Ranking Charlotte Hornets' Biggest Needs for 2015 NBA Offseason
A season that started with such grand expectations will end in extreme disappointment for the Charlotte Hornets. The same team that went on a spirited second-half run last year to make the postseason did the exact opposite this time around.
Following the rebrand, the buzz was supposed to be back in North Carolina, but the Hornets never did shake that Bobcat stench.
Charlotte was 28-33 on March 8, and it has lost 15 of 20 since to fall to 11th place in the Eastern Conference. All hopes of making a deep playoff run were mostly dashed in November following a 10-game losing skid. The Hornets never made it back to .500 since being 1-0.
Michael Jordan's squad now faces a potentially tumultuous offseason filled with an array of questions about its future.
The list of what went right for the Hornets in 2014-15 is painfully short. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist took some big steps forward.
Is…is that it?
Not one single Hornet aside from MKG gave fans any reason to be excited this season. Cody Zeller had some nice spurts but was again plagued by inconsistency. Bismack Biyombo continued to provide great defense but has showed little development. Rookies Noah Vonleh and P.J. Hairston barely saw the court and made minimal impact when they got there.
The only thing this franchise can do is play the hand it was dealt. It is once again stuck in limbo due to years of questionable draft picks, confusing management decisions and unsuccessful free-agent pickups.
Here are the top five biggest needs that the Charlotte Hornets absolutely must address in the upcoming offseason.
5. Establish an Identity
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Charlotte undoubtedly fielded a talented roster this season, but a big problem was that just about every player on the roster is either past his prime or has yet to reach it.
The Hornets feature a whopping nine players ages 25 or younger. Al Jefferson, Mo Williams and Jason Maxiell are all on the wrong side of 30. The prime years of Gerald Henderson and Marvin Williams are certainly not enough to carry the torch, so something has to be done.
If and when the young guys hit their strides, everyone else will be over the hill. The on-court chemistry was an issue at every point during this season, and the awkward age differentials was a big reason why.
The 2013-14 Bobcats succeeded because they embraced hardcore and fundamental defense mixed with smart, basic offense in the half court. The majority of scoring came from some combination of Jefferson post-ups, pick-and-rolls with Kemba Walker and guys like Josh McRoberts filling in the cracks with spot-up threes and putbacks.
Losing McRoberts turned out to be devastating, as his underrated passing ability was irreplaceable. Lance Stephenson could not fill his spot as the third scorer and secondary distributor, and it had a negative impact on the overall production of the team.
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer also pointed out the importance of adding more shooters to this roster in the offseason. The Hornets are last in the league at 31.7 percent in that category.
Charlotte got caught in between trying to contend and rebuild this year, splitting the roster down the middle. Whatever Charlotte intends on doing next year, it must decide from day one and fully commit to it.
4. Don't Drop the Ball on Another Draft Pick
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Adam Morrison. D.J. Augustin. Sean May. Emeka Okafor. Cody Zeller. Bismack Biyombo.
Time and again, Charlotte fails to capitalize on its lottery picks. A few of the selections panned out to be solid players, but none have been stars for this franchise. To find the last long-term successful draft picks for Charlotte, you have to go all the way back to the previous Hornets regime in 1999 and 2000 when Baron Davis and Jamaal Magloire came to town.
The Hornets will likely find themselves in the top 10 again, and while this is no 2003 draft, there is plenty of talent available.
MKG is a legitimate asset and someone to build around. Kemba Walker is going to be there, and the team still has both Zeller and Vonleh. What Charlotte does not have is a go-to perimeter scoring threat who can flourish on both ends.
Guys like Wisconsin's Sam Dekker and Arizona's Stanley Johnson would be perfect on this roster. Both would couple with MKG to harass every opposing wing tandem in the NBA for years to come. Charlotte could also get lucky and land Justise Winslow from Duke, who potentially fits this regime like a glove. He is tenacious on the defensive end, shoots well from deep, and has an array of offensive ability that would force Clifford to play more uptempo. MKG and Winslow together on the perimeter is a scary thought.
Should Charlotte choose to move on from Bismack Biyombo and his impending free agency, it could also take a long look at Willie Cauley-Stein from Kentucky. The Tyson Chandler clone would be ideal for Steve Clifford's defensive-minded scheme, and he could help build the bridge away from the Al Jefferson era. Cauley-Stein and Zeller could also form an athletic frontcourt that would wreak havoc out in transition.
Landon White of FanSided even suggested packaging the first-round pick with other players to try to bring in an elite scorer. No player should be off limits except Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, including Kemba Walker. We saw the Philadelphia 76ers abruptly deal their young point guard Michael Carter-Williams to the Milwaukee Bucks this year. If management doesn't think it can win a title with the guy, why not go for it?
The Hornets cannot afford another average or bad draft pick. I haven't even mentioned the complete lack of success they have had with second-rounders. The next lottery pick absolutely has to become a pivotal part of this group for years to come.
3. Get More out of the Young Talent
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One of the biggest questions that most Hornets fans likely had this season was: Why were all of Vonleh and Hairston's minutes being given to Marvin Williams, Jeff Taylor and Jason Maxiell?
That accomplished nothing. It never made any sense to throw away the rookie years of two high-upside first-rounders for some exceedingly mediocre pieces. There was no chance of Williams, Taylor and Maxiell getting this team where it needed to be.
One can only hope Steve Clifford learned from that decision, because Vonleh and Hairston have to be big parts of the revitalization process. Even if Charlotte wins 15 games next year, it will be better off getting these two lots of experience.
Prior to the month of April, Vonleh saw just 110 minutes all season, a laughable amount for a No. 9 overall pick regardless of the fact that he is just 19. Hairston also has never gotten into a rhythm due to a lack of time.
Both players have clear deficiencies and areas to improve upon, but they weren't going to get any better by sitting on the bench every night. They would have been better off spending the entire season in the D-league.
Hairston and Vonleh both need big and productive offseasons, and Clifford has to reward them by giving them longer leashes next year. He never even gave them the chance to prove they weren't ready.
2. Resolve the Lance Stephenson Situation
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This is where things get hairy.
The talented shooting guard came over from the Indiana Pacers this offseason on a three-year deal. He was supposed to take this team to the next level and subsequently take the next steps in his development. The exact opposite happened.
Stephenson and Walker did not mesh at all from day one, which was surprising given their somewhat similar styles. Stephenson clearly benefited from playing alongside Paul George in Indy, and he looked like a shell of his former self all year. He quickly set up shop in Clifford's dog house, and both parties could not gain any traction in figuring out how to get more out of his abilities.
He showed glimpses of his usual rebounding and passing prowess, but his scoring ability completely abandoned him. He actually has put together the worst three-point shooting season in NBA history, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
Yeah, it was that bad.
Another troubling stat is that his numbers were nearly identical in wins and losses. It was a huge dip from last year's stats with Indiana, where he saw his totals take a huge hit in Pacers defeats. Teams usually live and die with their best players, so for Stephenson's production to have such a minimal impact in the win column is puzzling.
One way or another, something has to be done here. The most likely scenario is that Clifford goes or Stephenson does. Stephenson was not brought here to be an afterthought off the bench. This is a guy who led the NBA in triple-doubles last season with five, only to log just two double-doubles this year. It is painful to watch him aimlessly dribble around on offense and flounder in uncertainty.
Should both end up staying, there will need to be a drastic change in philosophy within the entire club. Charlotte is not in a good enough position to be able to stomach a bad free-agent signing of this magnitude. It'll either have to bite the bullet and trade him for cents on the dollar or use as much duct tape as possible to patch things together.
1. Refine Al Jefferson's Role...or Move On
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Al Jefferson cannot shoulder the load of carrying a playoff contender any longer. Charlotte found that out the hard way this season.
Last year, Big Al went nuts in the second half with 24.5 points and 11.4 rebounds a night to lead the Bobcats to their second-ever playoff berth. We never saw that Al Jefferson this year.
The 30-year-old big man slowed to 16.6 points and 8.4 rebounds this season, his lowest totals since 2006-07. It is possible he never fully recovered from his plantar fascia injury in last year's playoffs, but it is also possible that Father Time is simply catching up to him.
Last season was a bit of a renaissance for him, and the bar was probably set too high. For one year, he was a defensive stopper and a lethal No. 1 option on offense once again.
Charlotte is sacrificing its future if it thinks it will get that version of him ever again.
Last season, it helped the rest of the team to rely on the big man so much. His consistent low-post prowess acted as a crutch on offense, but now it is hurting everyone else's development. This group cannot be so one-dimensional if it wants to improve next year. His efficiency slowed to 1.071 points per shot, which was actually 12th on just his own team.
They need an audible here. Jefferson can still be a great player in this league, but he needs more help in order to do that. Clifford needs to take a long look at the ways the Memphis Grizzlies utilize Zach Randolph or the Chicago Bulls use Pau Gasol. Both have been rejuvenated later in their careers due to good coaching, lightened scoring loads and being in better team-oriented surroundings.
However, Jefferson's contract issue complicates everything.
He has a player option of $13.5 million for 2015-16. He could exercise this and play one more year before hitting unrestricted free agency the following season, hoping to cash in when the league raises its salary cap, or he could opt out now and hope to secure one more big payday should he feel like his skills are starting to abandon him a bit.
Big Al is great, but he might not be what Charlotte needs. He has always been a power forward in a center's body. Last year, he put it all together and played great defense, but he has been a below-average defender for most of his career. He cannot move his feet quickly, protect the rim, rebound at an elite level or run the floor anymore. A young center like the aforementioned Willie Cauley-Stein could very well do those things.
Obviously, the ball is in Jefferson's court. Should he return, Charlotte will have to do a better job accommodating him to make sure he continues to produce at a high level. If not, the Hornets will waste another year of developing the talent around him and doom its future even further.
What we do know is that Jefferson's days leading a successful team are all but over.
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