NBA Rumors: Charlotte Hornets looking for frontcourt help
In an interview with Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, Steve Clifford, head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, revealed the team may be in the market for a frontcourt player with Noah Vonleh expected to miss 6 to 8 weeks after undergoing surgery to fix a sports hernia.
"Q. Do you see any holes on your roster heading into training camp?A. Noah going down (to injury) means we need to add another big guy. Right now we have four (big) guys who are healthy – Marvin (Williams), Cody (Zeller), Al (Jefferson) and Biz (Bismack Biyombo).Some things you can overcome for a few games. But you never want to come up short on size in this league. Very hard to win like that."
Drafted 9th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, Vonleh was supposed to add another scoring body alongside the likes of Jefferson, Zeller, and Biyombo. Compared to Chris Bosh coming out of the University of Indiana, his inside-out game would mesh well with Kemba Walker and Lance Stephenson, all while allowing him to fit perfectly alongside Jefferson, the teams starting center.
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But without him, Clifford will have to fill that void. With an already deep frontcourt, it’s unlikely the Hornets hit the trade market unless 1) the current group of bigs struggle to produce, 2) Vonleh’s recovery takes longer than projected, or 3) the Hornets stumble upon an offer they can’t refuse.
For the Hornets sake, Zeller taking a leap may decrease the need to add an album body. Another University of Indiana product, Zeller struggled out the gate his rookie season but with a year of accustoming his game to the NBA’s and adding bulk to bang with bigger players under the basket, a leap could be in order.
With the season starting in November, Clifford and the Hornets have ample time to decide what move to make.