Charlotte Hornets: 5 reasons Miles Bridges was a good pick

2. The Hornets needed another playmaker in the frontcourt

As currently constructed, the Hornets have varying degrees of talent at the traditional positions of center, power forward and small forward. However, anyone the Hornets have at center is somewhat undersized for a traditional center outside of Cody Zeller, the only player listed at 7’0″ or higher. Zeller followed up a solid season in 2016-17 by missing most of 2017-18.

Charlotte brought in Bismack Biyombo this offseason and still have late season pickup Willy Hernangomez. While Biyombo didn’t play for the Hornets last year, he had one of his better seasons, according to his per 36 minutes statistics. Hernangomez only played limited minutes in 22 games for the Hornets last year, but still accumulated 1.5 win shares, which was slightly less than Cody Zeller’s shortened season.

Frank Kaminsky and Marvin Williams will likely play big roles at the power forward or center positions too, but there’s nothing that screams out in their statistics that could make the Hornets give them more playing time than the players listed above. Williams is no longer the senior team member, but is entering his 13th year in the league and getting paid $14.1 million to play.

Rounding out the frontcourt is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who will by default slide into the small forward position. He hasn’t been very strong defensively and will struggle at times offensively. Miles Bridges will likely slot into the small forward position, but does have versatility to play as a power forward. Either way, his presence injects a lot of talent into a frontcourt in dire need of it.