Miami Heat scouting the enemy: Charlotte Hornets

We’re preparing for the NBA season by scouting the divisional and conference opponents of the Miami Heat. Next up on the list are the Charlotte Hornets.

Much like the Miami Heat will be doing this season as they prepare for their opponents, we’re going to break down each divisional rival and conference opponent in regards to their offseason and their outlook for the 2019-20 season. As we move through the Southeast Division, we’ll continue with the abysmal, somewhat lost, and Kemba Walker-less Charlotte Hornets.

Offseason review

The Charlotte Hornets are a shell of the team that they have been over the last few seasons, although that isn’t saying much considering that they weren’t that great once you got past Kemba Walker and perhaps one or two other players on the roster. Losing Kemba Walker was a massive blow to them, even though they got scary Terry Rozier to sort of replace him.

The turnover on this Charlotte Hornets roster is pretty remarkable. They let Joe Chealey, Frank Kaminsky, Jeremy Lamb, Shelvin Mack, J.P. Macura, and Kemba Walker all become free agents, before ultimately getting Walker signed long enough to make the trade with the Boston Celtics happen. As mentioned previously, this was the deal that helped them to net Terry Rozier, before then ultimately signing Rozier to a multi-year deal with the team.

The trade details actually lead you to believe that not only did the Hornets give up the best player in the deal, but they actually seemingly got fleeced to do so.

Within that trade, not only did the Celtics manage to land Kemba Walker, but they also got another second-round pick in exchange for the one they sent along with Terry Rozier to Charlotte, although the one that the Celtics received will be the “least favorable“. While that is the case on the pick that Boston ultimately received, it’s a pretty neutral pick swap when you consider the fact that the one they traded is also “conditional”.

Along with the other players that they decided to let go, the Charlotte Hornets also waived veteran guard Tony Parker. Parker subsequently retired after declaring that he couldn’t “be Tony Parker anymore”. 

They made a few more moves during the offseason, but nothing really of note. They brought back Joe Chealey, but the most notable move was probably the duel signing of the twins from the University of Nevada in Caleb Martin(undrafted free agent signing) and Cody Martin(drafted in the second round). With both originally being from the state of North Carolina, I can see the thinking behind this move, especially with the interchangeable wing skill sets and profiles that both players have.

The Charlotte Hornets had a decent draft, but nothing that appears to be game-changing from a team or organization standpoint.

They landed PJ Washington out of Kentucky with the 12th pick of the NBA draft, an undersized power forward who although did look to have improved his jump shot and willingness to take it, is still not as skilled as you would like your 6’6 power forward to be. In example, if Draymond Green were a baseball player, he would be a five-tool player, whereas Washington would be a two-tool player definitely, a three-tool at the very best, and perhaps that’s with a stretch.

Along with Cody Martin, whom they drafted with the 36th pick of the NBA draft, they took a wing out of San Diego State named Jalen McDaniels with the 52nd overall pick. McDaniels could end up being their best overall pick due to his unique combination of size(around 6’9) and skill set. While this points to a positive outlook on McDaniels himself, it also may shine a light on poor player scouting and drafting, or specifically just taking Washington at 12.

Outlook

After finishing 39-43 last season, this season may not prove to be any different for the Charlotte Hornets. They simply don’t have the necessary talent to compete. This is true for the NBA’s Eastern Conference alone, nevermind the entire league as a whole, which is totally out of their league so to speak and with no pun intended.

Terry Rozier could get some things done for them though, considering he was never truly allowed the freedom to flourish and blossom when you consider who he was playing with and behind in Boston. Terry Rozier is not ready to be the best player on a contending team though, heck, we don’t even know what his peak is yet.

Dwayne Bacon is a pretty good player and looked good early in the first preseason matchup against the Miami Heat, but he has holes in his game, specifically his outside shooting. Miles Bridges and Malik Monk could both be really good players, but it would be really hard to expect them to make such a jump already and considering what we’ve seen out of them thus far.

Nicolas Batum is still on the team, but he seems like a shell of himself. He was actually already injured for the first time this season in the preseason game on Wednesday. Injuries and other things have seemingly sapped his game away.

Bringing in the Martin twins should definitely help them though because they are guys that just play the game the right way. They defend, have decent size, are skilled, have a built-in chemistry with one another, and should help to fill seats, if only a few based on their North Carolina roots.

All in all though, this appears to be another lackluster season for the team owned by the greatest player ever to touch a Spalding. If MJ did have some gas in the tank, he probably couldn’t even drag this team to anywhere above the seventh seed this year and that is saying a ton. Looks like it’ll be a long season in Charlotte, and the Miami Heat should walk away with victories every time they are the opposing team.