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Charlotte Hornets: Center of Focus

By John Woodcock

Mar 17, 2016; Denver , CO, USA; Purdue Boilermakers center A.J. Hammons (20) on the bench in the first half of Purdue vs Arkansas Little Rock in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2016; Denver , CO, USA; Purdue Boilermakers center A.J. Hammons (20) on the bench in the first half of Purdue vs Arkansas Little Rock in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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The sticking point for the Charlotte Hornets has always been the defense in the middle. Is this the year they address it?

The last of these predraft Charlotte Hornets pieces covers the big men. The Hornets are looking for a certain kind of big man, the defensive minded shot blocker type. Offensive production would be a nice bonus, but the team has other bigs who can score.

The Hornets brought in more of these guys to work out than the other two player types that we have looked at. They brought in Diamond Stone, Stephen Zimmerman Jr. A.J. Hammons, Thon Maker, and Chinanu Onuaku. So what if one of these guys is the pick?

If the Hornets draft a center then one thing becomes absolutely certain. That one thing is that Al Jefferson will not be back next season. Adding an additional post man means there are too many bodies to justify to bringing back Jefferson so he can come off the bench.

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Rim protection is an important element to any defense and the Hornets have not had much of it. They have made do because they had to, but ultimately you need that element to suppress another team’s score. Going out and signing it in free agency can get expensive. Consider that Dwight Howard opted out of his $23 million contract for next season in the belief that he can make closer to thirty million next year.

The Hornets can’t play in that market. They only have the money for one max guy and right now that is Nicolas Batum. That points toward grabbing a big shot blocker. That would be nullified of course if the Hornets believed that either Frank Kaminsky or Cody Zeller would become shot blockers. Cody averaged .9 blocks per game last season while Frank had half a block a game. To be fair, each of them played only a little twenty minutes per game.

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So which of these guys do you grab. I am partial to Hammons because of his statistical strength. However Hammons has been falling down the draft board due to character issues and his age. Hammons will turn twenty-four before the season starts. He currently is found early in the second round of most mock drafts.

Stone, Zimmerman, and especially Maker are all raw talents that will need time to adjust to the League. Hammons will probably adjust faster. That is not to say that the Hornets would turn down superior talent for long term benefit. This is the team that drafted Bismack Biyombo after all. Owner Michael Jordan once drafted Kwame Brown.

Next: What's the Point

I feel that this is where the true issue lies, at the center position. There is just enough uncertainty to allow the team to use that dreaded ‘best player available’ banner to describe their process. After all this and they might draft one of the Croatians instead just to put a wrench in the system.

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