Analysis: Hornets’ goal is to advance in the playoffs, but were offseason moves enough?
.JPG "The Charlotte Hornets and coach James Borrego (right) will have playoff expectations next season.")
When the Hornets added Gordon Hayward in free agency last year, they went from a team still building to one with the potential to make the playoffs.
Hayward was their most talented free-agent acquisition in years — a veteran and a former NBA All-Star.
And soon, Hayward, point guard LaMelo Ball, the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft, and Terry Rozier made the Hornets relevant again.
That’s before injuries to both players caused the Hornets (33-39) to plummet from fourth to 10th in the Eastern Conference standings for the second consecutive season.
Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak said it best when he spoke to reporters at the conclusion of the season and again in July: The Hornets needed more talent. The blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers in the play-in game was a bad look. It showed that they lacked experience and fight.
“To me, that’s just because we’re not deep enough to be able to sustain an injury or two,” Kupchak said then of the Hornets’ fall.
This offseason, the Hornets tried to address that by signing free agents Kelly Oubre, Ish Smith and Wes Iwundu and trading for Mason Plumlee. But are those moves enough to get over the hump and make the playoffs for the first time in six years?
Kupchak thinks so.
“I think we had a good draft,” Kupchak said Tuesday in Las Vegas. “We’ve improved the talent level on the team and I think with some of the veterans that we’ve had, we’ve given our team the ability to compete and hopefully for a playoff position.”
Better options
The Hornets will miss guards Malik Monk and Devonte’ Graham, who together, averaged 26.5 points and 5.3 made 3s last season. There’s also Cody Zeller, one of the longtime veterans, whose leadership they’ll miss.
But Oubre and Plumlee give the Hornets slightly better options.
Oubre brings more scoring to the Hornets, a slasher and an athletic player, who can score in multiple ways. He averaged 15.4 points and six rebounds for the Warriors last season in 30.7 minutes per game.
He can also defend.
“I love guarding the other team’s best player and I love going at them on offense as well,” Oubre said Monday. “So, I think this year, you’ll see my game be a little more sexy, but still the same passion, the same rage.”
While Oubre gives the Hornets offense and defense, Plumlee does the dirty work. Plumlee averaged 10.4 points, a career-high 9.3 rebounds, and one block for the Pistons.
Then there’s James Bouknight, the No. 11 pick in the draft, who was projected to go higher. Bouknight has been the Hornets’ best player through two Summer League games.
“I hope he continues to work and I think he will and develop,” Kupchak said when asked how he envisioned Bouknight fitting in. “He’s only 20 years old. His talent indicates that he’s good enough to get minutes, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Kai Jones could also play some minutes off the bench. He, too, has shown promise in Summer League play, including his ability to push the ball up the floor as a 6-11 big man, and dunk on anyone in his way.
Can the Hornets advance in the playoffs?
The Hornets are becoming a team free agents find attractive.
Oubre, Smith and Iwundu all said in separate Zoom calls that the Hornets put the NBA on notice last season. Ball helped make that happen with his unselfishness and nifty passes.
“Honestly, we played against them last year on three different occasions and the way they played — the young guys, the athletic ability,” Smith said Monday, “the speed they play with, the way they share the basketball and shoot the basketball and then how they defend.
“It was fun.”
The perception that the Charlotte Hornets don’t have the potential to be a winning franchise is fading. Ball looks like he will be a star for years to come. Head coach James Borrego’s contract was extended and figures to be in Charlotte for at least three more years. Rozier was special last season. Miles Bridges has improved. And Hayward has shown he can be good when healthy.
The bar has risen for the Hornets. It’s playoffs-or-fail next year.
“Our goal is just not to get the eighth seed or to make the play-in tournament, we want to get in and we want to advance so that’s the goal,” Kupchak said. “Where and how successful we are, I don’t know right now, but yes, expectations are more than they were a year ago, and they should be.”
The Hornets got better this offseason on paper. They should again be a fun team to watch. But their success will depend on their health, and whether they can sustain any potential injuries.
Last season, they didn’t have enough pieces. Next season, they do.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Analysis: Hornets’ goal is to advance in the playoffs, but were offseason moves enough?."
