The new NBA season will take place in about two months and with it, a new opportunity for Charlotte Hornets to finally get closer to their undeniably high ceiling.
Last year, a combination of injuries, lack of depth, and off-field issues led to a disappointing standings position, as well as mediocre results in most statistical categories. Let’s take a look at some of the key stats and predict how they will look a year from now.
Last season 106.6 (28th)
Next season prediction 115.2 (14th)
The last time the Hornets reached the playoffs in 2022, they did so with one of the league’s best offenses, scoring 115.3 points per game. Last season, the situation was much different. Lineup inconsistencies and frequent appearances by G-League-level players resulted in some of the league’s lowest scoring output.
No one can say for sure how well Charles Lee and his staff will implement the Hornets’ new offense, or what type of basketball the former Celtics assistant plans to play. But having LaMelo Ball dictating the play, Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges handling much of the scoring, plus solid offensive options around the line, is enough to be about league average.
Last season 24.8 (26th)
Prediction for next season: 27.3 (10th)
There is a simple solution to this problem: LaMelo Ball needs to stay healthy! Most of the players who were supposed to replace him during his absence have either been traded (Terry Rozier), released (Ish Smith) or are now playing in Europe (Theo Maledon and Frank Ntilikina). Vasilije Micic and Tre Mann have at least managed to fill the playmaking void left behind by being signed at the trade deadline.
With a healthy LaMelo at the helm, they can thrive more in a reduced role. As for Ball, he has proven in the past that he can pass the ball at a high level, leading the Hornets to an NBA-best 28.1 assists per game in 2022. It will be difficult to reach those heights again quickly under a new coach and with a revamped roster, so for now the goal should be to finish in the top half.
Last season: 40.3 (30th)
Prediction for next season: 44.6 (12th)
At the risk of sounding redundant, staying healthy is key. Starting center Mark Williams, one of the league’s most gifted rebounders, played just 19 games last season due to back issues. In those 19 games, Charlotte ranked 20th in rebounds at 43.3 per game. LaMelo Ball is also one of the best guards at grabbing rebounds, which has also impacted Charlotte’s struggles.
In addition to the rebounding deficit caused by injuries, the defense was also hit hard. The Hornets didn’t have a very good defender to begin with, but the constant rotation changes made things worse. Miles Bridges and company gave up the fourth-best shooting percentage in the NBA, limiting the defensive rebounding opportunities.
Almost everything went wrong for the Hornets last season, and it showed not only on the court but in the stats as well. This article was just a small collection of categories in which Steve Clifford’s team finished bottom of the standings, but there are countless other important ones like three-point percentage, steals per game, and blocks per game.
Keeping everyone available will be part of the solution to most problems, but even if some players were to be out again, it certainly wouldn’t produce as disastrous an outcome as last season. The depth Charlotte gained at the trade deadline has strengthened the roster to the point where there are several acceptable starting candidates at every position.
This allows new head coach Charles Lee to implement different lineups and experiment a bit, unlike Steve Clifford whose rotation was built from the few players left. While the latter had to call on players like JT Thor, Leaky Black and Bryce McGowens from the bench, Lee will be able to use personnel with more NBA experience like Josh Green, Tre Mann and Grant Williams. Given these changes, statistical improvements seem almost guaranteed for the purple and teal.
