The Charlotte Hornets have just concluded another underwhelming season. When evaluating what’s wrong with this franchise, there are many things to consider, as they have only won 48 games in the last two years.
Even though the front office might not be able to turn the club around right away, just taking care of the immediate problems would help a lot. Charlotte has a young and talented core, but it needs to decide how best to develop around it going ahead. Even if the problems are obvious, they can be resolved.
The Hornets are among the worst teams in the NBA when it comes to deep ball defense, and they have been for a long, in case you were unaware. Currently, Charlotte has given up a league-worst 39.6% 3PT percentage when traveling this season, and has allowed the fifth-highest 3PT% in two of the previous three seasons.
They will have trouble closing out on the perimeter even if every player on the squad stays healthy. Fortunately, though, the Hornets will have several options to deal with this issue.
Owing to their transactions before the trade deadline, they ought to have an abundance of options during their free agency. They will have complete access to the $12.9 million Mid-Level Exception and the $4.6 million Bi-Annual Exception annually upon Miles Bridges’s return. They might save up as much as $20 million in CAP space if Bridges left. When you take into account the possibility that the team will receive an early draft pick, there’s no reason to believe they won’t have a number of options going forward. The Hornets must give defensive ability first priority when evaluating possible players this offseason, regardless of the method of acquisition.
