NBA: Ranking the top 5 storylines as training camp approaches

5. Will the Charlotte Hornets be historically bad?

Ok, so this one is cheating a little bit, as I don’t think anyone would consider anything about the Charlotte Hornets, especially without Kemba Walker, a top story. But I started to think about exactly that, the Hornets without Kemba, and then I looked at their current projected roster. And the conclusion I came to was the Charlotte Hornets might be historically bad.

The Philadelphia 76ers have the distinct honor of being the first and second worst teams record-wise over the course of an 82 game regular season, going 9-73 during the 1972-73 season and 10-72 in 2015-16, the pinnacle of ‘The Process’. After that, a handful of teams have won as few as 10-13 games, a few even reaching middle single digits in shortened seasons. So for the sake of this argument, I’d categorize anything 14 wins or less as historically bad.

Terry Rozier is the best player, in theory. The shiny new toy who turned in a solid, albeit inefficient playoff run a few years ago into a multi-year contract, is probably at best the 24th or 25th best starting point guard in the NBA (According to ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus he was 42nd last year as a reserve for Boston). Nic Batum and Marvin Williams, who I was shocked to find out are only 30 and 33, respectively, would be solid bench guys on contending teams, but nowhere near starters minutes. Same for Cody Zeller, who actually has been quite productive when healthy.

After that, they feature a core of young guys, who outside of Miles Bridges, leave very little to be desired. Malik Monk still has some intrigue as an off the bench spark plug. But as a generally listed 6-foot-3 two-guard, he’s a defensive liability with little playmaking ability. I guess they have Michael Kidd-Gilchrist…..and Bismack Biyombo.

The East, while still the weaker conference, is tougher as a whole. The eight teams that made the playoffs a year ago, got better or stood pat. Non-playoff teams such as the Heat, Hawks, and Bulls should be significantly better (on paper).

The Hornets got worse. Vegas has their over/under win total at 23.5. I’m taking the under. Way under.