Charlotte Hornets: The Same Old Bobcats

By Greg Chin | Jun 26, 2015

Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number nine overall pick to the Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

In their final season as the Charlotte Bobcats, the franchise showed a lot of promise. After years of mediocrity and poor results, the franchise was finally on the upswing. With Kemba Walker, Al Jefferson, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist leading the way, fans were led to believe that their first season as the Charlotte Hornets (redux version) would be the start of a winning culture.

The fans were wrong.

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In their initial years as the Bobcats, the franchise made some very puzzling decisions. These decisions would continue after Michael Jordan bought over the franchise, but it was general manager Rich Cho who began to bring some much-needed stability to the floundering franchise. They started to draft smartly, and refrained from making head-scratching trades.

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Sadly, that trend seems to have stopped. After a tumultuous debut season with the Hornets, Lance Stephenson was shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers for Spencer Hawes and Matt Barnes (who was later traded to Memphis). The decision to move Stephenson wasn’t a surprising one, but the trade package the Hornets received in return was heavily scrutinized.

Hawes had one of his worst seasons with the Clippers last year, barely finding playing time. His biggest asset – his long-range shooting, strangely went missing. His numbers across the board were a career worst since his rookie season.

Sure, the Hornets might have felt as though his one year stint with the Clippers was an aberration, but it made little sense to acquire him, as the Hornets already had a slew of perimeter-based power forwards (Marvin Williams, Noah Vonleh, Cody Zeller). Adding a third name to the rotation would simply mean less playing time for the developing Vonleh.

Stephenson may have been labelled as “damaged goods”, but there is always a market for a young, talented guard on a cheap and team-friendly contract. The Hornets should have waited longer to see if there were any other interested parties.

Then, the Hornets traded away Vonleh and Gerald Henderson for Nicolas Batum. Acquiring Hawes suddenly made more sense, as it could have meant that the Hornets already had a deal for Batum lined up.

Batum is an intriguing player, as many fans and analysts have always felt as though he was yet to fulfil his potential. On paper, he is an upgrade to Henderson, although Hornets’ fans might have to get used to Batum occasionally disappearing on the court.

To see the Hornets give up on Vonleh so quickly is disappointing. Heading into the draft, he had all the makings of an elite player: length, height, size, athleticism, excellent defensive rebounding, and an improving outside game. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find a spot on coach Steve Clifford’s rotation, as he fell further and further back in the pecking order.

To make matters worse, GM Rich Cho then told reporters that he was targeting shooters in the upcoming NBA Draft. For those of you that aren’t following, Cho just admitted that the team needed shooters, after giving one up in a trade.

Charlotte will select Frank Kaminsky with the No. 9 pick, league source tells Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2015

And sure enough, with the ninth pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, the Hornets selected Frank Kaminsky III. If this pick had been made before the Stephenson trade, it would have made more sense. But now, with Spencer Hawes already on the roster, adding another stretch power forward that may struggle to defend at his position makes little to no sense.

As a 7’2” center who can shoot lights out, Kaminsky’s skill-set is a unique one. However, the Hornets already found a player with that same skill-set two weeks ago. And with Justise Winslow still on the board, this draft selection reminded fans of the Bobcats’ decision to draft Cody Zeller over Nerlens Noel two drafts ago.

The franchise may identify itself as the Charlotte Hornets, but to everyone else, it’s the same old Bobcats.

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