Charlotte Hornets: Second Unit Critical To Growth
The Charlotte Hornets are in a strange state. The integration of new players, as well as the development of some of last season’s second unit, will be critical to the success of the Hornets this season.
Last season the Charlotte Hornets were desperately unlucky. If they win one more game, they move to third in the East and the playoffs take a different shape. Instead they finished sixth and the Miami Heat, who won the same number of games as the Hornets, beat them in seven games.
Most teams have quality starters, Charlotte is no exception. Kemba Walker, Courtney Lee, Marvin Williams, Cody Zeller and Nicolas Batum played well.
The second unit from last year was good, Jeremy Lin, Al Jefferson, Frank Kaminsky, Jeremy Lamb and Spencer Hawes. It is a very difficult task to win the NBA Finals without a deep bench.
As a fan of basketball, it is good to see the conference so close. If I was a Charlotte fan, I would have been devastated.
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Moving on to this season, the starters are mostly the same, Walker, Williams, Zeller and Batum are back. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist comes back from injury to replace Lee. Charlotte needs to concentrate on the growth of the second unit to improve their standing this coming season.
That starting five will compete with most teams in the league, who then are the players that are going to step up night after night off the bench? What are their roles? Where will the new players fit in?
Charlotte have added some quality to their bench and are developing some good younger players. Here is how I see their bench roles.
Frank Kaminsky
Frank Kaminsky is one of the new breed of player, the 7-footer with range on his shot. Kaminsky had a productive rookie season. Kaminsky played 81 of a possible 82 games with Charlotte last season, even starting three of them.
Last year’s ninth overall pick had a season which showed why he was picked that high. In 21.1 minutes per contest, Kaminsky averaged 7.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists. Granted these are not Karl-Anthony Towns numbers, but that is why Kaminsky did not go No. 1.
While last season was a good rookie year, Kaminsky needs to step his game up this year. He hit 0.8 three point field goals a game on 2.5 attempts. This is just less than 34 percent but Kaminsky needs to be good for 37-38 percent from three, taking three or four shots per game from three.
Kaminsky also needs to work on his rim protection. His 0.5 blocks per game last year where he predominately played power forward was not enough. As a 7-foot power forward, Kaminsky needs to form a wall on defense with whoever is playing next to him at center.
Jeremy Lamb
The ex-Oklahoma City Thunder guard had his best season in his four-year career last season with Charlotte. He had career highs in points (8.8), rebounds (3.8) and blocks (0.6). He went close to career highs with assists and steals as well.
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However, Jeremy Lamb has to step it up again. Jeremy Lin has gone to the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte have recruited solid guards in the offseason that I will go into later.
Lamb needs to step up to more than 10 points per game, improving his three-point shot which was his worst since his rookie season (30.9 percent).
Lamb needs to keep his rebounds at about four per game but will need to improve his read of the play on defense, upping his steal numbers to more than one per game. These are small adjustments but remember that Charlotte finished sixth in the East last year.
Had they have won one more game they were third. Small adjustments in the NBA can have massive ramifications.
Spencer Hawes
Spencer Hawes needs to outplay the new addition of Roy Hibbert to get some quality playing time again to revive his career. Since leaving the Philadelphia 76ers, where he was averaging a career-high 13.5 points per game, Hawes has struggled.
He signed a multi-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers and only scored 5.8 points per game.
When he was traded by the Clippers to Charlotte his shooting went from 5.8 to 6.0 points per game. Hawes needs to capture some of the form that he had in Cleveland and at the Philadelphia 76ers before that.
Yes, Hibbert has replaced Al Jefferson, but Hawes needs to show that he wants it more than Hibbert, who is coming off a poor year with the Los Angeles Lakers.
This year the Hornets have plenty of size, Hibbert is 7-foot-2, Hawes is 7-foot-1, Cody Zeller, Mike Tobey and Kaminsky are all 7-foot-0 and Christian Wood is 6-foot-11. Hawes is going to have plenty of competition for minutes and needs to step up.
Ramon Sessions
For me, Ramon Sessions is one of the most underrated backup point guards in the league. This journeyman has played for seven different teams in nine seasons.
All through these changes, Sessions has averaged 10.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.
This is a major upgrade for Charlotte at backup point guard. Last season Kemba Walker only had Jorge Gutierrez and Brian Roberts as backup. Now they have Sessions, who was one of the better players for the Washington Wizards last season despite playing behind John Wall.
Sessions has a steady hand and will guided the second unit of the Hornets with great surety. He will give the younger players confidence and will find the open man.
Marco Belinelli
Marco Belinelli is a player who is going to help the Charlotte Hornets through his shooting. Belinelli is a career 38 percent three point shooter who will help space the floor for Sessions.
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With Belinelli sniping from beyond the arc, Kaminsky should start to get more open looks too. Defenders need to respect Belinelli and with his shooting, Charlotte just got a whole lot harder to defend.
Belinelli has played with some of the best in the game. He has played with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Joakim Noah and Rajon Rondo, to name but a few. The experience that he brings to Charlotte is important as well.
Roy Hibbert
Are the Charlotte Hornets the team that will give Roy Hibbert some currency back in the league? His last four years he has been paid more than $13.5 million per season. Last year he was the second-highest paid player for the Lakers at $15.5 million, trailing only Kobe Bryant.
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Well, unfortunately money needs to be earned and 5.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.4 blocks per game is not good enough. As a result, while Timofey Mozgov signed a four-year $64 million deal, Hibbert could only land a $5 million for one year with Charlotte.
For a two-time All-Star who is already top-70 all-time for total blocks, this has to hurt. Hopefully, Hibbert and the second unit can click as a defensive unit and he can get back to near his best form.
I would not be surprised if Hibbert and Cody Zeller battle it out for the starting position at center mid way through the year and this would only benefit the Charlotte Hornets.
Christian Wood
The final player that I want to focus on for the Charlotte Hornets is second-year player Christian Wood. Wood only played 17 games for Philadelphia last year but has shown something that leads me to believe that he will contribute.
He has desire and passion to go with his size and could be the x-factor that the top teams look for. Wood will not start for this team, he will probably only play half the games this year for Charlotte.
The games that Wood does play will have him coming on for three to four minute bursts, just giving the team a burst of energy.
He may not average more than 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds but that is OK. He is going to be the electricity when needed in a season that can become a grind.
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Yes, the Charlotte Hornets lost a number of players at the end of last season. They have retooled well and should get over the 50-win mark to get themselves a better seeding in the playoffs.