New Energy Brings New Hope For Hornets

Cover Image
Photo credit Jason Huber/WFNZ

A week ago, it looked as though the Charlotte Hornets would once again end their season by missing the playoffs and losing All-Star guard Kemba Walker in free agency with no real future direction in sight.  

Charlotte had lost nine of its last 12 games and sat with a 31-39 record after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers and getting blown out by the Miami Heat, the team they're trying to catch.

The Hornets fell to 10th in the Eastern Conference standings, 2.5 games behind the eighth-place Heat with 12 games to play. 

Fast forward a week, Charlotte is on a four-game winning streak, its longest of the season, and is winning not from strong play by Walker, shooting guard Jeremy Lamb or forward Nic Batum, but because of a rotation heavily involving first- and second-year players.

“The fine line is our young guys are helping us win games right now and I’m going to ride with them right now," head coach James Borrego said. “They’re playing very well, they’ve got a great spirit about them. Our young guys are battling, keeping us in a good position right now and we’re going to run with that.”

Rookie Devonte' Graham, who was drafted in the second round, and second-year players Malik Monk and Dwayne Bacon weren't even in the team's rotation just a few weeks ago.

Graham and Bacon spent a majority of the season in the NBA G-League in Greensboro, and Monk, whom Charlotte drafted with the 11th overall pick in 2017, had fallen out of Borrego's rotation completely.

The Hornets weren't looking to make any changes after standing pat at the trade deadline. The team still believed that playoffs aspirations were realistic.

Borrego placed Bacon in the starting lineup over Batum, the team’s highest paid player, against Minnesota on March 21. Borrego also played Graham, Monk and center Willy Hernangomez meaningful minutes against the Timberwolves that the Hornets went on to win in a close game.

Additionally, after the All-Star break, Borrego elected to start rookie Miles Bridges and have Lamb come off the bench, leaving one to believe that the Hornets had thrown in the towel and would focus on developing the young talent.

Fourth-year center Frank Kaminsky also found himself in the rotation after being listed as a healthy scratch in 20 of the team's first 25 games to start the new year.

"They’ve been sitting there for a while now, and they’ve stayed ready and continued to do their work," Borrego said after the Minnesota game. "Malik knocked down some shots. I think we saw the flashes of Malik that we’re looking for and give him a lot of credit he was battling on the defensive end as well.”

With injuries piling up to veteran center Cody Zeller, forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, guard Tony Parker, and Batum, Borrego had no choice but to stick with the young players.

In a home game against Boston on March 23, the Hornets found themselves trailing by 18.

But Charlotte fought all the way back to win 124-117, with Bridges finishing with a career-high 20 points, while Monk chipped in 13 and Bacon with 11.

“I’m just so happy for them," Borrego said after the game. "Think about the moments that these young guys are getting to play in right now, in a game like this where the game is on the line against a very good team in a playoff hunt."

“Miles played 34 minutes and had 20 points. Dwayne closes down the stretch, played 32 minutes and hits a big three down the stretch. Malik gave us good minutes. Willy gave us good minutes, as well, so I’m just so proud of them and really happy for them and I think this is our future. These are the guys that are going to be with us for a long time.”

The Hornets didn't have much time to celebrate with a back-to-back game the next day in Toronto, that wound up being a wild finish and one that could very well save the season.

Charlotte led most of the way, but the Raptors came back to take a 114-112 lead with three seconds remaining.

This time, Lamb helped out the young guys with a 48-foot game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Hornets their third-straight victory. Bacon finished with 20 points, Bridges had 16, Hernangomez finished with 13 and Graham chipped in 10.

"I think our group wants to use it as fuel to keep it going. You know we have some momentum now and we want to keep going," Borrego said. "That’s the mentality, not be satisfied with the win, but build on it.”

Confidence continued to build for Borrego and the young core and Charlotte won its fourth-straight game Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs in overtime.

Walker scored 38 points, with 11 in overtime, and Bacon backed him up with a career-high 24 points and six rebounds. Kaminsky added 15 points.

“He believes in us.” -Dwayne Bacon on the confidence he’s gained and that Borrego has put in the young players pic.twitter.com/7Ul98nj6yu

— WFNZ-AM/FM (@wfnz) March 27, 2019

"I remember a lot last year when I played – and even some this year early in the year when I was playing, I wasn’t too confident," Bacon said. "But now, I’m in the groove. I know how I can play. I know what I can do. I know what I can bring to the table and I’m just confident in myself and I believe.”

It finally looks like the Hornets have a young core that can help guide the franchise with or without Walker, and playing in meaningful games in the midst of a playoff hunt only increases the optimism.

“They play hard. They have great energy. I don’t know if I can keep up with them, to tell you the truth,” Walker said. “They are out there moving so fast. It’s the future of this organization and I’m trying my best to be the best leader I can for those guys. When adversity hits, these guys are looking at me.”

Whether or not the strong play from young players affects Walker's upcoming free agency decision is yet to be seen, but either way, Charlotte has proven it’s not done yet.

“This is super important. We’re still trying to accomplish a goal here," Walker said. "We want to win as much as possible. We’re taking it one game at a time. Guys are locked in right now. I’m excited, we’re all excited to see what happens. Anything is possible."