eventually make a full recovery.

Three months or so of limited basketball activities certainly isn’t ideal for the soon to be third-year player, but it could be much worse. At least he’s not in jeopardy of missing regular season time.

At this point in his young career there’s no way to be certain about exactly how high Zeller’s ceiling is. Assuming he makes it back to 100 percent — just how much better is he going to get?

One thing that cannot be overlooked is that fact that he’s still just 22 years old.

Back in day he’d just now be getting ready to enter the draft after four years in college and lots of development.

When it comes to development so far in the NBA, the statistics show that Zeller is at least trending in the right direction. From his rookie season to his sophomore season he experienced an uptick in nearly every major category: points, rebounds, assists, free throw percentage, field goal percentage and minutes played.

Did he grow by leaps and bounds in his second year? No. But he steadily increased across the board to the tune of 7.6 PPG and 5.8 RPG per contest, while shooting 46-percent from the field and starting 45 out of 62 total games.

Zeller’s stats are far from earth-shattering, but he’s on his way to possibly being a regular double-double kind of guy.

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    • Will he ever live up to his lottery pick status? That’s to be determined.

    The safe bet seems to be no at this point, but that doesn’t mean he’s not on track for a lengthy and successful NBA career.

    He’s a guy who’s shown some promise over his first two seasons, but no flashes of greatness. He’s far from setting the league on fire and he may never make an All-Star game. However, it’s not out of the question to think he could become a very solid role player for many years to come. Maybe even a sixth man down the road?

    For now in Charlotte you have to think he’ll continue to get a chance to be a starter. If he uses his seven-foot frame and shooting ability to the max, there’s no reason outside of health he can’t continue to trend upward in 2015-16.

    As far as his ceiling goes, based on how he’s looked over his first two seasons, I’d say making more than one career All-Star Game would be overachieving.

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