Charlotte Hornets 2017-18 Post-season Stock Watch

Charlotte Hornets 2017-18 Post-season Stock Watch

As the NBA playoffs continue and teams fight their way into the second round, the dust has had time to settle on the Charlotte Hornets’ season.

As the NBA playoffs continue and teams fight their way into the second round, the dust has had time to settle on the Charlotte Hornets’ season.

As the NBA playoffs continue and teams fight their way into the second round, the dust has had time to settle on the Charlotte Hornets’ season. Another disappointing performance means another missed playoff berth and some major shakeups in both the front office and the sideline, as Charlotte searches for a new head coach to join newly-appointed GM Mitch Kupchak.

For the second year in a row, it’s time to take a look at how the past season has affected the stock of some of the Hornets. Get ready, because the season has not been kind: 

Steve Clifford

Stock: Down

Starting things out with an easy one. It’s easy to see that Clifford’s stock has fallen – he was fired not long ago in a somewhat bittersweet move. It was definitely time to part ways, but it wasn’t long ago that Clifford was viewed by fans and analysts alike as one of the smarter and more capable coaches in the league, even if he didn’t have a talented enough roster to get that recognition by the NBA community at large. In that way, he was one of the league’s best-kept secrets. After failing to adapt, however, the secret is out – and so is Clifford.

Kemba Walker

Stock: Up

One of the few bright spots in a dreary season, Walker earned his second-straight NBA All-Star berth and became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. When trade rumors centered on him swirled midseason, it came as a shock. But it makes sense to sell high on Walker, on an expiring deal that’s already one of the league’s best bargains. If there was any time to cut ties and move on, it would be now. But Charlotte seems content to run it back with the same core, and potentially risk Walker – a player in his prime that could start on plenty of teams – walk away for nothing.

Nicolas Batum

Stock: Down

What a disastrous season for the 29-year-old Frenchman, who’s trending in the opposite direction as his backcourt partner. Batum followed up last year’s disappointing season with one that he spent alternately injured and ineffective, not playing consistently and performing poorly when he was active. Just as Walker is on an absolute steal of a contract, Batum’s now looks like one of the worst in the league – and he still has three years left on it, assuming he picks up his player option.

Dwight Howard

Stock: Up

He’ll never be quite the dominant defender or MVP candidate he once was, and he’s certainly a flawed, frustrating player, but Howard managed to nudge his reputation back in the right direction. Between solid production on the court and a relatively low profile off of it, things are looking good for Dwight. Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this marriage between the Hornets and the oft-maligned big man blow up in the coming years.

Marvin Williams

Stock: Down

It was a complicated season for Marvin Williams, whose stock has decreased through no fault of his own. In fact, while his raw numbers have decreased, he was actually a much more efficient player than last year, shooting a career-high 41 percent from three and marking his highest field goal percentage since 2010-11. But as the former Tar Heel has hit the wrong side of 30 and seen his role decrease, that big contract he signed in the Summer of Splurge in 2016 looks increasingly bad, even on a team full of overstuffed deals.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Stock: Down

Kidd-Gilchrist continues to be the team’s best defender, and among the best in the league on that end. But that’s much easier to remember and respect when the team’s defense is elite, as it has been in years past. But with Charlotte’s defensive rating dipping into the league’s bottom half for the first time in the Steve Clifford era, his defense-only game suddenly seems a lot less charming. The world’s greatest unsolved mystery continues to be why MKG took seven three-pointers in as many games during his abbreviated 2015-16 campaign, only to take 11 total in the two years since.

Jeremy Lamb

Stock: Up

Lamb cooled off after a stellar start to the season, but he still finished third on the team in scoring. He’s still not the All-Star-caliber player he once had the potential to be, but he became a meaningful piece of the Hornets’ bench, and it’s still unfair to him and the fans alike that he didn’t get the chance to start for Batum when the latter continued to struggle after returning from injury.

Frank Kaminsky

Stock: Up

With the addition of Dwight Howard, Kaminsky found his role on the team shrink. He responded by upping his efficiency, hitting 38 percent from three and 43 from the field as a whole. Those numbers aren’t exactly earth-shattering, but both are career highs and very promising for an offense-first guy who’s generally struggled with his offense since entering the league. Most pessimism towards Kaminsky’s season is a reflection of the pessimism surrounding the team as a whole rather than any sort of indictment of his performance.

Cody Zeller

Stock: Down

As with Kaminsky, it was clear that Dwight Howard’s presence would complicate the role of Zeller. The frontcourt logjam combined with serious injury issues derailed Zeller’s season, and he followed up the best year of his career by playing 33 games and posting the lowest numbers since his rookie campaign in most statistical categories. At just 25 years old, it’s likely that The Big Handsome’s best years are still ahead of him. Whether they’ll happen in Charlotte or somewhere else remains to be seen.

Treveon Graham

Stock: Up

Graham didn’t have much of a reputation coming into the season, and it’s not like he’s a household name now – the VCU product played just under 17 minutes per game in 63 games. But the second-year player emerged as a semi-reliable two-way player off the bench for the Hornets. While he likely won’t ever be a starter, he could continue to play a role off the bench in a pinch. 

Michael Carter-Williams

Stock: Down

There’s not much to say here other than that before the season, I didn’t think MCW’s stock could get any lower than it already was. I was wrong.

Malik Monk

Stock: Down

There’s been plenty written on this site about Malik Monk and his hugely frustrating lack of playing time, so this section can be pretty short. To keep it simple: Monk went from being one of the most exciting prospects in the draft to what was basically an afterthought. Only when Charlotte gave up hope extremely late in the season did they #FreeMalikMonk, and the results were equal parts exciting and infuriating that it took so long:

Whoever the next head coach of the Charlotte Hornets turns out to be, please let it be someone who embraces Monk despite his faults.

As the NBA playoffs continue and teams fight their way into the second round, the dust has had time to settle on the Charlotte Hornets’ season. Another disappointing performance means another missed playoff berth and some major shakeups in both the front office and the sideline, as Charlotte searches for a new head coach to join newly-appointed GM Mitch Kupchak.

For the second year in a row, it’s time to take a look at how the past season has affected the stock of some of the Hornets. Get ready, because the season has not been kind: 

Steve Clifford

Stock: Down

Starting things out with an easy one. It’s easy to see that Clifford’s stock has fallen – he was fired not long ago in a somewhat bittersweet move. It was definitely time to part ways, but it wasn’t long ago that Clifford was viewed by fans and analysts alike as one of the smarter and more capable coaches in the league, even if he didn’t have a talented enough roster to get that recognition by the NBA community at large. In that way, he was one of the league’s best-kept secrets. After failing to adapt, however, the secret is out – and so is Clifford.

Kemba Walker

Stock: Up

One of the few bright spots in a dreary season, Walker earned his second-straight NBA All-Star berth and became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. When trade rumors centered on him swirled midseason, it came as a shock. But it makes sense to sell high on Walker, on an expiring deal that’s already one of the league’s best bargains. If there was any time to cut ties and move on, it would be now. But Charlotte seems content to run it back with the same core, and potentially risk Walker – a player in his prime that could start on plenty of teams – walk away for nothing.

Nicolas Batum

Stock: Down

What a disastrous season for the 29-year-old Frenchman, who’s trending in the opposite direction as his backcourt partner. Batum followed up last year’s disappointing season with one that he spent alternately injured and ineffective, not playing consistently and performing poorly when he was active. Just as Walker is on an absolute steal of a contract, Batum’s now looks like one of the worst in the league – and he still has three years left on it, assuming he picks up his player option.

Dwight Howard

Stock: Up

He’ll never be quite the dominant defender or MVP candidate he once was, and he’s certainly a flawed, frustrating player, but Howard managed to nudge his reputation back in the right direction. Between solid production on the court and a relatively low profile off of it, things are looking good for Dwight. Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this marriage between the Hornets and the oft-maligned big man blow up in the coming years.

Marvin Williams

Stock: Down

It was a complicated season for Marvin Williams, whose stock has decreased through no fault of his own. In fact, while his raw numbers have decreased, he was actually a much more efficient player than last year, shooting a career-high 41 percent from three and marking his highest field goal percentage since 2010-11. But as the former Tar Heel has hit the wrong side of 30 and seen his role decrease, that big contract he signed in the Summer of Splurge in 2016 looks increasingly bad, even on a team full of overstuffed deals.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Stock: Down

Kidd-Gilchrist continues to be the team’s best defender, and among the best in the league on that end. But that’s much easier to remember and respect when the team’s defense is elite, as it has been in years past. But with Charlotte’s defensive rating dipping into the league’s bottom half for the first time in the Steve Clifford era, his defense-only game suddenly seems a lot less charming. The world’s greatest unsolved mystery continues to be why MKG took seven three-pointers in as many games during his abbreviated 2015-16 campaign, only to take 11 total in the two years since.

Jeremy Lamb

Stock: Up

Lamb cooled off after a stellar start to the season, but he still finished third on the team in scoring. He’s still not the All-Star-caliber player he once had the potential to be, but he became a meaningful piece of the Hornets’ bench, and it’s still unfair to him and the fans alike that he didn’t get the chance to start for Batum when the latter continued to struggle after returning from injury.

Frank Kaminsky

Stock: Up

With the addition of Dwight Howard, Kaminsky found his role on the team shrink. He responded by upping his efficiency, hitting 38 percent from three and 43 from the field as a whole. Those numbers aren’t exactly earth-shattering, but both are career highs and very promising for an offense-first guy who’s generally struggled with his offense since entering the league. Most pessimism towards Kaminsky’s season is a reflection of the pessimism surrounding the team as a whole rather than any sort of indictment of his performance.

Cody Zeller

Stock: Down

As with Kaminsky, it was clear that Dwight Howard’s presence would complicate the role of Zeller. The frontcourt logjam combined with serious injury issues derailed Zeller’s season, and he followed up the best year of his career by playing 33 games and posting the lowest numbers since his rookie campaign in most statistical categories. At just 25 years old, it’s likely that The Big Handsome’s best years are still ahead of him. Whether they’ll happen in Charlotte or somewhere else remains to be seen.

Treveon Graham

Stock: Up

Graham didn’t have much of a reputation coming into the season, and it’s not like he’s a household name now – the VCU product played just under 17 minutes per game in 63 games. But the second-year player emerged as a semi-reliable two-way player off the bench for the Hornets. While he likely won’t ever be a starter, he could continue to play a role off the bench in a pinch. 

Michael Carter-Williams

Stock: Down

There’s not much to say here other than that before the season, I didn’t think MCW’s stock could get any lower than it already was. I was wrong.

Malik Monk

Stock: Down

There’s been plenty written on this site about Malik Monk and his hugely frustrating lack of playing time, so this section can be pretty short. To keep it simple: Monk went from being one of the most exciting prospects in the draft to what was basically an afterthought. Only when Charlotte gave up hope extremely late in the season did they #FreeMalikMonk, and the results were equal parts exciting and infuriating that it took so long:

Whoever the next head coach of the Charlotte Hornets turns out to be, please let it be someone who embraces Monk despite his faults.

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