Charlotte Hornets: What are they capable of in 2014-15?
By Eric Saar
The Charlotte Hornets had a 13-year history in North Carolina that got yanked away when the team moved to New Orleans. Then in 2002, an expansion team was created, the Charlotte Bobcats. The legendary player Michael Jordan owns the team and they played under that name until this upcoming season when they will revert back to the Hornets to honor the tradition. This was only possible because before last season, the New Orleans Hornets decided to re-brand and go with the Pelicans as their nickname. This gave Charlotte the ability to take back the name.
The Lay of the Land
The Hornets, then the Bobcats, made the playoffs, but unfortunately had to face the Miami Heat in the first round. Charlotte got swept for a couple of reasons. They were still coming out of the rebuilding stage and thus didn’t have anywhere near the talent of the Heat, plus their best player was injured for the majority of the series.
Hornets center Al Jefferson had already tallied two double-doubles of 18 points with 10 and 13 rebounds. They had lost those games by 11 and four points. Jefferson followed that with a 20 and five performance in another loss. The incredible part was for games two and three he had severe foot pain that actually ended up sidelining him for the closeout game four.
Thus ended the Bobcats’s first playoff run since 2009-10 when they had Gerald Wallace and before that, they hadn’t made the playoffs since 2001-02 — right before they got moved to New Orleans.
Roster turnover
The Hornets keep most of their starting lineup with former UConn starting point guard Kemba Walker, the aforementioned Al Jefferson along with their 2013 first-round pick (Cody Zeller) and their 2012 first-rounder (Michael Kidd-Gilchrist). Zeller was the backup center last season.
They demoted Gerald Henderson at the shooting guard slot to acquire the Indiana Pacers’ standout Lance Stevenson, who has his quirks (like blowing into LeBron’s ear during a game last year), but he can play.
The Hornets lost Josh McRoberts to the Heat, Luke Ridnour and Ben Gordon to the Magic and Anthony Tolliver to the Suns. Through the draft, Charlotte added Noah Vonleh, who has a big frame and wingspan and offers a ton of upside.
This team is starting to get an actual identity and a confidence that is beneficial to their success. They are starting to gain a winning attitude and a toughness that will help them win game after game in 2014-15.
What is the ceiling for this team?
Lance Stevenson will need to carry a slightly bigger load offensively as the number one option on his team isn’t capable of scoring at will. Paul George last season for the Pacers could do that. He is a wing player with the offensive skill-set to dominate his defender. Jefferson is nearly that good, but requires much more help as he primarily scores through post-ups and off the offensive glass. Because of that, the starting guard tandem of Stevenson and Walker will have to be both consistent scoring threats and willing playmakers.
The rookie Vonleh will need to develop his skills faster than if he was on a more veteran or established team. He will have to go from a “raw rookie” to a “decent role player” as fast as possible for Charlotte to be successful.
The rest of the players just have to be consistent and play as well as they can.
If a substantial amount of these happen, the team can make the playoffs again.
Looking at the Eastern Conference, for sure the Bulls, Cavaliers, Raptors, Wizards and Heat are better than the Hornets. The rest are toss-ups, putting Charlotte as the sixth best team.
What is the floor for this team?
If Vonleh is not ready to be a polished basketball professional yet, Walker and Stevenson can’t feed Jefferson down low and as a team finish as below average defensively, they will have trouble in the playoffs, or even making it there.
The worst-case scenario is that the team doesn’t jell and get passed by the Hawks, Knicks, Nets and Magic making them the East’s tenth-best team, causing them to miss out on the playoffs.