Power Rankings
Overall rank: 15th
Tier: Playoff Hopefuls
Projected Seeding: 8th in East
Building off of the success of year one of the PG Kemba Walker/C Al Jefferson duo, the Hornets added SG Lance Stephenson to the fold, in an effort to make a playoff push in year two of Walker/Jefferson. We all know that experiment was an awful disaster, but Michael Jordan and Co. finally look like they have the right pieces for a potential playoff run in year 3 of their star duo. Stephenson is long gone (phew) and was replaced by SF/SG Nicolas Batum on the wing, a do-it-all player who particularly excels on the defensive end – a perfect complimentary piece to offensive stars like Walker and Jefferson. SG Jeremy Lamb was brought in from Oklahoma City for next-to-nothing, and not only is he a knockdown three-point shooter, but he already has great chemistry with Walker from their days at UConn where they won a National Championship together. SF Michael-Kidd Gilchrist will probably start somewhere, even if it means shuffling around with Batum’s position, as Kidd-Gilchrist is a defensive ace with a rapidly growing all-around game, almost just like Batum. Rookie PF/C Frank Kaminsky has as good of a shot as anyone (no pun intended) to start next to Jefferson at power forward, as Kaminsky is a fantastic shooter, which is exactly what Jefferson needs next to him in order to operate in the post. This team just has it all: playmaking (Walker), shooting (Lamb, Batum, Kaminsky), defense (Batum, Kidd-Gilchrist), and offense (Walker, Jefferson). With several key bench players as well, such as PG Jeremy Lin, PF/C Cody Zeller, and C/PF Spencer Hawes, it would be surprising if we found out that the Charlotte front office messed it up this time as well.
Overall rank: 15th
Tier: Playoff Hopefuls
Projected Seeding: 8th in East
Building off of the success of year one of the PG Kemba Walker/C Al Jefferson duo, the Hornets added SG Lance Stephenson to the fold, in an effort to make a playoff push in year two of Walker/Jefferson. We all know that experiment was an awful disaster, but Michael Jordan and Co. finally look like they have the right pieces for a potential playoff run in year 3 of their star duo. Stephenson is long gone (phew) and was replaced by SF/SG Nicolas Batum on the wing, a do-it-all player who particularly excels on the defensive end – a perfect complimentary piece to offensive stars like Walker and Jefferson. SG Jeremy Lamb was brought in from Oklahoma City for next-to-nothing, and not only is he a knockdown three-point shooter, but he already has great chemistry with Walker from their days at UConn where they won a National Championship together. SF Michael-Kidd Gilchrist will probably start somewhere, even if it means shuffling around with Batum’s position, as Kidd-Gilchrist is a defensive ace with a rapidly growing all-around game, almost just like Batum. Rookie PF/C Frank Kaminsky has as good of a shot as anyone (no pun intended) to start next to Jefferson at power forward, as Kaminsky is a fantastic shooter, which is exactly what Jefferson needs next to him in order to operate in the post. This team just has it all: playmaking (Walker), shooting (Lamb, Batum, Kaminsky), defense (Batum, Kidd-Gilchrist), and offense (Walker, Jefferson). With several key bench players as well, such as PG Jeremy Lin, PF/C Cody Zeller, and C/PF Spencer Hawes, it would be surprising if we found out that the Charlotte front office messed it up this time as well.