Charlotte Bobcats: MKG’s Offensive Identity Will Become More Clear This Season
In the 2012 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Bobcats had to make the first move. The New Orleans Hornets had the first pick and Anthony Davis wasn’t going to slip by them; everybody knew that.
So, sitting with the second overall pick and a roster that included youngsters Kemba Walker, Gerald Henderson and Bismack Biyombo, the ‘Cats had to sift through a bevy of options before their selection. Andre Drummond, Harrison Barnes, Bradley Beal and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist emerged as the possible selections, leaving the Charlotte brass with a lot to think about. After drafting Biyombo in the first round a year earlier, they determined that they weren’t going to take Drummond and his massive potential; they’d been burned with that one before. They already had Gerald Henderson, who had just finished his third NBA season, where he emerged as a 15 point-per-game scorer, so they didn’t take Bradley Beal.
After eliminating the possibilities by need and logic, they were left with Barnes or Kidd-Gilchrist. Barnes had just finished his second year in North Carolina, improving only slightly from his freshman to sophomore seasons. Kidd-Gilchrist had just won a national championship in Kentucky, emerging as the spark plug of a loaded Wildcat team. In big moments, Kidd-Gilchrist got himself to the basket and helped lead Kentucky to the title. Barnes, on the other hand, struggled to emerge as the go-to guy for a North Carolina team that lost in the Elite Eight to Kansas and shot just 33 percent in four NCAA Tournament games.
Finally, draft night came around and the Cats went with Kidd-Gilchrist. Barnes ended up dropping into the arms of the small forward-less Golden State Warriors (for argument’s sake let’s say they knew Richard Jefferson was done), who were picking at seventh, which was a testament to how much parity this draft class had. When Terrance Ross was surprisingly taken eighth by the Toronto Raptors after being projected to be a late-round pick, Jay Bilas justified the pick by saying how close picks five through 20 were in talent.
Why am I mentioning this? Because MKG isn’t another bad pick by the incompetent Bobcats. With all the talent in that draft class, the Cats could have gone in another direction, but they chose the hard-working, raw, long, intelligent guy who had just won a national title as an 18-year old. He was rough around the edges in college, but it was clear that he knew how to win games. In his lone season in Kentucky, he didn’t blow the world away with his statistics, but 11.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game isn’t shabby for a game who only took more than 10 shots in seven of Kentucky’s 40 games. Charlotte knew Kidd-Gilchrist wasn’t just going to jump on the team and become a dominant scorer, but they felt he could be a long-term solution at the 3.
They were right.
Kidd-Gilchrist and Barnes will forever be linked because of the year they were drafted. Playing in completely different roles—Barnes a starter on a playoff team and Kidd-Gilchrist a starter on one of the worst teams in the league—the two’s numbers aren’t too far apart:
Barnes: 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 44% FG, 36% 3P
Kidd-Gilchrist: 9.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 46% FG, 22% 3P
As you can see, both guys were in the same ballpark everywhere except 3-point shooting. Barnes will likely evolve into a 17 to 22 point per game scorer, but Kidd-Gilchrist might not (for the record I say he tops out at about 18 and eight a night). Does that mean Barnes is a better player? Of course not.
Kidd-Gilchrist’s game is filled with intangibles. He’s nothing like Barnes; if anyone in the league shares a similar skill set, it’s Kawhi Leonard. In Leonard’s first NBA season, at the age of 20, he averaged 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and shot 49 percent from the field and 38 percent from 3-point land. Just like with Barnes, Leonard’s numbers are right around MKG’s, aside from the 3-point shooting.
While Kidd-Gilchrist would definitely expand his game if he shot triples at a 35 percent clip, he might not turn into that kind of player. The strides he takes this season might not have anything to do with his ability to shoot from distance. Instead, he has to focus on carving out an offensive identity as a slasher.
MKG has shown us that he can beat his man with a hard, right-handed dribble. He’s got a quick first step and he’s got the ball-handling ability to pull off a move on an NBA defender. What Kidd-Gilchrist needs to show offensively this season is that he can make the right reads on the help defender.
In the NBA, there’s a lot of length, a lot of size, even more athleticism and even more speed. Young players always struggle acclimating themselves to the speed of the game, and the best players (in any sport) have figured out a way mentally to slow down the game, which allows them to make the logical decisions on a fly. With a year under his belt, MKG will start to figure out what he does to that help defender. Is he going to develop a hesitation move, allowing him to get all the way tot he rim? Is he going to become a big-time, rise-up shooter, capable of stopping on a dime and hitting from 15 feet? Is he going to become an opportunistic passer, who can punish help defense after penetrating? Is he going to become an expert at moving without the ball? Is he going to become a great offensive rebounder, using his athleticism and intelligence to get his team a couple more buckets?
At this point in his career, we don’t know what Kidd-Gilchrist will evolve into. Luol Deng came into the league as a jack-of-all-trades small forward and evolved into an unbelievable jump shooter. Jared Dudley played mostly power forward in college and became a great catch-and-shoot guy with a couple years. Small forward is a position that doesn’t give you guidelines; you’re a wing, but you can find yourself anywhere on the court at any time. Scottie Pippen was a small forward, but spent a lot of time at the top of the key. Just look at LeBron James and Kevin Durant; they’re both small forwards, but their games are nothing alike.
I’m expecting Kidd-Gilchrist to develop his game around the needs of his team and that’s a wonderful thing for a young guy to do (it worked for Kawhi Leonard, right?). With Al Jefferson now in the mix, the young core of Walker, Henderson, Kidd-Gilchrist, Biyombo and Cody Zeller can all rest easier at night, knowing that they don’t have to be No. 1 options. Now, they all need to figure out how they can help their team win.
Kidd-Gilchrist is only different from the rest of the young Bobcats’ core in one way; he has the most upside.