Charlotte Hornets: 2016 Offseason Grades

Feb 19, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Marvin Williams (2) is congratulated by guard Nicolas Batum (5) after scoring during the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Charlotte won 98-95. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /

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Dec 26, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford talks with guard Nicolas Batum (5) and guard Kemba Walker (15) during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Hornets defeated the Grizzlies 98-92. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /

Overall

Despite most of their individual moves being prudent, cost-efficient additions, we can’t ignore that the Charlotte Hornets will struggle to duplicate their success from 2015-16. Don’t forget, despite being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, the Hornets were tied record-wise with the third seed that eliminated them.

The Hornets found replacements for their departing free agents, but we can’t ignore that they downgraded with each one of them. Ramon Sessions is no Jeremy Lin, Roy Hibbert is a completely different player from Al Jefferson who still has something to prove and even with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist returning, replacing Courtney Lee with Marco Belinelli hurts.

Again, the Hornets did about as well as could be expected with finding their replacements, and retaining Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams ensures the Hornets will still (likely) be a playoff team in 2016-17.

More hoops habit: Atlanta Hawks: 2016 Offseason Grades

Charlotte took care of its two most important free agents, and with five players hitting the market, they chose wisely on that end. But it’s the unfortunate nature of the beast that there wasn’t enough cap room for everyone, and because of this, the Hornets may be a worse team next season through no fault of their own.

Grade: B-

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