Charlotte Hornets: Did We Miss on Biyombo?
The Charlotte Hornets made a first round exit in the NBA Playoffs. Bismack Biyombo saw the conference finals. Did we blow it?
Should the Charlotte Hornets miss Bismack Biyombo? The Hornets are the ones after who decided not to renew his rookie deal for the remaining time.
That turned Biyombo into a free agent and he signed a prove-it deal with the Toronto Raptors. That deal paid him less than his rookie deal as a number 7 pick would have, but Biyombo got to be a part of a playoff roster and an opt out clause at the end of the first year.
Biyombo is likely to use that opt out clause and sign his next deal for more than the $ 3 million he made last year.
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The irony for the Hornets is that Biyombo provided the Raptors with shot blocking and rebounding that the Hornets missed. Even now the Hornets are trying to figure out how to add that shot blocking element back in an off season where their resources may be pushed to very limit.
That answer is not Biyombo, though he was gracious towards the Hornets and held no malice toward them in a report by James Herbert of CBS Sports.
Biyombo averaged six points and eight rebounds in around twenty minutes of action per game. He has filled to about 245 lbs and is no longer the lanky kid from Congo. He is not the African Ben Wallace yet, but there are glimpses that he could get there if given more time.
He can command the loose balls now, and he was particularly instrumental in Toronto’s last two playoff victories against Cleveland. One of those games saw Biyombo drag down twenty-six rebounds. In fact his entire decision to become a free agent might rest on those two games.
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However I still do not believe that Biyombo should have been extended by the Hornets last summer. He had not shown enough yet. Though Biyombo handled the decision maturely, it is still possible that he needed the extra motivation of getting cut in order to step his game. Therefore it is impossible to say whether the Hornets would have gotten the same performance.
The money that was saved from Biyombo was enough to sign Jeremy Lin’s prove-it deal with money left over to bring in journeymen like Tyler Hansbrough and sign free agent rookie Aaron Harrison. Lin was a key man to have. Like Biyombo, he can opt out for better money after a good campaign.
I am glad that Biyombo made the best of things. He went further than the Hornets did in the playoffs. I hope that Biyombo’s career continues to get better. None of that is going to change my belief that he had to go in the summer of 2015 with the data available at the time.