This post is part of a series I'm trying to make regarding the Hornets offseason. The main post with more info here.
Looking at the preview:
So before the season started I posted a text about expectations and goals for the 21/22 season. It's safe to say that the final stretch of the season gave all Hornets fan a bittersweet feeling, after spending a good part of the season in the top 6 but dealing with the rise on competition on the East definitely led to some frustration after the all-star break. However, when we look at some points addressed before the season, it's clear that the Hornets fate was already sealed as a borderline playoff team. The problem we all knew before was indeed exposed throughout the year.
The problems wrote on the wall:
The worst center rotation in the league (from playoff contenders) and still are shopping for a good one
Until the trade deadline, the rotation consisted of Plumlee, Washington and Richards. That was clearly a problem during that period, Plumlee is a decent backup playing as a 30 min guy, PJ is undersized and not ready yet to bang up with big guys for more than small stretches and Richards lacked skill/IQ/reaction to make simple plays. We were exposed by centers during the entire season, people posting 20/20 games and as a result of that (coupled with the next point), the team really lacked the ability to make a stop, contest drives at the rim, and protect the glass.
On offense, Plumlee also slowly lost confidence in taking hits and drawing fouls as he pretty much gave up on his FT mid-season (when his ft% reached ~35% he started shooting them left-handed, and actually improved to ~40% lol). With Harrell arrival, his ability to give an energy spark and paint presence from the bench definitely was felt, and the team was able to insert him fast into the team. Anyway, since he's a negative in defense, he wasn't able to be in late-game situations or help solve any of the defensive issues. Even if the Harrell deal was good and gave the team a bump, it's clear he is far from a real starter or long-term solution. The team is still going for the 3rd offseason in a row in the search of a solution for the position.
Lack of elite defenders
The team has neutral to positive defenders: Hayward, Martin and Washington. None of the 3 are lockdown defenders and can't reliably contain good offensive players. Considering other important players, Rozier and Bridges have some good effort and posture but the fact that they played as undersized SG and PF (respectively) usually turned them into players abused by the other team. Lamelo still isn't disciplined enough, gambles too much and gets caught on picks too easily, he can read the pass and get deflection/steals but he still needs to commit to keeping in front of people more and using his size to give a hard time for guards on drives. Oubre is too inconsistent and since he was needed on offense too much, more often than not wasn't engaged on the other end of the floor.
Trouble playing when the pace is slowed down
Mainly a result of Lamelo still not being able to draw contact or develop a mid-range game away from his floater (who when isn't dropping simply loses confidence to drive). Hayward's injury also made a huge impact on our offense being unable to play in more controlled scenarios. Gordon usually knew the time for him to assume scoring duties and his polished offensive game made him someone that other guys could throw a pass and he would find a play from nothing. Not to sound repetitive, but a reliable interior presence also has a lot to do with that since there usually wasn't a target inside the paint that could grab a pass and make a play down low (except for Harrell).
Hayward injury misfortunes
Once again, Hayward was unlucky on a play and went down and the team immediately went on a terrible streak that turned us from a team fighting for the 4th seed to fighting for the 8th seed. He's usually not the 1st option for the team, but his versatility, calmness, above average defense and ability to play off others really made it easy for everyone else to play the game.
The positive thing is that PJ was put in a better position. He became a starter and with Harrell arrival, he didn't need to always be filling the center minutes. With that, he clearly showed he is a starter-level PF and probably the closest thing we have from a good 2-way player. Going into the offseason, it's safe to say that Gordon's injury hurt any value he can have in trade negotiations. However, as much as the latest news shows that he can be traded this offseason, those rumors don't come from inside the organization so it's probably more on other GMs/FOs talking about what they think we should/could do.
Worst news we didn't expect coming in:
Bouknight and Jones lack of minutes
As we pointed out during the preview, all the offseason moves from 20/21 indicated the direction of the team opening minutes for the 2 first-round picks of the 21 draft to play a role within the rotation. Monk (the team tried to resign him but anyway didn't sign a FA to fill his role) and Graham's departure from the team was supposed to be an indication that guard minutes were being opened for the 11th pick on the draft to have a role from the bench. However, as time went by and most of those minutes were filled by Ish Smith and Cody Martin, expectations crumbled. James had a moment where he saw his minutes increase but (as the fortune of Hornets usually goes) he got injured in the middle of it. A similar tale happened with Kai. The rookie that the Hornets fell in love with and traded to draft was supposed to be given a chance when the roster only had Plumlee as an NBA-ready center, but that didn't come to fruition at all. Jones was garbage minutes material during the entire season.
With that being said, it needs to be pointed out that this is usually a treatment given to rookies by coach Borrego. With the exception of Lamelo, rookies are developed internally and using the G-League since JB's arrival and that was the route taken with both first-rounders again this year. As questionable as that is, it will be proven or not to be worth next year, when both are (again supposedly) going to have important roles from the bench for the team. As long as it's a convenient (and attempt to be the best possible) decision, the coaching staff will have to be trusted and prove it was worth it when those guys finally hit the NBA floor.
Finishing the text on the high notes:
Ball and Bridges rise
Went from a duo seem in highlight to two actual borderline all-stars that can take over games. Melo joined elite company, only Luka and Bron put the same numbers (20/5/5) before turning 20. Bridges became a trouble to defend and made a jump from a 13 to a 20 ppg guy in a team that already have more weapons than ammo. Miles also now is a (good) problem for the FO, with his RFA status, the Hornets will probably be making the biggest decision of their future this offseason (considering Lamelo seems bound for an auto max).
Above five hundred
Was clearly a goal of the team to have a positive season since the Hayward signing and in year 2 we pulled it off, improving the year before by 10 wins. If the East wasn't so competitive this year, who knows what seeding we would've had. 43 wins are also the most wins by Charlotte since 15/16, and the highest win total by a team that finished 10th in its conference since the Seattle Supersonics (rip) posted a 44-38 mark in 00-01.
Elite (showtime) offense
Flashy, fast and unstoppable at times. The hornets fast-paced and ball/scoring share style of play made them a top 10 offense, league-leading in assists and a top 10 all-time on 3 pt made. Also, Bridges, Ball, Hayward, Rozier and Oubre - all over 15 ppg - made the offense pretty balanced and with no clear 1st option, hard for opponents to plan it out. As a fan, it was one of the funniest seasons to follow. Since the team has glaring and obvious weaknesses, it's easy to be disappointed but at the same time, they're so easy to see that will take a very negligent FO to not at least try to address them.
That's it for the season review. I hope that if you're reading this it probably means you read through everything. Anyway, please give feedback on the post as a whole if you have one. Also, share your thoughts on the Hornets season as a neutral/rival/Hornets fan, please. If you want, share your thoughts about our team too, did they had the season they were supposed to? Thanks for being here, see you soon on the replies and on the (hopefully shorter) individual players note.