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Charlotte Hornets: Cody Zeller As Sixth Man?

By Andrew Snyder

Apr 27, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Cody Zeller (40) warms up before game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 27, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Cody Zeller (40) warms up before game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Charlotte Hornets selected Roy Hibbert as their starter at center. Can Cody Zeller carve out a role for himself as the first big man off the bench?

The 2016-17 season is off to a good start for the Charlotte Hornets. Wednesday evening they took down the Milwaukee Bucks 107-96 to begin the season with a victory. The story after the game was the performance of starting center Roy Hibbert.

In his first game as a Hornet Hibbert was outstanding. The former Pacer scored 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds, and swatted five shots. He looked like the rim protector he was during his prime with Indiana, and he showed a newfound confidence in his offense. If he is anywhere close to the player he was on opening night Charlotte will have the value signing of the season.

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Hibbert’s break out overshadowed another impressive outing from Wednesday’s win. Hibbert’s backup, Cody Zeller, also turned in a stellar performance. Coming into the game it was announced that Zeller’s minutes would be limited due to his missing the entire preseason with an injury.

Zeller showed no ill effects from that bone bruise, scoring 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting in only 14 minutes of action. Zeller’s cutting and rim running was exceptional, and he showed great chemistry with Nicolas Batum and Spencer Hawes, who assisted four of his five baskets.

He followed that up with another impressive performance in their second game of the season. In Friday’s victory over the Miami Heat, Zeller scored 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting in 23 minutes.

He even got tangled up with Hassan Whiteside a few times, which is a regular occurrence when these two teams meet. I don’t think they plan on getting boba tea together anytime soon.

Steve Clifford probably didn’t want to play him that much as he eases him back into the rotation, but Roy Hibbert only played four minutes due to right knee soreness, forcing Clifford’s hand.

Zeller has always been a productive player for Charlotte, but a player without a clear role. The last two seasons have seen him go back and forth between being the starting center and coming off of the bench.

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    • Injuries have hampered him for parts of his Charlotte career, and he has never played more than 24.3 minutes per game in a full season. Clifford clearly trusts him, but he’s never quite grabbed hold of a big minute role.

    If Hibbert stays healthy and productive that will help Zeller have a more defined role. That might be a good thing, even if it means he isn’t starting. Coming off the bench could be exactly what this Hornets team needs from him — 20-25 minutes per game of high energy scoring and rebounding would do wonders for a second unit that features a concerning guard rotation.

    He’s not the floor-stretching superstar some thought he would be, but Zeller is a solid NBA big man.

    Hibbert’s contract with the Hornets is for only one year. If he plays as well as he did in the first game of the season, he’ll price himself out of Charlotte. Zeller entering a contract year as a full-time starting center, after a season as a valuable bench piece, seems like a strong possibility.

    I’ll pump the brakes on these predictions, for now. It’s only been two games. 2017-18 can wait. For the moment the Hornets are 2-0, after losing several key pieces from last year’s 48-win team. How they mix and match their talented, yet different, big men going forward will go a long way in determining whether or not they come close to last season’s success.

    Predicting the future is always a tricky endeavor. President Trump and his merry band of nitwits could replace the NBA with the Hunger Games, rendering my theories about all things Charlotte Hornets irrelevant.

    Next: NBA: Top 10 Point Guards For 2016-17

    Let’s hope not. Basketball is fun.

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