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The Hornets are 8-13 this season, their first in many years without Kemba Walker. They’re actually winning more games than many expected.
Here’s the Charlotte Observer with some opinions:
The word that sums up this Hornets roster is “fragile.” There is some talent, and certainly potential. But their poor defense, their unreliable rebounding and their tendency to commit turnovers (though that has improved lately), leaves them with a tiny margin for error.
I think they have slightly overachieved by winning eight of their first 21 games, and that’s been mostly about maximizing end-of-game opportunities against other bad teams. The bottom third of the NBA is weaker than usual, so there will be final-minute opportunities like the back-to-back victories over the Detroit Pistons last week.
But it’s telling that they haven’t beaten a good team except the Pacers when Indiana was missing its top two big men. The Hornets need someone to protect the paint and more physical complementary players.
A big bright spot for the Hornets has been the play of second-year guard Devonte’ Graham, drafted second round by the Hawks in 2019 and then traded to the Hornets, who is averaging 18.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 21 games played so far this season.
