What's the deal with the Charlotte Hornets?
During the first four years of the Steve Clifford era, they've been a fringe playoff threat in the Eastern Conference, making the playoffs twice and missing twice. Based on their pattern of make-miss-make-miss, this should have been a season with post-season play. The team had very quietly brought in a big-time free agent (Dwight Howard) to go with Kemba Walker and their remaining nucleus, and it seemed reasonable that they would once again contend for a spot in the playoffs.
Instead, with February on the horizon, the Hornets are No. 11 in the East, five full games behind the No. 8 Philadelphia 76ers, and with no real prospects for catching them. In fact, the Hornets are almost as close to having the worst record in the NBA, as they are just 5.5 games better than the Orlando Magic, than they are to qualifying for that last playoff spot.
Coach Clifford had to miss 21 games due to headaches caused by sleep deprivation. There have been active, publicly confirmed rumors that owner Michael Jordan is listening to offers to trade Walker, a home-grown talent and their best player for the last several seasons. All in all, the team is just not doing well. However, fantasywise, there are still some interesting storylines in Charlotte -- at least for now.
Walker is the given, Charlotte's best offensive player (until he is traded), and the one having the biggest impact on the court. The Hornets are outscoring their opponents by 5.8 points per 100 possessions with him on the court -- a 19.1-point improvement compared to when he sits. On the season, he sits at No. 28 on the Player Rater with averages of 22.1 points (41.9 FG%, 84.3 FT%), 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 3-pointers and 1.2 steals per game. On Monday, he scored 23 points (7-15 FG, 6-7 FT) with 3 3-pointers, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steal against the Indiana Pacers.
The clear-cut second-best player on the team is Howard, who has flown under the public radar for the first time in his career. He's actually in the midst of his best season since his Magic heyday, averaging 15.9 points (54.1 FG%, 55.0 FT%), 12.7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.4 assists and 0.7 steals per game. Lately, Howard has been even better than that, in the midst of a 12-game streak with double-digit rebounds during which he has averaged 16.5 points (55.8 FG%, 55.7 FT%), 14.4 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, 1.2 assists and 0.9 steals per game.
Howard is having a big impact on games, with an on-court plus-minus of +3.2. That's a 9.2-points improvement per 100 possessions compared to when he takes a seat on the pine. He is making a positive impact for the Hornets, both offensively and defensively, and on Monday he casually turned in another strong effort of 22 points (9-15 FG, 4-5 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot.
The No. 3 guy on the Hornets is Nicolas Batum, but he missed the early part of the season due to injury and hasn't been himself for most of the year. However, he has been trending solidly upward of late, averaging 16.2 points (45.2 FG%, 80 FT%), 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 3-pointers and 1.2 steals per game. On Monday, he turned in another strong game with 22 points (8-17 FG, 1-2 FT) with 5 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot.
The problem is, beyond this trio, the Hornets got very little from anyone else on Monday night. Marvin Williams has been hit-or-miss of late and managed only 2 points (1-6 FG), 3 assists and 2 rebounds in 25 minutes before leaving with a sprained ankle. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist turned in 6 points, and no one off the bench managed to produce double-figures.
The Hornets are way too top-heavy at the moment, with not much depth contribution, which is a strong reason why they're struggling as a team. If Walker, Howard and/or Batum end up getting traded, it's very possible that Charlotte will suddenly become an even more interesting roster from a fantasy perspective. After all, somebody would have to step up and produce, and they'd be doing so from a position of depressed value and high-availability in most fantasy leagues.
Stay tuned as the NBA deadline approaches next week, to see if there is any action to match the trade buzz in Charlotte.
Monday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 31 points (10-22 FG, 10-10 FT), 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 3-pointer, 1 block, 4 TO
Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat: 25 points (10-15 FG, 5-6 FT), 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 TO
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: 24 points (8-17 FG, 6-7 FT), 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 3-pointers, 2 TO, a team-best +10 plus-minus
Lowlights:
Taurean Prince, Atlanta Hawks: 3 points (1-10 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 3-pointer, 1 TO, a team-worst -19 plus-minus
Bojan Bogdanovic, Indiana Pacers: 0 points (0-3 FG), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 TO
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Philadelphia 76ers: 6 points (2-8 FG, 2-2 FT), 3 assists, 1 rebound, 1 TO
Dragan Bender, Phoenix Suns: 0 points (0-2 FG), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 TO
Aron Baynes, Boston Celtics: 6 points (3-10 FG), 3 rebounds, 1 block, 2 TO
Monday takeaways
Antetokounmpo (knee) was hearing "MVP" chants on Monday, as he turned in his third-straight massive performance since returning from a short injury-related absence. Either the rest or, perhaps, the change in coaching was really good for Antetokounmpo as his numbers are up -- if that's even possible -- and Milwaukee is undefeated for the last week.
Myles Turner played in his second game since returning from injury. While he's still coming off the bench, he nevertheless turned in a big performance with 22 points (8-11 FG, 2-2 FT), 4 rebounds, 4 3-pointers, 3 assists and 1 blocked shot in 21 minutes of action. Turner has been one of the biggest disappointments in fantasy basketball this year, but there's a chance he can get healthy and put together a strong second-half of the season. He should be considered as a risk/reward trade target prior to your league's trade deadline.
The Minnesota Timberwolves turned in an inexplicable loss to the lowly Hawks on Monday. The only reason that Jeff Teague didn't end up in the lowlights section was because of his 10 assists and 4 steals, but his former team otherwise shut him down to the tune of 2 points on 1-of-12 shooting from the field. The rest of the Timberwolves starters shot well from the field, but were unable to stop the Hawks from putting 105 points on the board.
Kent Bazemore (22 points, 8-14 FG, 2-3 FT, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 3-pointers, 2 blocks, 1 steal) and Dennis Schroder (18 points, 5-15 FG, 8-9 FT, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 7 TO) were the two biggest positives for the Hawks on Monday. Prince had an awful game, and he combined with the other two starters Ersan Ilyasova and Miles Plumlee to produce only 19 total points in the contest.
As predicted in this space yesterday, the Grizzlies (the second-worst offense in the NBA) indeed had a big game on Monday, primarily because the Suns' defense is even worse. The Grizzlies had seven players in double-figures, led by Tyreke Evans' 27 points in 26 minutes off the bench. Mike Conley is officially done for the season with his Achilles injury, so players like Andrew Harrison (11 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal -- 99.2 percent availability), Wayne Selden (17 points, 6 assists, 3 3-pointers, 2 rebounds -- 99.2 percent availability) and Dillon Brooks (12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 3-pointer -- 93.2 percent availability) are looking like more permanent parts of the Memphis rotation moving forward.
Injuries of note
Devin Booker sat out Monday's game with bruised ribs, and X-rays confirmed the diagnosis. Booker is questionable for Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks.
Eric Bledsoe left Monday's game against the 76ers after only three minutes with a sore left ankle. He didn't return and should be considered questionable for Thursday's game against the Timberwolves. His injury also comes at an interesting time, because the Bucks will be working Jabari Parker back into their lineup as of Friday.
As noted earlier, Marvin Williams sprained his left ankle on Monday, and was only able to play 25 minutes. He had an X-ray, but doesn't have a fracture and will be re-evaluated on Wednesday. In his absence, Frank Kaminsky and possibly Johnny O'Bryant III are the most likely to get extra playing time.
Mason Plumlee had to leave Monday's game with a non-contact injury that turned out to be a strained right calf. He was carried off the court, unable to put any weight on his leg. Plumlee will have an MRI on Tuesday. If he has to sit, Trey Lyles and Kenneth Faried are the most likely to get more playing time.
Analytics advantage for Tuesday
The New Orleans Pelicans have allowed the second-most points in the NBA this season (110.7 PPG), the seventh-most assists (24.2 APG) and the tenth-most rebounds (43.9 RPG) -- and this was before they lost DeMarcus Cousins, one of their best defensive big men, for the season. As such, the Sacramento Kings make for good streaming options on Tuesday, as they project to have better production than usual against the Pelicans.
Top players to watch tonight
The Detroit Pistons and LA Clippers will both be on display on Tuesday following their monster Monday trade. Most likely, the traded players won't be ready to play just yet. As such, players like Lou Williams, DeAndre Jordan and Montrezl Harrell for the Clippers and Andre Drummond, Ish Smith and the wings on Detroit (Stanley Johnson, Reggie Bullock, Anthony Tolliver) all project to have good games, against the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively.
