Much has been made about the Charlotte Hornets adding LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward, with fair reasoning. Number three picks and marquee free agents command the attention in any proverbial room.
But while those two raise the ceiling of the Hornets, they also pull the floor up with them, particularly with this iteration of the Hornets. Charlotte returns its top eight players in minutes played from last season, so adding Ball and Hayward not only added talent but created depth.
That depth was on display on Monday as six players scored in double figures for the Hornets in their 112-109 loss to the Raptors. Two of those players – Ball and Jalen McDalies – came off the bench and 10 players played at least 15 minutes. That figure also doesn’t include Malik Monk, who made his debut after testing positive for COVID-19 entering training camp.
“It’s a good problem for a coach,” head coach James Borrego said. “These guys have been working on their game, we’ve added depth to our lineup. It’s going to be very competitive, you’ve got to earn minutes out there so it puts me in a position to- it complicates it for me. But that’s a good problem to have as a coach.”
There may be no bigger sign of the team’s depth than Miles Bridges, who has put together strong preseason. In the first game, Bridges tallied 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Game two saw him finish with just two points, those coming on a spectacular alley-oop from Ball, while still grabbing six boards and handing out a trio of assists.
“He’s been special,” Borrego said of Bridges. “I’m really proud of his approach to the season, he’s locked in defensively, he’s making plays for others, he’s making quick decisions, he’s getting to the rim, he’s kicking it out and playing with great energy. He’s not dictated by making shots and making plays for himself, his play is really dictated out of making plays for his teammates and doing what he needs to stay on the floor defensively.
“I’m proud of his approach I think this is the best I’ve seen Miles mentally, physically, and he understands his role on this team… so I’m extremely proud of him.”
Adding to their depth has been the development of other young players from last year’s roster, namely Jalen McDaniels. Despite playing just 16 games last season, McDaniels has figured into the Hornets’ plans this preseason and showed why on Monday, scoring 15 points and connecting on all three of his long-range attempts.
“I like Jalen [McDaniels] putting pressure on me to play him and a number of other guys,” Borrego said. “But Jalen is a great example of hard work and his commitment to development. I love his size and versatility, he had an excellent game tonight and that’s not just tonight he’s had a very good camp. He’s a versatile wing and four for us as well. He can play in both forward positions so I hope he continues to put pressure on me to play him.”
The depth has created competition for the Hornets, especially after strong preseason from their new additions. Ball scored his first points on Tuesday, tallying 12 in total after grabbing 10 rebounds in his debut. Hayward has tallied 25 points in the two games combined.
The competition has only bonded the group, though, as they navigate through a busy and brief preseason. In just under two weeks, the Hornets have held training camp and two games with two more yet to come.
“They’re a feisty group, a competitive group,” Borrego said. “They’re absorbing quite a bit right now and we’ve thrown a lot at them conceptually at both ends of the floor and they’ve been able to handle it. I think the thing that stood out to me tonight is this is a high basketball-IQ team. Now we’ve got to be smarter at times obviously we’ve got to clean that up. Obviously, in two games, that’s been an issue for us.
“But in general this team has shown me a higher basketball-IQ than expected, a team that’s together and that wants to fight for each other.”
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