2023-24 NBA Season Preview: Charlotte Hornets
The 2023-24 NBA season is officially upon us! For the last several weeks, we have been previewing each and every NBA team! Today, we will be looking at the Charlotte Hornets, who have had a disastrous last several months and are looking to turn the tide!
What happened last year?
The Hornets had a disastrous 2022-23 NBA season, which really began when forward Miles Bridges, mere hours before officially entering free agency, was arrested for felony domestic violence charges in Los Angeles, Calif. The Hornets did not make any reasonable upgrades to supplement any of Bridges’ production.
While there were some bright spots, including the emergence of center Mark Williams in the second half of the season and its defense down the stretch, the Hornets’ season was mired by injuries to LaMelo Ball (played in 36 games), Kelly Oubre Jr. (48 games) and Cody Martin (7 games), among others. Ultimately, they won 16 fewer games — dipping to 27-52 and earning a top-2 selection via the lottery heading into June.
Offseason recap:
Outside of Miles Bridges getting suspended 10 games after somehow already serving a 20-game suspension (????????), and Kai Jones requesting a trade away from the team over Twitter, the Hornets did not have an incredibly active offseason.
Charlotte re-signed LaMelo Ball to a rookie scale max and P.J. Washington to a multi-year deal, but lost Dennis Smith Jr. to the Nets and Kelly Oubre Jr. to the 76ers, two important role players. It also extended a qualifying offer to Bridges before his charges were summoned and turned himself into the police earlier this month.
The Hornets also drafted Brandon Miller (more on him below) with the No. 2 pick before selecting Nick Smith Jr. with the No. 27 pick and Amari Bailey with the No. 41 pick.
Projected starting five?
LaMelo Ball, G — Ball was limited to a career-low 36 games last season due to a plaguing ankle injury. He signed a five-year rookie max extension for over $205 million this offseason; over his first three seasons, he’s posted 19.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.5 steals on 54.7 percent true shooting as the true engine to the Hornets offense.
Terry Rozier, G — Rozier is more of the shot-taker of its backcourt duo. In 63 games, the 6-foot-1 guard posted a career-most 21.1 points and 5.1 assists–in part due to the increased responsibility with Ball missing so much time. Rozier wasn’t as efficient, finishing with a 51.7 percent true-shooting and a 48.4 effective field goal percentage–his lowest marks since 2018-19.
Gordon Hayward, F — Hayward is likely the de-facto starter with Bridges’ absence. He hasn’t appeared in 70 percent of his team’s games since he played in 52 of the Celtics’ 72 games in their COVID-shortened 2019-20 season. He’s been a solid offensive contributor when he’s been on the court–even though he’s lost explosiveness with his movements–but that’s a big if.
P.J. Washington, F — Washington re-signed on a three-year, $48 million later in the offseason, which I’m surprised wasn’t at least offered to him on the open market. The 6-foot-9 forward is a 3-and-D specialist who’s shot 36.6 percent from distance in his career on reasonable volume (4.8 3PA). He’s coming off a career season, where he averaged 15.7 points, 4.9 boards and 1.1 blocks on 44.4/34.8/73.0 shooting splits.
Mark Williams, C — I talked more about Williams here; even though it’s in a different context, I’m quite high on Williams’ potential with Charlotte in his first full season as a starter. He was impactful as a drop defender/rim protector hub last season and is a reliable outlet as a roller and vertical spacer. His shot’s still coming along, but as long as the 7-foot-1 big stays healthy, he’s prime for a big season.
Notable reserves:
Cody Martin, F — Yeah yeah, call me biased for having Martin Twin on here; people who know me know my affinity for them. Cody Martin was a legitimate role player in their rotation who was missed last season, playing in only seven games due to a knee injury. Martin is a good defender and improved to 38.4 percent from distance as a shooter in 2021-22. Expect him to be a 20-minute-per-night player who could muck things defensively and provide some secondary ballhandling offensively.
Brandon Miller, F — Miller was a very polarizing pick at No. 2 overall. Not just because of his legal troubles, but because Charlotte passed up on Scoot Henderson. On the court, Miller, a 6-foot-9 wing, was a knockdown shooter at Alabama and was good within Nate Oats’ team defensive structure. But Miller also lacks quickness with the ball in his hands, plus possesses a looser handle that smaller guards and lanky wings could dislodge if he’s too careless.
He will develop his frame over time, and his multipositional versatility will only help Charlotte in the short term (especially with Bridges out), so I’m expecting Miller to make a fair impact as a rookie, even if there are some lumps.
Who’s the X-Factor? Williams
Charlotte was a top-10 defense post-March last year and it had to do with Williams’ activity. The Hornets will get a defensive cog back with Martin to assist the back-line, but if the Hornets’ leap on that end is real, a big reason why will be because of Williams and this team will be in a much better position for the future.
Projected result:
I predict Charlotte will finish as the No. 13 seed. They still have a long way to go, collectively.
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