Charlotte Hornets: Did They Lose Their Playoff Sting This Summer?

After a few big losses this offseason, we explore whether the Charlotte Hornets can replicate last year’s playoff success

After a successful year with Jeremy Lin, the developing Kemba Walker, rookie Frank Kaminsky and a strong group of forwards in Nicolas Batum and recently re-signed Marvin Williams, the Charlotte Hornets found themselves in an epic seven-game series with the now Dwyane Wade-less Heat.

Despite the loss in the first round of the playoffs, many felt that the 2016-17 Hornets were going to be positioned for success in the Eastern Conference.

After Lin, Courtney Lee and Al Jefferson all decided to move on from Charlotte in free agency, the Hornets, because of salary cap restrictions, were forced to replace their production with little-to-no pieces.

Unless, of course, you count an aging Roy Hibbert. Nevertheless, the Charlotte Hornets’ hopes of reaching success in the playoffs – again – have taken a serious setback, at least on paper.

Losing the efficiency of averaging 11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3 assists over 26.3 minutes per game in his only season with the Hornets, Lin’s absence will be felt. With the Hornets being relatively quiet in the sweepstakes of chasing down big free agents, how will the Charlotte Hornets look in the upcoming season?

Charlotte Hornets Free Agency Recap

Jeremy Lin – Signed to the Brooklyn Nets
Al Jefferson – Signed to the Indiana Pacers
Courtney Lee – Signed to the New York Knicks

Additions:

Nicolas Batum – Re-signed with the Charlotte Hornets
Marvin Williams – Re-signed with the Charlotte Hornets
Roy Hibbert – Free Agent signing to the Charlotte Hornets
Ramon Sessions – Free Agent signing to the Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets still have unrestricted free agents like Tyler Hansbrough who many Charlotte fans are hoping to resign to pad the veteran presence they’ll have coming off the bench.

What Can We Expect from the 2016 Charlotte Hornets?

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So how will the 2016-17 Hornets look against a top heavy Eastern Conference? Its tough to say. If they can somehow capture lightning in a bottle with Roy Hibbert and use the veteran presence of recent trade acquisition, Marco Bellinelli (and Ramon Sessions signing), along with another year of development for Kaminsky and Walker, they could still look strong enough to sneak into the first round of the playoffs.

The strength of their squad will shift strongly to Batum, Walker, Williams and the other starters. That is an incredibly optimistic look at their potential for this upcoming season.

With the strength of their team being essentially a couple of starters, an average and aging bench, and losing production like Jefferson, Lin and Lee, perhaps the Hornets may need to sign free agent Lance Stephenson back for some familiarity in the roster.

With the recent news from the league that they are moving the All-Star Game from Charlotte, and the Hornets using a free agency strategy of accumulating so much veteran presence, the Hornets’ 2016-17 season will be an interesting one.

He blames the repeat injury on bad luck. “I just fell on my shoulder,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “It was a freak accident.”

They have the ability to build off last year’s success by relying on their youthful core, a healthy Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who is coming off a “freak accident”, and both Kemba and Batum to take the next step to repeat their success this year.

However, the major changes and loss of talent on the roster, and lack of replacing those losses with quality players, will create a tough challenge for the 2016-17 Charlotte Hornets. With the likes of Cleveland, Boston, Indiana, Toronto, New York and other teams taking another leap into a potential playoff run, the Charlotte Hornets could find a hard time repeating last year’s success.

Next year’s Hornets will be playing ball in Buzz City, but with the uncertainty in their roster they will lose any sting they had this year and it’s difficult to see them repeating their success from last year and grabbing a playoff spot.

2016-17 Projected Starters for the Charlotte Hornets

Kemba Walker
Nicolas Batum
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Marvin Williams
Cody Zeller