NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 offseason needs for the Charlotte Hornets

4. Buckets from the others

When one thinks of the currently rostered Charlotte Hornets, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the same across board — Kemba Walker.

Since stepping onto the scene in 2011, Walker has been who he is, a high-scorer on his team who gives you three to four boards and five to six assists. Other than raising his scoring from his career average of 18.4 points per game to a team leading 23.2 this season, the numbers don’t change.

Kemba does what Kemba do.

While those numbers are more than solid for the leader of a decent squad, they must be coupled with a second scorer who will consistently put up respectable numbers; and if nothing else, be enough of a presence that the team’s leading scorer doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting in order to ensure team success.

The Hornets had a total of five players not named Kemba who put up double-figures on average. However, the second and third leading scorers combined for an average of 26.8. Even the aforementioned one-man wrecking crew that is the Thunder were getting 30.2 from the secondary and tertiary scorers.

While Nic Batum remains a solid guy with solid numbers across the board (15.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.1 steals), it’s hard to win without a little more from the ‘others’ aside from Walker.