Charlotte Hornets: 3 players facing the most pressure in 2018-19
1. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
While guys like Nic Batum have the versatility to adjust to today’s NBA of position-less basketball, someone like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist may continue to struggle if he’s just a one-dimensional player. MKG has the ability to lock down some players defensively, but even that is inconsistent at times.
Over the last six seasons, there are 55 players that have appeared in at least 300 games and accumulated at least a 1.0 Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM, a box score rating that measures how many points given up by a player per 100 possessions) and 10 defensive win shares. MKG has posted a 1.1 DBPM over those six years, but they haven’t all been good.
| Season | G | PER | TS% | OWS | DWS | WS | WS/48 | OBPM | DBPM | BPM | VORP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | 78 | 14.0 | .506 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 | .051 | -2.3 | 0.1 | -2.2 | -0.1 |
| 2013-14 | 62 | 12.0 | .516 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 3.1 | .098 | -2.7 | 1.7 | -0.9 | 0.4 |
| 2014-15 | 55 | 15.1 | .519 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.8 | .114 | -2.2 | 1.3 | -0.8 | 0.5 |
| 2015-16 | 7 | 16.9 | .603 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | .152 | -0.7 | -0.7 | -1.4 | 0.0 |
| 2016-17 | 81 | 14.3 | .528 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 5.8 | .119 | -2.0 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 1.3 |
| 2017-18 | 74 | 12.5 | .536 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.2 | .084 | -2.0 | 0.3 | -1.8 | 0.1 |
| Career | 357 | 13.7 | .523 | 8.4 | 10.3 | 18.7 | .094 | -2.2 | 1.1 | -1.1 | 2.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/20/2018.
An average player has a 0 DPBM, which Gilchrist has barely exceeded in two different seasons. His -0.7 DBPM from 2015-16 isn’t great either, though he only played in seven games that season.
His defensive win shares show a good total as well, but he’s one of over 100 players that have accumulated over 10 DWS over the last six years; teammates Kemba Walker and Batum have more DWS over the same period.
Even if MKG was more consistent defense, it’s his offensive game that is lacking. Looking at the above chart, he’s contributed more on defense than on offense according to his win shares and Box Plus/Minus numbers.
MKG hasn’t been a great shooter either. He nailed 50.4 percent of his field goals last season, but before then, he had been a career 47 percent shooter. It’s not necessarily a bad percentage, but over the last six years, 66 players have attempted at least 2,500 shots and MKG ranks just 46th.
Stephen Curry, Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic have similar shooting percentages in the same time frame, but Wade has declined in recent years and Curry has attempted three times as many shots at Kidd-Gilchrist, and still managed to hit nearly half of them.
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Kidd-Gilchrist rarely goes outside to shoot 3-pointers (he’s attempted just 36 over his career), and that could really hurt his long-term value if can’t be elite defensively. James Borrego may like having a defensive specialist for his system, but if MKG continues to struggle offensively, he may find himself as more of a role player than a starter for the Hornets.