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NBA Power Rankings: Breaking Down Every Team’s Second Unit

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Apr 15, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford gestures from the sidelines against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. The Hornets won 92-87. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

24. Charlotte Hornets

2014-2015 Efficiency Rating: 34.1

The Charlotte Hornets are a mystery. Two years ago, they were a promising young team who made the playoffs. Last year, they were a train wreck. The Lance Stephenson experiment failed miserably and they won a lowly 33 games.

Fast forward to this year. They bring in Nicolas Batum, turn down receiving a king’s ransom type trade from Boston and draft Frank Kaminski, and bring in Jeremy Lin.

Mar 24, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Jeremy Lin (17) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder guard

Dion Waiters

(23) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Not sure which of these is the most concerning. Could be that coach Steve Clifford has expressed interest in playing Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin together at the same time.

The bench last season was mediocre at best. Statistically speaking, they were the worst bench when it came to field goal percentage. The bench as a whole shot a putrid 39 percent from the field.

You do not need advanced analytics to tell you how bad that is.

The issue with this year is they did not do much to improve their shooting. If you look at their back up wings, you have names like Jeremy Lamb, P.J. Hairston, and Troy Daniels. Yes, Daniels can shoot. But bringing in a seldom-used specialist does not qualify as improvement.

The primary concern is their big man rotation. Let’s take a quick look at all of the names.

  1. Al Jefferson
  2. Frank Kaminski
  3. Spencer Hawes
  4. Marvin Williams
  5. Tyler Hansbrough
  6. Cody Zeller

How does one even begin to use all of those players in a rotation? Have the Hornets brass given up on Zeller? Is Tyler Hansbrough just a ploy to sell tickets to the Tar Heel faithful? Is there any athletic big man on the roster?

Too many questions, not enough answers. There is an interesting dynamic brewing in Charlotte and it doesn’t appear to be a positive one. This bench will most likely be a bottom dwelling group, unless of course we have a replication of Linsanity. However, don’t count on it.

Next: Los Angeles Clippers