But you'd think the Hornets would expect more than 25 minutes per game from these guys.įLANNERY: Zeller's made nice progress in his three years and I expect that he's got a little bit more room to grow. ![]() Are you expecting much more this year from either or both, or will small lineups and the necessity of competitiveness make them sidebars again? Both played rotation minutes last season, and Jefferson's gone. At The Hive season previewĬody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky are lottery picks that Charlotte feels great about. If that's the case, I trust Clifford to figure something out, even if that means setting the team up for a trade. This is perhaps because of the impact on where you play Batum and Marvin Williams (another player who had a career year), but it sure looks real. ZILLER: The issue with MKG is that Charlotte just seems to functionally work better without him, despite his obvious defensive chops. I suppose they can make it, but it wouldn't shock me if they didn't. ![]() They are among eight teams fighting for five playoff spots. If he can, I see an All-Star berth or two in his future. I don't know if he can get much better, but he should be able to sustain this level of production for the next four or five seasons. That's OK, he can still be productive for the next few seasons. Adding MKG and Roy Hibbert and subtracting Lin and Jefferson should make a huge difference.īatum is a good player who may have had a career year. My guess is this will be a slightly different team from last season, with an even greater emphasis on defense. I'm genuinely curious to see how MKG fits back into the equation. They'll miss Al Jefferson and Jeremy Lin, but if they were the key to your 48-win team, then that's not much of a foundation. They didn't really get worse, but they really didn't get better, either. I'm wondering whether Batum has peaked, how much better Walker can become, if the frontcourt has one young stud ready to break out, whether there's enough talent on the bench, and how Michael Kidd-Gilchrist fits into all of this.įLANNERY: I don't know what to do with the Hornets. I wonder, though, if there's more upside to find for this team or if 48 wins is a best-case scenario. Steve Clifford has almost universal respect around the league, and Nicolas Batum and Kemba Walker really elevated the club's reliability in putting up 48 wins. ZILLER: The Charlotte Hornets had a breakout season a year ago.
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