Charlotte Hornets' Future Outlook
After being unable to make a move at the trade deadline, Charlotte gave up on the season and let go of two veterans after. They are currently in the midst of tanking while letting the young players develop, and are waiting it out to see what they can do heading into the future. It's been tough for this franchise to get going ever since it started in 2003, with only a few first round playoff appearances and a lot of bad basketball. They hope that some of these young players will lead them back to the playoffs in the future, but it won't happen in 2020. Let's see what things are looking like in the future.
WHO'S GONE: PF Marvin Williams (Milwaukee), F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Dallas), C Bismack Biyombo, C Willy Hernangomez, G/F Dwayne Bacon
Nicolas Batum, the veteran wing for the Hornets, is not going to turn down a $24 million player option after career lows in points and games played this season. The Hornets will hope to buy him out or trade him, but at this point they are stuck with him. Williams and Kidd-Gilchrist were the bought out players, and the fan base should be disappointed the former second overall pick failed (Kidd-Gilchrist). Biyombo's awful contract comes off of the books this off-season as well, and they also will let loose a couple of fringe roster players in Hernangomez and Bacon. Biyombo was the starter, but he's among the most overpaid players in the league.
WHO'S LEFT:
C-Cody Zeller
PF-PJ Washington, Jalen McDaniels
SF-Miles Bridges, Cody Martin, Caleb Martin
SG-Devonte Graham, Nicolas Batum
PG-Terry Rozier, Malik Monk
There are some things to work with here, but nobody is really a player you can truly build around. Bridges and Washington are good players, but they probably don't have a ceiling much higher than that of a Jerami Grant or Rodney Hood. Graham might be the most improved player in basketball, with 18 points and 8 assists, and Rozier signed a big deal to join Charlotte. They also have a couple of intriguing forwards on the bench.
WHAT'S NEXT:
Continue to tank. I hate to think this way about anything, but Charlotte just might be one of those franchises (kind of like Jacksonville Jaguars) that never really can do anything about getting out of the basement of the league. They took Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in a draft that also had Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Khris Middleton and Draymond Green with the second pick. Now, he was basically seen as the consensus second pick, but that is still bad luck and they finally gave up on him. They have had five top five picks in 15 years, and none of them made an All-Star game. Kemba Walker is easily their best selection, and he was taken ninth.
All the Hornets really can do is try and find a way out of this mess. They have pieces on this team that can become quality players, but they don't have a star (sorry, Terry) and it's a real shame they let Kemba get away. They would have needed to add another star with him, and who really wants to go to Charlotte. The only thing they really can do is try and turn their luck around, and keep developing young players and hoping for the best.
