Charlotte Hornets: Smarter Than You Realize

With the 2015 NBA Draft done and the first couple of trades being made, the offseason is truly underway. Some teams will aggressively pursue the best players this summer, while others in long-term rebuilds will be content with their draft picks and only look to make modest free agent signings once they are allowed to. Some will be relatively open to anything, be it trades, picking up free agents or moving key players for them.

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A look across the league and you can probably peg most organizations and how they’ll look to do business this summer. As of right now there are some big market teams (Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, among others) who are doing everything they can to be relevant once more. Long-term rebuilders (Minnesota Timerwolves) are likely to do little, and then there are the teams who will do their best to hold onto their best players (Sacramento Kings).

While all of this is going on however, the Charlotte Hornets have done their best to quietly go about making the necessary changes to what was once a promising up and coming team. Two seasons ago they made the playoffs on the back of center Al Jefferson having a career year. They then added Lance Stephenson in the hope he could be the offensive hub which could mesh well with their defensively orientated ball club.

It didn’t work. Stephenson was terrible, Jefferson was plagued by injuries, while young talent like Kemba Walker didn’t make the necessary step up. Perhaps the only bright spot was Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a guy who has emerged as a top 10 defender in this league. A 21-year-old forward who many people still don’t seem to know a ton about, as long as he’s around this team has the chance to be something. Nonetheless, the team finished 33-49 and missed the playoffs.

Around draft time however, the Hornets made two moves that had many people scoffed at, in a bid to turn their fortunes around. The first was acquiring Nicolas Batum, a move that raised some eyebrows mostly because it was widely unknown that the Portland Trail Blazers were shopping him. A “3-and-D” guy, he’s a sneaky good pickup, and one who plenty of playoff ready teams would love to have.

Yes he had his injury concerns last year, but that only served to highlight his importance as the Trail Blazers imploded without Batum and other key components like Wesley Matthews. The Hornets gave up Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh to get their guy, two players who you can live with trading if it means getting proven talent (Vonleh may yet come back to haunt them down the road, but as of right now he’s done little to suggest he’s more than a role player in this league).

The next move shocked many, as the team picked Fran Kaminsky with the ninth pick in the NBA draft. This took place despite the fact that Justise Winslow was still available. Now, this is strange for a number of reasons (I love Kaminsky’s game personally, I think he can be a hugely useful in the league, but even I didn’t expect him to go before the 12th pick at the very least). On the surface, it appears Kaminsky is a poor fit in Charlotte with his skill set.

There were other players on the board (A new long-term project big could have been another route to go down with Jefferson breaking down and coming to the end of his current deal next season) and it’s believed the Celtics offered the Hornets up to six picks to nab that ninth selection from them. Six picks? Are you kidding me? They very well could have been protected and had special stipulations that made the deal less appealing, sure.

But if Boston was that desperate for that pick (apparently to take Winslow) surely the Hornets knew they had them over a barrel and could have worked something out more beneficial in the short-term for their team? Maybe not, but it was surely worth exploring. But hold on, with so many people just naturally assuming Kaminsky will be a bad fit here, who is to say he actually will be?

Jeremy Lamb is another player the team added to their roster relatively quietly. After an underwhelming three-year stint with Oklahoma City Thunder (Career averages of seven points and 1.1 assists in 13.5 minutes per game) coming off the bench, Lamb certainly needed the change of scenery. However, unlike Stephenson before him, who came to the team having led the league in triple-doubles the season before and with considerable fanfare, Lamb looks to rebuild his career with zero pressure on his shoulders.

Like Batum, Lamb can also shoot the three ball (career 35 percent three-point shooter), as can Kaminsky. Some out there seem to think the Hornets don’t know what they’re doing in bringing these pieces together. But they have quickly added Kaminsky (national college player of the year), Lamb (a low risk, high reward pickup) and Batum (a proven talent with playoff experience).

Combine this with Walker, who admittedly still needs to improve, Kidd-Gilchrist and Jefferson, who no longer has to do most of the heavy lifting, and the bones of a playoff team are there. There isn’t a ton of talent to round out that roster (Spencer Hawes and Bismack Biyombo, anybody?) but in the Eastern Conference, it doesn’t take a huge influx of talent to change your fortunes.

Last season, Charlotte’s defense was the ninth most efficient in the league (101 points allowed per game). This included with Stephenson and his lack of commitment to that end. Offensively, they ranked a horrific 28th (97.6 points per game, ahead of only the Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers) but have added three guys who can all shoot the ball reasonably well. They’ve also retained the pieces that made them tough to break down (as well as adding Batum to that core) on the other end. In what way is this a bad thing?

On top of that, we’re also well aware that we live in an era where the three-point shot is valued over all others. The Hornets were the worst three-point shooting team in the league last season (31 percent). As mentioned above, all three of their new players can shoot the ball from downtown. Look, there are going to be growing pains for sure, but you have to admire the Hornets going after players they feel can address the serious problems that exist on their team.

Stephenson’s foolishness was shipped out after only one season, and rather than save face and keep him around another year to potentially mess things up further, the team swallowed their pride and moved him on. That’s them owning up to their mistake on that one. Head coach Steve Clifford is a smart guy who will be able to get the most out of the squad he has as well.

So while some are pointing out the stupidity of picking up Kaminsky and scratching their heads and bringing in Batum, a kind of a win-now move not usually associated with a team that missed the playoffs, I like what they’re trying here. The Hornets are aggressively trying to find a way back into the postseason mix, and have taken some risks here in possibly getting back there.

Could this go terribly wrong? Sure, but it wasn’t like they had struck gold with the current make up of their roster as it was. Keep an eye on them this summer.

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