Charlotte Hornets Highlights to Get You Pumped Up for 2014-15 Season

You've kept up all offseason with the articles that only build excitement for the upcoming season. You've heard the rumors of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's improved jumper. Al Jefferson's foot is back to normal. You've heard of the Lance Stephenson pickup as well as the additions of high-profile rookies Noah Vonleh and P.J. Hairston.

The buzz has continued to get louder and louder with each passing day in anticipation of the rebirth of the Charlotte Hornets.

Words on a page are great since we cannot all have the luxury of witnessing training camp with our own eyes, but nothing quite gets the blood flowing like the highlight reels. After a long hiatus over summer, we all need our basketball fix, and the Hornets have done a great job of giving that to us through a few preseason games.

Not all fans are up to date with the new regime, nor are they all fully educated when it comes to the new faces in town. Training camp is the time on the basketball calendar where every team feels like it has a chance. You hear a restored sense of optimism filtering through every city, but the buzz is real in Charlotte. This team has every right to be seething for the start of the 2014-15 campaign.

Here are the video highlights you need to get a little more amped up for the new era of the Charlotte Hornets.

The Buzz Is Back

The Charlotte Bobcats had a couple nice seasons (two to be exact), but the city just never really got behind them at any point. They quickly were plopped into North Carolina after the original Hornets took their talents to the Big Easy.

Maybe fans didn't have their proper grieving time. Maybe the roster never produced any identifiable stars. Maybe the Bobcats were just flat out horrible and gave the city no reason for optimism until last season.

Whatever it was, the Bobcats just never got this city buzzing like the Hornets already have. Draft picks seem to be starting to unfold, and the days of Adam Morrison are long gone. Michael Jordan is no longer the laughing stock of the NBA owner fraternity, and the revolving door of coaches has come to a halt.

Stability, excitement and positivity are very real adjectives to describe this franchise for the first time since the previous Hornets left town.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's Improvement

If a Eurostep and a pull-up 17-foot jumper from Michael Kidd-Gilchrist don't get you giddy as a Hornets fan, well then frankly I don't know what will.

MKG has quickly turned into an electrifying defender on the perimeter in his short two-year career, but the former No. 2 overall pick has yet to turn his great athleticism into success on offense. He is a well-put-together 6'7" with long arms but suffers from a barren offensive repertoire accompanied by the most hideous jump shot in the Association.

As you can see in the beginning of the video, that ridiculous kink in his shot looks to be somewhat of a thing of the past. I've never been so optimistic or dug so deeply into a mid-range jumper in my entire life, but this is just that remarkable.

With Lance Stephenson in town, MKG's starting job isn't completely secure, but the team might be better suited having Gerald Henderson bring his offense off the bench. If MKG's offensive improvements are legitimate, he will be a huge added weapon on this team not only as a ruthless rebounder and defender, but finally as a guy who isn't a completely incompetent offensive player.

P.J. Hairston Is No Joke

His few incidents off the court have taken away from the fact that he is a fantastic talent. It is possible that just having the D-League label slapped on him as well also contributes to his under-the-radar status.

Hairston is no development-league castoff. He was a steal of a first-round pick at No. 26 overall in the 2014 draft. He will likely be in a logjam for minutes early on with Henderson and Gary Neal, but his offensive firepower is too much for Steve Clifford to neglect all year. At some point, he will most definitely be a factor on this team due to the punch he can provide.

He showed it all last year in the D-League, and he showed it once again in this past summer league. Hairston is also shooting 40 percent from downtown through three preseason games and just oozes the kind of confidence and offensive ability that this team was so devoid of last season.

Vonleh and Henderson being out for a brief period have allowed Hairston to step right into the limelight early in the preseason and show off. He should be a very good player for years to come once he develops his shot selection and defense.

Lance Stephenson Might Be the Missing Piece

Charlotte has a ways to go before becoming a top-tier free-agent destination. The team must build a foundation as a perennial threat and continue to turn around that losing culture. Last season was a huge step forward with the playoff appearance and the Jefferson signing, and the front office did a remarkable job building off of that by drafting Vonleh and Hairston, but the icing on the cake was the Stephenson signing.

Stephenson quickly turned into one of the league's most dynamic and exciting players this past season with the Indiana Pacers. He got to a point where he felt he had to get out of Paul George's shadow in order to take that next step in his career, which he will have every opportunity to do down in Charlotte. He is nothing like anyone else on this roster and has set up his three-year contract so he can hit free agency again at age 27. You know Stephenson will be hunting for that max contract.

Kemba Walker is now not the only capable ball-handler in the starting lineup. Stephenson will add the oomph this roster needed and will help open up the floor for his teammates. He is also battle-tested at age 24 after some deep playoff runs with the Pacers.

Especially for the measly $27 million, it would be hard to find any fans who aren't elated about what Stephenson brings to this team.

This Is Not Your Old Bobcats Offense

Take a quick look at this video of the Hornets' recent highlights of their game with the Orlando Magic. They won 99-97, which doesn't matter a whole bunch. What stuck out was the offensive tempo.

In a two-minute video, we saw some great dribble-drives from Walker and Stephenson, some flashy passing, fast breaks, MKG Eurosteps, Jefferson out in the open court, alley-oops, a nasty Walker circus shot and a partridge in a pear tree.

Charlotte's offense last year was so black and white that it was difficult to watch at times, but now it appears Stephenson and the young guys have injected some energy into the offense.

In the previous game against the Washington Wizards, Charlotte also canned 13 threes. They didn't hit that many in any of their 82 contests last season. If this is a sign of things to come, the Hornets will be able to win high-scoring affairs that they couldn't keep up with last year. No longer will they have to shut opponents down as their only path to victory.

This team will be on many more highlight reels this year due to the added youth and shooting. Get ready to watch this team swarm on both ends instead of just one.