If you like beautiful offensive basketball, I hope you didn't watch the Hornets game last night. 87 points are bad, but in the first half, it was even worst. Once again the starting unit struggled to score and got into a big deficit early. Charlotte had a golden opportunity to pounce on a depleted Warriors team, but it failed to take advantage. The Warriors without Steph Curry and Draymond Green showed what championship basketball looks like. Charlotte, on the other hand, is now 9-14 and facing some tough questions. Before the season the Hornets seemed to be a lock for the playoffs in the east, but a stronger than expected conference combined with injuries and inconsistent play have all hurt the Hornets chances. Now, the Hornets sit 3.5 games out of the last playoff spot in the east. There is still a lot of basketball to be played, but this is a bad start. The Hornets need to get things going quickly. So what went wrong last night and how was emblematic of the whole season? Can it be fixed within, or do trades need to happen? Let's investigate!

The Warriors Loss and the Bigger Issue

A slow start doomed the Hornets last night. They were outscored by eight in the first and seven in the second. Charlotte only had 38 points at halftime. Yuck! The starters continued to struggle with offense. According to NBA.com the starting unit of Dwight Howard, Kemba Walker, Marvin Williams, Nicholas Batum and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist only has a net rating of +1.2 and a 107 offensive rating. Both numbers are around league average. Not what you want out of your starting unit.

Couple issues with this lineup. One Batum is still working his way back from his elbow injury. After a slow start, he had an excellent second half and should get better as he gets his conditioning back. However, the Hornets should still be open to moving him if the right deal presents itself, but more on that late. The other issues with the lineups are the lack of spacing with both Kidd-Gilchrist and Howard on the floor. Then there is Marvin Williams, a fine player, but a player on the decline, who is probably better suited in a reserve role.

All of these issues showed up against the Warriors. Good teams expose you. Lack of shooting was apparent as the Hornets only made six threes. Marvin Williams had just seven points and finished with a -23 for the game. Good news is the starters are a pretty good defensive group with a 105.9 defensive rating. The problem is that is not good enough to make up for the lack of offense. To succeed the Hornets can't just be good on defense they have to be great. Right now Charlotte is a respectable 12th in defensive efficiency. A good mark, but when you combine that with the 20th ranked offense, you have a slightly below average team. The offense is the more significant problem, so let's start there.

Injuries have played a role. Nicholas Batum, Cody Zeller, Kemba Walker, Frank Kaminsky and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist have all missed games. To makes things worse both Kaminsky and Zeller suffered injuries last night, and hopefully, they are not too severe. This has led to inconsistent rotations and experimental lineups. However, even with everyone healthy, there have been issues. Here is the good part about the Hornets they lead the league in fewest turnovers per game, despite playing at the ninth-fastest pace. The bad news is the Hornets are 28th in assists. Lack of ball movement has been apparent.

That's just one problem. Charlotte is 28th in true shooting percentage and 29th in effective field goal percentage. In a league that's all about outside shooting the Hornets are 25h in three-point percentage, 25th in three-point makes and 24th in attempts. The Hornets make up for it by getting to the line more than anyone in the league, but they only make 73% of their free throws which is 25th in the league. Shout out to Dwight!

Ball movement and lack of spacing are crippling the Charlotte Offense. Should changes to the starters be made? The lineup that has been the most effective this season in at least 15 minutes of action is Dwight Howard, Frank Kaminsky, Jeremy Lamb, Treveon Graham and Kemba Walker. Treveon Graham is the surprise here. He finally got some minutes last night, and he deserves more going forward. Graham moves the ball, is a good defender and can be a solid three-point shooter.

He is a 3-D guy in the making and can play/guard multiple positions. Charlotte needs to develop him. This lineup also puts more shooting and passing on the floor. Kaminsky, Graham are willing passers and can hit threes. Lamb brings scoring and solid passing. I would consider starting this lineup. Batum can run the offense for the second unit, Zeller can stay in his role, MKG and MCW can bring defense to the second unit, something that has been an issue, and Marvin will give the second unit solid defense and shooting. As for the rookie, they aren't ready yet, especially on defense. Bacon should not be getting minutes ahead of Graham. Monk will get his time in due time.

There is the Dwight issue. Some want Zeller to start ahead of him. I get it. Problem is Dwight is sensitive, and a move like that would destroy him mentally. Just the way it is. Dwight still brings plenty of positives, and we have the roster to make it work for him. We have already seen it in flashes. We have to take away some of his post-ups, they have been a disaster and are hurting the offense. Using the starting lineup, I suggested should help. He needs more room for runs to the rim and more willing passers to give him easy buckets. Dwight is the starter and probably will be for the season.

Who knows if the Hornets will make changes to their starting lineup; especially with head coach Steve Clifford out with an illness. Whatever they do, they need to do something fast. The lineup is not working on offense. If the Hornets don't make changes from within, they will hit the trade market. I fully expect them to make a trade, they always do. Charlotte has role players that contenders will want. They can get something better than Miles Plumlee at the deadline like last year. Here is one trade idea. Send Frank Kaminsky, Marvin Williams, Dwayne Bacon and a first round pick for Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson and Randle don't fit into the Lakers long-term plans, but they are good players who can help the Hornets offense.

Charlotte improves instantly. The Lakers get a first, something they don't have this year a young stretch five in Kaminsky, a young project in Bacon and a solid reserve stretch-4 in Marvin Williams. For the Hornets, a starting lineup of Kemba, Batum, MGK, Randle, and Howard would be better, and Clarkson could bring some offense to the bench. Both are better defenders than they get credit for. Just one idea, expect the Hornets to make a trade. If things get worse, they may blow it up.

Charlotte has the talent to prevent that from happening, but changes need to happen quickly. The rotations and preferably the starting lineup needs to be changed. Charlotte must take advantage of an easy schedule to get back in the playoff race. Last night proved how far away the Hornets are from being contenders. A trade like this combined with a few rotation changes can at least vault the Hornets to solid playoff contenders.