Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: From Bust To Budding Star

Fixing a broken jump shot is no easy task; perhaps more difficult, though, is changing a negative sentiment among an entire fan base.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, however, has done both this season.

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A former No. 2 overall pick, expectations have been high for MKG since he entered the NBA. He was coming off an NCAA championship with Kentucky, having a solid season individually as well. He wasn’t established as an offensive force, but nonetheless, he possessed elite athleticism and a knack for playing around the basket. He was gritty, tough, and energetic.

And thus, Charlotte Hornets fans were excited to have him.

After two seasons of being average and nothing more, though, the novelty wore off.

Kidd-Gilchrist was expectedly raw in his rookie season, but did have that patented intensity that he displayed in his Kentucky days. The Bobcats were awful in 2012-13, wining 21 games, but MKG, along with sophomore guard Kemba Walker, stood for the future — a glimmer of hope in an otherwise-awful time for Charlotte basketball.

Bottom line: fans were on board with Kidd-Gilchrist after year one. Towards the end of year two, though, that wasn’t quite the case.

Perhaps it was from watching the scary-fast development of could’ve-been-Bobcat Anthony Davis, but Charlotte fans started to resent Kidd-Gilchrist’s lack of growth from year one to year two. His numbers didn’t improve — quite the opposite actually. MKG played in just 62 games, after appearing in 78 the year prior.

His scoring average dropped by nearly two points, and his rebounding and assist numbers went down as well. His field goal percentage improved two notches, but that was all but nullified by the 13 percent drop in his free throw clip. The Bobcats made the playoffs, but their offense was bad, and Kidd-Gilchrist’s inability to shoot was really hurting the team.

Some fans were ready to quit on the non-budding forward..

(Video is from 3/4/14)

While Mr. Taylor’s claims were certainly a bit harsh, some of his grievances were grounded in truth. Kidd-Gilchrist hadn’t developed an ambidextrous slashing game, and his jumper hadn’t improved one bit in his single NBA offseason. He had, indeed, allowed Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James to massacre his Bobcats team. He had regressed numbers-wise.

He was — unfortunately — looking somewhat like a bust.

But forget everything you knew about the 2013-14 version of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, because this season, he’s come to play.

It started early in the summer, when shooting coach Mark Price helped Kidd-Gilchrist redesign his shooting mechanics. Instead of cocking the ball back in what was a jerky and unnatural movement, Kidd-Gilchrist focused on keeping his elbow straight and shooting at the apex of his jump. There is an obvious difference between the before and after:

While MKG’s in-game jumper isn’t much faster than it was last season (it’s not nearly as quick as it is in the second video), his mechanics have certainly been better. It still looks as if it takes all of his energy to get the ball to reach the rim, but once again, that’s something that can be corrected by increasing fluidity.

Hopefully, this offseason will be spent increasing his range, so that defenses are forced to respect his three-pointer next season as well as his midrange.

He certainly has made strides offensively, to the point where he cannot be considered a liability anymore. His free-throw shooting is up to about 70 percent, but he’s made the big ones in crunch time, earning Steve Clifford’s trust in late-game situations.

Although it’s not necessarily a personal metric, Kidd-Gilchrist’s offensive rating is up to a respectable 100.0 — meaning Charlotte scores 100 points per 100 possessions with him on the the court. Considering Charlotte, as a team, scores 98.2 points per 100 possessions, Kidd-Gilchrist’s rating isn’t too shabby.

His numbers across the board have gone up, but what’s impressive is that his usage rate is still just 18.4 percent. Five players share that usage rate, and Kidd-Gilchrist is the only one averaging more than 10 points per game.

He still doesn’t have isolation plays called for him, but Kidd-Gilchrist has an excellent first step, and knows how to attack a close out. He loves slashing through the middle, too, which often draws an extra interior defender and opens up the perimeter.

He lowers his shoulder on nearly every drive, and it looks like he has infinite momentum, which actually works to his favor in some cases; being able to suddenly pull up and hit an elbow jumper while the defender hopelessly backpedals, anticipating a drive, gives Kidd-Gilchrist more space to shoot.

He may not have seen the rapid offensive development that Anthony Davis has undergone over the past two seasons, but the little things that Kidd-Gilchrist has done have absolutely added up to make him a more complete player.

One would hope that his playmaking ability improves — his indecisiveness and tunnel vision can hurt Charlotte sometimes — but overall, we’ve got to be happy with the strides Kidd-Gilchrist has made as an offensive player.

The other end of the court, of course, has few areas of concern. He’s a tireless worker with seemingly infinite energy, and his strong hands and quick feet make him an excellent rebounder and a gritty perimeter defender. He doesn’t give ground on post-ups, one of his issues last year, and his shot-blocking has been on-point thus far (he’s averaging 1.1 in his past 10 games).

When it comes to defensive rebounding, few forwards fair better than Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. His defensive rebounding rate of 21.6 is second among all small forwards, trailing just Draymond Green (who’s really a power forward). He is ahead of Kawhi Leonard, Josh Smith, LeBron James, and countless other elite rebounders.

Kidd-Gilchrist told reporters last week that he wanted to be “the best defender this league has seen”, and while he certainly has a ways to go before bearing that title, he’s been stellar as a defensive presence. He may not win Defensive Player of the Year this season, or next season, or ever (they don’t really give it to guards anymore), but Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is the definition of ‘lockdown’.

He may not be the franchise player that Anthony Davis is, or the offensive nightmare that Bradley Beal (the third pick) has become, but Kidd-Gilchrist does it all, and more importantly, gives it his all. He’s got skill, athleticism, grit, and an unrivaled drive.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a winner … a budding star.

Next: 50 Greatest NBA Players Without a Championship

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