The last time you saw the Hornets play basketball, they suffered a 68 point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in their final preseason game…
Alright but the last time you saw the Hornets play meaningful basketball they lost to the Pacers in the Play-In tournament 144-117….
Ok maybe we just focus on the future and not the past?
That’s what most pundits are doing with this team as the Hornets pick up right where they left off as one of the most entertaining teams to watch this season. The crazy thing is, they got even more athletic.
This offseason, the Hornets drafted James Bouknight and Kai Jones in the first round, 2 of the more athletic players in the entire pool.
The trade for Mason Plumlee that night didn’t move the needle in the category, but their signing of Kelly Oubre later in Free Agency certainly did.
You put those players on the same team as LaMelo Ball and you’d expect a hell of a show.
Problem is, we don’t know how many games they’ll win.
The Hornets certainly got more athletic, but how much better did they get?
It all depends on internal improvement. The Hornets finished 33-39 on the season, good enough for the 10 spot in the East. That would lead to the one game situation against Indiana not worth re-visiting.
All those moves made by Charlotte this offseason painted a weird picture. They lost a few contributors in Devonte Graham, Malik Monk and Cody Zeller, and replaced them with a couple rookies, Kelly Oubre, and Mason Plumlee.
The hope is the young players will help in the future, but I’m not sure how much they help right now.
It all points to relying on LaMelo getting on the escalator to super stardom, hoping Miles Bridges improves a lot like last year, and PJ Washington becomes more consistent.
Not inconceivable by any imagination. But too depend on it with a Playoff ultimatum seems risky.
Either way, we all start the journey tonight against the Indiana Pacers to see if the Hornets can reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
