NBA offseason status report: Charlotte Hornets – Houston Chronicle

Until the next news bomb drops.

This is normally the slow period and still could be. The predraft process, complete with its trade talks and roster decisions, ended. The draft came and went, followed by the usual free agency transformation of rosters, along with a healthy number of trades.

With summer league complete and front offices generally heading to beaches and golf courses – albeit with cell phones at the ready – things generally get quiet.

But Kevin Durant is still with the Brooklyn Nets, though he would rather not be. Russell Westbrook is still in Los Angeles, though the Lakers perhaps would prefer if he was not. The Jazz’s rush to emulate the rebuilding process of the Thunder and Rockets has not gotten around to a deal to ship out Donovan Mitchell, but that could happen, too.

For now, with enough complete, it seems time to consider the way the deals that have been completed have changed the NBA power structure, from the champion Warriors’ changing out role players to the runner-up Celtics bringing in reinforcements to the annual Lakers’ drama in an effort to keep up with the resurgent team down the hall.

We continue with a look at the Eastern Conference teams that are projected to be in contention for the four play-in spots.

Charlotte Hornets

2021-22 record: 43-39

Welcome: C Mark Williams (first-round pick,) G Bryce McGowins (two-way contract.)

Welcome back: Coach Steve Clifford, G Cody Martin, F Jalen McDaniels.

So long: Coach James Borrego, C Montrezl Harrell, F Miles Bridges, G Scottie Lewis, G Isaiah Thomas.

Somehow, 43-39 and an appearance in a play-in game was not going to appease Michael Jordan.

That fell so far short of his expectations, there is a wide variety of memes that would sufficiently express how he would feel about the notion that he would be satisfied with that.

The Hornets did, however, steadily improve over each of the past three seasons under James Borrego, a considerable climb from 23-42 in 2019-20.

Improvement, however, was not enough to make the Hornets a playoff team or to get Borrego more time, just as the slide to consecutive 36-win seasons did not allow his predecessor, Steve Clifford, to keep his job.

But the Hornets roster has improved since Clifford left town, with a high-powered starting lineup that if nothing else will put numbers. And Jordan did notice that when Clifford was in charge, the defense was generally solid and some years, better than that in the Kemba Walker era.

So, with the Hornets feeling pressure make significant progress now, Clifford is back on the Charlotte bench, expected to take the Hornets to the next step, or at least a playoff spot.

The Hornets have not won a playoff series in so long, they have been Hornets, Bobcats and Hornets again since they got out of the first round more than 20 years ago with Rockets coach Stephen Silas beginning his coaching career under his father, Paul Silas. Both left after that 2001-02 season and the Hornets have reached the post-season just three times in 18 seasons, an almost Sacramento Kings level of irrelevance after a coaching change.

To remedy that, Clifford will try to get the Hornets’ defense at least to middle of the pack level. Only eight teams had a worse defensive rating than the Hornets last season, when only seven had a better offensive rating. But the Hornets did not do much to change things with the roster.

The addition of Mark Williams in the draft seemed just right for the roster, but as much as he should eventually bring the rim protection the Hornets desperately need, it might be a bit much to expect that a 19-year-old rookie will transform the defense. Other than that, the Hornets brought back Cody Martin and called it a day.

They have not come close to replacing their leading scorer, Miles Bridges, who remains a restricted free agent facing three felony domestic violence and two child abuse charges. He pleaded not guilty but though the Hornets did not withdraw their qualifying offer, there is a void in what was an outstanding starting lineup.

LaMelo Ball could keep things working, as long as Gordon Hayward stays healthy enough to play more than the 49 games he played last season or the 44 (in a 72-game season) he played the year before, his first in Charlotte.

Ball’s emergence as a sensational playmaker could be expected to keep the Hornets’ offense humming. He and Terry Rozier have grown to be an effective backcourt combination. P.J. Washington might be able to step in at Bridges’ spot in a lineup that would seem likely to work, but that worked exceedingly poorly last season.

With Washington starting, the bench seems shorthanded, though Kelly Oubre Jr. had his best shooting season of his career.

In a season the Hornets will be looking to make significant strides forward, it could be all they can do to avoid taking a step back. 

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