Report: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Essentially Out for Season
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has a torn labrum. That changes a lot of things. Now there is no three week fix or three month fix. He is essentially gone for the season, because a torn labrum takes six months to heal properly according to a report from Yahoo Sports Adrian Wojnarowski.
Today was going to be my drastic fix plan, but again I was not expecting this particular news to hit. So I am pushing off the drastic plan for tomorrow. The Hornets have to deal with this situation now and it is a particularly head scratching one. Ideally, Coach Steve Clifford wanted to have a team that used defensive pressure to suppress opponent scoring. No one on the roster was better suited for that than Kidd-Gilchrist. He’s gone.
You would expect the Hornets to make some sort of move, and they did. They signed veteran forward and former NC State Wolfpack player Damien Wilkins to fill the vacant roster spot according to a report from Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Wilkins at 35 is not a big minute solution. That means the Hornets believe that their fix is on the roster already.
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Easy money would be on Nicolas Batum, who has some flexibility to play both wing positions. Batum is not the gifted defender that Kidd-Gilchrist was, so this might be a gain offensively but a loss defensively. There was also a plan to make Batum a Stephen Jackson type of secondary ball handler. That could still happen, but it will look a little strange from the three spot. On the other hand it might create matchup issues elsewhere for the opposition.
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If Batum moves, and that seems like an easy call now that Kidd-Gilchrist is out for good, then the next step is who fills the void at the shooting guard. PJ Hairston is not ready for such a role. That means that Jeremy Lamb would likely be promoted. Lamb did start in the exhibition game against the Miami Heat.
The last consideration is small forward depth. Behind Batum is a void of sorts. Wilkins will see some of those minutes and it is not impossible for Hairston to see some of them as well. The final guy grabbing minutes at the three could be Marvin Williams.
Could we have signed Gerald Wallace? Guess there will always be NBA Street Vol. 3. Check back tomorrow for drastic Hornet plan.