Charlotte Hornets: The unexpected rise of Devonte’ Graham

Charlotte Hornets guard Devonte’ Graham went from backup to potential All-Star in less than a year. How come nobody’s talking about him?

For eight seasons, the only reason to watch the Charlotte Hornets was Kemba Walker. But after very little playoff success during that span, the Hornets were forced to move on at the point guard spot when Walker bolted for a max deal with the Boston Celtics.

The last thing anyone expected was for Devonte’ Graham to step up and become the new face of the franchise. Least of all Charlotte, who handed out a three-year, $60 million contract to Terry Rozier this summer.

A second-round pick in 2018, he went overlooked as a rookie and played less than 700 total minutes. But he burst onto the scene in his second season with 23 points in an opening night win against the Chicago Bulls and hasn’t looked back since.

Graham’s incredible first half has generated him some buzz for the Most Improved Player Award. The 24-year-old is listed at 6’1” and 185 pounds and is easily one of the most watchable players in the NBA.

As a rookie, Graham never logged 35 minutes or scored 15 points in a single game. He finished the season with mediocre averages of 14.7 minutes, 4.7 points and 2.6 assists. Now he leads his team in all three categories with 18.0 points and 7.7 assists in 35.2 minutes a night.

Pascal Siakam, last year’s Most Improved Player award winner, increased his points production from 7.3 to 16.9 per game and rebounds from 4.5 to 6.9 per game. He was just selected as an All-Star Game starter for the first time after taking his game to yet another level.

Graham isn’t quite there yet but he’s had some phenomenal performances. He has three 30-point games; including a 40-point game again the Brooklyn Nets where he nailed seven three-pointers.

Now, this isn’t a plea for you to notice the small market star. The last thing Graham needs is me to plead his case for recognition. I mean this is the three-point crazy NBA, so a guy who’s averaging over nine attempts from downtown per game must be on ESPN every day, right?

Nope. At least he’s getting some recognition from the league, though.

Graham is already part of the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend. He’ been named, along with teammates PJ Washington and Miles Bridges, to the Rising Stars Challenge.

The contestants for the All-Star Three-Point Contest are yet to be confirmed, but Graham’s impressive numbers from the outside figure to make him a lock.

Graham is shooting an insane 43 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. Only James Harden, Buddy Hield, and Damian Lillard have made more threes than the former Kansas Jayhawk.

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Looking even more in-depth and Graham’s value shines even greater.

According to Cleaning The Glass, he has one of the highest on/off efficiency differentials of any player in the league. (Efficiency differential is a fancy way of saying points scored per 100 possessions minus points allowed per 100 possessions).

In the 1,600 plus minutes Graham has been on the court, the Hornets are playing like a 31 win team. That may not seem significant, but when Graham sits, it’s a train wreck.

The Hornets play like a seven-win team without their best player, holding an insane -17.1 efficiency differential.

Graham is top ten on the list of pick and roll ball handler possessions in the 64th percentile of efficiency (via NBA.com). The 23-year-old is also in the 91st percentile of efficiency in spot-up plays and averages a team-leading 11 drives per game.

The Hornets were Kemba Walker’s team for eight seasons. He left the franchise as the leader in minutes, points, and threes. Devonte’ Graham wasn’t supposed to step into Walker’s shoes, but he has, and he’s putting on a show doing it.