Washington Wizards: Where they stand in the Southeast Division, Part 3

As the 2017-18 regular season approaches, the Washington Wizards can begin to assess their rivals within the Southeast Division. Today we’ll be looking at how they match up with the Charlotte Hornets.

The Washington Wizards are the top dog in the Southeast Division, but the Charlotte Hornets have the best chance of giving them a run for their money. While much of the Wizards’ roster is the same as last year with the exception for a hopefully improved bench, they are still likely to finish in the top four in the Eastern Conference.

That is not to say that the Charlotte Hornets don’t have the potential to make a serious push and return to the playoffs for the third time in five seasons, however. They have certainly come a long way under Steve Clifford and their disaster season back in the 2011-12 season where they won just seven games.

Sure they are still in the middle of a rebuild, but with a core of Kemba Walker and one of the most exciting players to come out of the NBA Draft with Malik Monk, they may be able to draw some talent come next year’s free agency period.

When these two teams meet this season it will likely be a lights out show between their backcourt talent.

How they match up

Kemba Walker was selected to be an All-Star for the first time last year and has proven to be in the upper echelon of talented guards. Just for a fun fact, he is currently 49th all-time — yes, all-time — in the Offensive Box Plus/Minus metric with 3.0 for his career. Watching John Wall and Walker match up four times this season will be nothing short of a constant highlight reel.

As for the 2-spot, the Hornets have Nicolas Batum, who, despite playing at forward for almost his entire career, adjusted and played 57 percent of the time at guard last year. This is where predicting the Hornets’ starting five can become slightly tricky. Batum is a decent scorer that is fairly reliable. However, his true shooting percentage has been on the decline for the past three seasons.

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While Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr. should have no problem defending the backcourt against Batum and the underwhelming Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the Hornets may have a not-so-secret weapon.

With Michael Kidd-Gilchrist being a solid defender and being steady on the boards, he does not provide Charlotte with much offense and that is a large department they are lacking in. It would not be a complete surprise to see Malik Monk thrown into the starting rotation if he proves reliable early in the season.

This would mean Batum plays the 3 and either Marvin Williams or Cody Zeller mans the 4, where Zeller spent 28 percent of the time last season, but mostly because the Hornets reeled in Dwight Howard this offseason. A maneuver in this manner would provide them with an improved offense where they finished 14th in offensive rating last season.

To recap, an ideal starting rotation would be Walker, Monk, Batum, Zeller/Williams and Howard with an interesting bench consisting of Michael Carter-Williams and MKG perhaps having to settle as a sixth man and defensive anchor for the bench.

Final Thoughts

The Washington Wizards surely have the superior starting five compared to the Hornets. With Malik Monk being one of the best players to come out of this year’s NBA Draft, Charlotte has certainly improved an already solid backcourt with Kemba Walker for the long-term.

However, having Porter, Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat in the frontcourt will help the Wizards simply overpower the Hornets. The Wizards should face very little resistance in finishing at the top of their division during 2017-18.

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All in all, it seems predictable that the Wizards will come out on top against the Hornets, winning the season series three games to one.