When the NBA All-Star festivities take place this weekend in Chicago, the Charlotte Hornets won't have an All-Star for the first time in three years.
However, the one thing they will have is three players competing in the Rising Stars Game, where first- and second-year players compete against one another. That's tied for the most representatives by a single team in the game.
The three players, rookie PJ Washington, and second-year players Miles Bridges and Devonte' Graham are currently regular starters for Charlotte.
"There's a lot of positives here,” Borrego said. “These guys are getting better. I see a lot of growth here. I think it speaks volumes for our organization."
With general manager Mitch Kupchak buying out the expiring contracts of veteran forward Marvin Williams and former No. 2 overall pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, rather than trying to make a savvy trade deadline move, it showed that after years of being mediocre, Charlotte is willing to build from the bottom up.
Not many expected the Hornets to be good this season after losing Walker and second-leading scorer Jeremy Lamb, thus believing it would be a season of tanking for a high lottery pick.
When Kupchak completed a sign-and-trade of Walker by acquiring point Terry Rozier on a four-year deal, it gave the impression that Charlotte was once again entering the season trying to fight for the No. 8 seed playoff spot.
For a handful of games, it looked as though that could happen.
But the wheels soon fell off and the team of youngsters have gone 4-20 since.
"We’re going to play young and get some great experience and evaluate what we have," Borrego said. "That’s the goal here, but it all has to be under the umbrella of number one - competing. We still have to compete at the highest level."
Williams and Kidd-Gilchrist, along with veterans Nicolas Batum and Bismack Biyombo, were making a combined $70 million in salaries.
In the Hornets final game with all four on the roster, they played a combined zero minutes.
Batum, 31, is now the only Charlotte player not in his 20s and he hasn't been in the rotation since late January, when the team played in Paris.
Biyombo and center Cody Zeller, both 27, are the only other players on the roster older than 24.
Nine of the 15 active Hornets players are 23 or younger.
“This is a critical 30 games for us moving forward,” Borrego said. “It experiences for our young group, 30 games of high-level experience and evaluation and we’re going to do that.
"There’s going to be a lot of young guys moving through the rotation and figuring it out and it will be a great challenge for all of us. We’re going to have some moments where we may be dry a little bit, but we’ll figure it out."
One of the keys to staying competitive is finding a new leader in the locker room now that Williams is gone.
“We just have to stay together. Keep coming, keep fighting,” Graham said. “Guys get traded, guys leave and you got to be the next man up. Everybody collectively has to step their game up, whether its leadership on the court, communication, all of that, everybody has to do a bit more.”
Bridges has even more thoughts on what needs to transpire within the locker room.
"We're just looking for that person and I think everyone needs to come out and hold each other accountable," Bridges reiterated. "I think if we hold each other accountable we'll be okay."
"I’m not asking them to be Marvin Williams. But whatever you learned, apply it now. And if that’s working with one guy, taking one guy around the arm and going, ‘No, let’s go play. Let’s do things the right way.’ If it’s just one guy. I’m not asking them to go do it for 13, 14 guys. Maybe it’s just one guy.”
Borrego laid out his four pillars of success at the start of the season: compete every night, player development, establish an identity and build winning habits.
Charlotte has shown flashes of all four this season.
"This is a tough stretch for us, but there are brighter days ahead," Borrego said. "This thing is moving in the right direction. We just have to stick with it.