How To Fix The Charlotte Hornets In Time For Next Season

Jan 7, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker (15) gets hugs from his teammates after he scores the winning basket during the second half of the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Time Warner Cable Arena. Hornets win 98-94. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

The Charlotte Hornets have been bad this year, and it shows when you look at their record of 32-43 (still better than seven wins).  The Hornets have been inconsistent, and there are a lot issues to point at if you are trying to fix this team.  One major issue plaguing the Hornets this season is a lack of scoring, and more specifically a lack of shooting.  It seemed like a lot of times this season, that if the Hornets went down by 10 or more, then they were almost certain to lose that game.

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The lack of scoring on this team is hurting their ability to stay in games a lot of times.  Good teams can go down by 10, and come back because they have rosters littered with scorers.  When I look at Lance Stephenson, Marvin Williams, and Jason Maxiell I do not see scorers, I see underperforming bench players who lack the ability to score at will.  The ability to score the ball is why PJ Hairston has found his way back on the court.

I truly think that on this team, with the way it is set up, that Hairston is a better option than Stephenson.  Hairston can hit the three ball, he is driving a lot better to the basket, and he is playing better defense lately.  I think moving forward that Hairston will be a solid scoring option for the Hornets, off the bench.

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I however do not see Stephenson in the same light, because he lacks the ability to shoot from deep, and is much more of an assist guy, which is not good for a bench lineup that lacks scorers.  At the beginning of the year I had hoped Stephenson would beat out Gerald Henderson and become that missing piece, and now my hopes are completely gone when it comes to that.

I also believe strongly that this team should never have Maxiell playing any large amount of minutes off the bench, if it wants to be a good team.  No offense to Maxiell, who seems like a good guy, but by now Noah Vonleh should be getting Maxiell’s minutes, for the simple fact that the eye test says he is better. Maxiell is undersized and nowhere near the scorer that Vonleh is.  Just from the time I have seen Vonleh play I can already tell he should be seeing more minutes, because he can put the ball in the basket (the object of basketball ladies and gentlemen).

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I know that defense is a key to winning games, and Steve Clifford is right when he talks about the importance of playing good defense if you want to win.  One thing remains though, and that is no matter how good you play defense, if you cannot put the ball in the basket, you will more than likely lose a lot of games.

The exception to this is if you have a team of incredible defenders which the Hornets do not currently have.  Either Clifford is going to have to bend on the defense thing, and play some scorers, or he will be stuck in the same situation next season.

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As much as I think Clifford should go for the simple fact that the team took a big step backwards this season, I think he will be back next season.  In order for this team to be successful in the NBA of today, they are going to have to run and gun more.  With the young and athletic players that the Hornets have, they should be running all game long, but Al Jefferson slows that down some.  I like Al Jefferson, and he is a dominate player, but I could see him and the Hornets parting ways at the end of this season.

With Al Jefferson gone, the team could focus on pushing the tempo up, and allowing the team’s athleticism to be what drives the team.  The Hornets would still need shooters, (notice I keep mentioning shooting and scoring) but that could come through the draft and free agency.  If I was the Hornets’ front office I would focus on these three players:  Kevon Looney, Mario Hezonja, and Stanley Johnson in the draft, because they all have shooting and scoring ability.  I am still somewhat cautious of Hezonja, but he is a good player when you watch the film on him.

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Looney is a big guy, who has a good looking stroke, but if we decided to pick him we would have to trade away either Cody Zeller or Noah Vonleh.  I could see us parting ways with Zeller for a draft pick in the late first round of this draft (which is a loaded draft by the way).

I do not know much about Johnson, I admit, but his numbers and position, a true small forward, could help this team tremendously.  The player with the most upside, to me, is Hezonja, and the highest floor of any player, to me, is Johnson.  I have a feeling this is a must win draft for Rich Cho, who should be on the hot seat after his failures in free agency and, in my opinion, the drafts he has had as well.  Below, I am going to break down each fix, and why it needs to be done.

The first of the three fixes is, the Hornets need more shooting and scoring as mentioned above, because that has plagued them on the offensive end.  They have the ball movement with the ability of Kemba Walker to penetrate the defense at will, but nobody to throw it to on the perimeter.  Jefferson is not shooting threes (DUH), Zeller is not shooting threes, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is not shooting threes, and Henderson can hit them, but it is not his first choice either.  I believe on a team with more shooters, Walker is an eight or nine assist a game point guard.  Our bench is needing more shooters as well, and proven shooters is what we truly need there.

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The second of the three fixes is, to start running more up tempo offense to take advantage of those young legs, and to allow more easy chances to score.  I believe that if Jefferson does not walk that he should be traded (I know some Hornet’s fans are screaming at me through their computer screen right now).

Jefferson is not meant to play on a team so young, and I think it would be beneficial to both sides to see him go to a contender, while we speed up the offense.  Yes, speed can tire players out, and that is where your bench comes into play.  Even Lance Stephenson off the bench would benefit from playing with more speed.

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The last fix is the Hornets need to improve their roster, through the draft, with the right player this year. In previous years I wondered (I still do) if we would have picked Harrison Barnes would we be where we are now, with the team outside the playoff race.  I also wondered if we would have just picked Nerlens Noel over Zeller, would we be worried enough about the big man position to take Vonleh with our ninth pick last year.  I honestly think if we had Barnes and Noel we would be a playoff team right now, but we do not have them.  I like MKG and Zeller, but Barnes and Noel would fit in with this team better right now.

If the Hornets fix these three issues, I could see us returning to the playoffs in the 2015-2016 season, but if they ignore these issues then they are not going back, it is that simple.  As a huge Hornets’ fan I think that the team can fix their problems, and return to the playoffs, but I want to see proof the team understands their problems as well.

Anyone who has watched the Hornets play this season knows that the team has a lot of holes to fill, but that is what the offseason is for.  Hopefully next season I can watch the team host some games in the playoffs.