The Charlotte Hornets have finished just over half of their season, so let’s take a look back at the first 42 games of the Hornets season to see how they are doing.
The Hornets are 17-25 this season which puts them 11th in the Eastern Conference, and five games back of the Detroit Pistons who are currently in the last playoff spot.
The Hornets were expected to make the playoffs this season in a weaker conference after the likes of forward Paul George, wing Carmelo Anthony and guard Jimmy Butler were traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively, in the West.
To go along with these big names being moved out of the East, the Hornets acquired center Dwight Howard and drafted Malik Monk, a guard out of Kentucky, with the No. 11 draft pick — which was considered a drop for the sharpshooter who was thought to be a top-10 pick after his stellar freshman year with the Wildcats.
However, Monk has yet to start a game for Charlotte this season and is just averaging 5.6 points per game, playing 13.7 minutes per game in his 33 games. Howard, who has been closer to expectations, leads the team in rebounds and blocks with 12.4 and 1.4 per game, respectively.
The star of the Hornets team, though, has obviously been guard Kemba Walker. Walker earned his first All-Star selection last year for carrying the Hornets for much of the season as he has done again this year.
Walker leads the team in points, assists, steals, minutes and player efficiency rating. The Connecticut product, who is averaging 21.7 points per game, is the only Hornet averaging over 20 points per game with Howard in second scoring 15.5 per game.
Guard Nicolas Batum missed the first several weeks of the season with a torn ligament in his elbow, and has taken some of the load off of Walker’s shoulders since his return. Batum has averaged 10.4 points per game along with 4.7 assists, trailing only Walker in assists.
Known for his lack of offensive ability, forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has once again come up short, averaging just 10 points per game; in fact, his defensive game has even slipped a little. His defensive plus-minus has dropped from 2.2 to 1.4 per 100 possessions from last year.
Forward Frank Kaminsky has done very well from a bench role this season, averaging a fourth-best 10.8 points per game on the team, a few points back of the 14 posted by guard Jeremy Lamb.
The Hornets are 6-4 in their last ten games and need to get hot sooner rather than later if they want to make a real push for the playoffs this season.
Charlotte faces some challenging playoff teams in the near future that, if they can defeat, will help their climb in the conference standings.
Steve Clifford and crew go against the current No. 4 seed Miami Heat twice in January and the No. 6 seed Indiana Pacers on Jan. 29 and Feb. 2, which are two beatable teams in the thick of the playoff race.
