Finishing with an identical record as last year, the Charlotte Hornets ended the season 36-46 and landed in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. The Hornets will have the 11th-best lottery odds and will need a top pick to aid in the rebuilding process.
The Hornets had high hopes of making the playoffs to begin the season, with the Eastern Conference becoming weaker with the departures of Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Jimmy Butler, but their inability to perform on the road, coupled with one of the worst team field goal percentages, left them out of the postseason for the second straight year.
Going 15-26 on the road, the Hornets were unable to execute their game plan away from the Spectrum Center. This is a place Charlotte has always struggled; since the NBA has been back in Charlotte, no team has had a winning road record. This disappointing road record is indicative of their streakiness as well, as four times this season the Hornets had a win streak of more than three games that they immediately followed with a losing streak of four or more games.
The abysmal field goal shooting was another big reason for the lack of success. After hovering near the bottom of the league all season, the Hornets finished 24th in field goal percentage; for a team that was 10th best in the Eastern Conference, that is a surprising number. If the Hornets had taken better shots this season, they most likely would have made the playoffs.
The acquisition of Dwight Howard last offseason turned out to be a key contributor to the what little success the Hornets achieved this year. Howard, who averaged 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds while finishing ninth in the league in blocks, has had his best season since 2013-14 when he was with the Houston Rockets.
Howard led the team in rebounds and blocks while coming in second in points behind guard Kemba Walker, who led the team with 22.1 points per game. Walker became the Hornets’ all-time career scoring record holder this season, when he broke Dell Curry’s record of 9,839 points, with a layup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 28 of this year.
Walker saw a less efficient season than 2016-17, but still managed to make the All-Star Team for his second consecutive appearance.
After season’s end, the Hornets hired former Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak to replace former general manager Richard Cho.
Kupchak saw a successful career with the Lakers, where he won four championships in 10 years and has immediately shown that he wants a change of culture, as he fired head coach Steve Clifford just five days into his new position.
Clifford was head coach for five years and made the playoffs twice during that time. He finishes with a 196-214 regular-season record in his first head coaching position.
The Hornets will be looking to make some offseason moves, as they need a new coach and will also be trying to shop around Walker, Howard and Nicolas Batum in search of young talent or draft picks.
