The Charlotte Hornets desperately want to turn their franchise around. After 35 seasons, they’ve only had 10 playoff appearances. They, of course, have no championships to their name. In fact, they’ve never made it to the conference finals.
There are many people that can be blamed for this. Players. Executives. Coaches. Not everyone who has been involved in the organization’s mediocrity has had a major role in it. Nonetheless, it’s been a collective effort.
Now, Hornets general manager Jeff Peterson is being tasked with transforming the Hornets into a respectable team. A respectable franchise. It’s not a responsibility that he’s taken lightly. Fortunately for Peterson, Charlotte’s ahead of the rebuilding curve, as they’ve already landed at least two All-Star-caliber talents: LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.
Hornets Rebuild Won’t Just Have One Development Path
Ball and Miller, both all-around players despite playing different positions, have the keys for the team’s success. The Hornets will largely go as far as they can take them. However, as every championship-contender knows, it’s not just about the stars. Role players will often matter nearly, if not just, as much.
Unfortunately, there’s only so many minutes to go around and only one ball. So, even if a young team like Charlotte values their supporting cast, they have to get creative with their development. That’s where the Hornets find themselves.
As the organization introduced DJ Bakker as the head coach of the Greensboro Swarm, their G League affiliate, Peterson even touched on the topic. Singling out second round picks KJ Simpson and Moussa Diabate, he reveals that the plan will likely look a bit different (h/t SI.com’s Schuyler Callihan).
“With KJ and Moussa specifically, safe assumption they’ll spend some time with Greensboro, and they’re excited about it,” Peterson claims.
“Every player that we bring into this organization, they just want to play, they want to compete, they want to get better. They want to maximize themselves and they know that at any time, this may be the best vehicle for them to do that. Really excited about their option to come to Greensboro and play and get better.”
Simpson and Diabate, both 22 years old, always had an uphill to climb if they wanted to be in the Hornets’ rotation. Their draft position aside, Charlotte has players at their positions who are more established.
LaMelo Ball’s Backups
At point guard, Simpson would have to prove himself more capable or useful than Vasilije Micic and Tre Mann, Ball’s backups.
This is likely a reason why the Hornets were comfortable signing him to a two-way contract despite him being one of the best point guards in college last season. It’s not impossible for Simpson to usurp either Micic or Mann though. If he does, he could have his deal converted to a standard contract by the end of the season.
Micic is an elite facilitator with great size for the position, but has had trouble getting the ball to go down. At 30 years old, he’s also a bit long in the tooth, especially for a rebuilding team. If he was to eventually be traded to the Denver Nuggets, who he has been linked to, it wouldn’t catch anyone unawares.
Mann is solid at both ends of the court, but he’s a scoring-minded guard. Frankly, if he wasn’t 6-foot-3 and 178 pounds, he might be considered more of shooting guard. In any case, this is where Simpson has a definitive advantage over the 23-year-old. Though the Colorado product isn’t afraid to put the ball in the basket, he’s a focused facilitator.
Front & Center
Diabate’s also on a two-way contract. It’s his third year playing with this arrangement, as the Los Angeles Clippers signed him to a two-way deal after drafting him. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, a lot has to go right for him to be promoted to the regular 15-man roster.
At 6-foot-11 and 210 pounds, Diabate is a center with a slight frame but an innate ability to pinpoint the ball after misses. On a team like the Hornets, that’s a skill that would actually be pretty valuable. Last season, Charlotte ranked 26th in field goal percentage (.460).
The problem is that he doesn’t do enough well enough to justify him getting minutes over Mark Williams or Nick Richards. Both Williams and Richards are 7-footers who dominate the boards. Like Diabate, they regularly finish above the rim, but they’re even more efficient. They even score under it, Williams with duck-ins and Richards with post-ups.
In the event of an injury to Williams or Richards, having a player like Diabate available has its benefits. However, unless he begins to stretch the floor or make more of a shot-blocking impact, he’ll likely remain on his current deal.
It doesn’t help that he also has to compete with former St. John’s standout Joel Soriano, who the Hornets signed to an Exhibit 10 contract.
For one, Soriano’s another excellent rebounder. Secondly, he has a lot of upside as an interior defender. Lastly, he’s a more dynamic scorer, displaying low-post skills and stretching the floor out to 3-point range.
