4. Take advantage of depth at the wings
The Hornets were a top-10 team in 3-point shooting last year despite taking just 27.2 3-point attempts per game last year, 21st in the league. James Borrego has a luxury that most teams don’t outside of the Golden State Warriors, a myriad of 3-point shooters. This will allow for various combinations at the wing.
Batum and Jeremy Lamb first stand out as the top tandem as both players were among the best 3-point shooters and passers, dishing out assists on the team last year next to Kemba Walker. The options don’t stop there though. Malik Monk had slightly better 3-point shooting percentage than Batum did in 2017-18, so he can’t be forgotten.
Putting Walker, Monk, Lamb and Batum on the court at once would give Borrego four of the six best 3-point shooters from the Hornets last year. And that’s not even adding in the potential of Miles Bridges on the perimeter or slotting in Marvin Williams as the big man who could hit a 3-pointer as well.
Defensively, we should expect Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with either Batum or Lamb. In fact, the MKG and Lamb combo tallied a 100.3 defensive rating last year, the best rating of 2-man lineups for the Hornets that played at least 200 minutes together last year according to NBA.com. In comparison, the MKG and Batum tandem had a 106.4 rating.
The addition of Miles Bridges should allow for even more flexibility for Borrego. While Bridges may not be a great defensive player to start, his strength and explosiveness should allow Borrego to tinker with various tandems or even trios at the wings for the Hornets.