Has Devonte Graham become Kemba Walker’s successor? Could Hornets use James Wiseman?
Is Devonte Graham now “the man” for the Charlotte Hornets?
It’s too early to definitively draw that conclusion, but I agree all the signs are there. Particularly after Graham made nine 3s Saturday night, including the game-winner, in a one-point road victory over the New York Knicks.
That was Graham’s fifth game of 20 or more points in a 6-7 start and he also has three points-assist double-doubles. If Graham can maintain this in his second season, he has to be in the discussion for NBA Most Improved Player.
That leads off your questions in this week’s Hornets mailbag:
Is Graham, and not Terry Rozier, the real replacement for Kemba Walker?
Graham is definitely the purer point guard right now, and I don’t see that changing. Where this gets more complicated is accounting for all the different things Walker provided as a Hornet.
Walker was as much the Hornets’ primary scorer as he was the table-setter. Remember, in crunch time last season, James Borrego would play Walker and Tony Parker together, with Walker playing more off the ball and Parker as point guard. That relates to how this now fits together; Rozier is playing off the ball as much as on it. He’s comfortable with that, and it makes for a better blending with Graham.
The Hornets had to diversify the offense after Walker left for the Boston Celtics. They are evolving in a direction where Graham, Rozier and Malik Monk are all free to create for themselves and others and each one has shined in the last three games.
Should fans be pleased with how the Hornets’ season has started?
Absolutely. Coach James Borrego said he would lean toward youth in close decisions, but not freeze out the veterans. That’s a tough balance to strike, but he has done it.
It’s easy to explore Graham’s potential in a rebuild after he showed promising signs late last season. It was more bold to use second-round rookie Cody Martin at the end of a close game against the Golden State Warriors. Borrego had a hunch Martin was ready, and he was right.
Some fans tell me the Hornets are winning “too much.” That’s being fixated on a draft pick in June. Particularly after the NBA flattened the draft-lottery odds, putting all your hopes in where the Hornets pick in the first round is wrongheaded.
Borrego said he’d value development above winning individual games this season. If young players improving leads to winning a few extra games in 2019-20, that’s a plus. The only way this season would be a failure is if next spring the organization still doesn’t have a fix on the young players’ potential. That’s happening.
Whose minutes decrease with Nic Batum and Dwayne Bacon back from injury? What becomes of Martin?
I was surprised just how much Batum played against the Knicks in his first game back from a fractured finger — 29 minutes, most among Hornets non-starters. Many of those minutes were chipped off Miles Bridges in a game in which Bridges missed all eight of his shots.
The Hornets need Batum’s defense, positional versatility and ball-movement. Bridges was constantly asked to guard the opposing team’s primary scorer early this season, and I think it’s wearing him down. Rationing your energy between defense and offense in a role such as that is an adjustment.
Bacon struggled as a shooter early this season, and I think he’s going to be worked back into the rotation slowly as the inflammation in his right knee recedes.
I don’t know whether Martin will stay in the rotation, but I know this: The Hornets’ guideline is if a young player isn’t in the rotation, he’s better off getting big minutes with the Greensboro Swarm.
If the Hornets stay in position for a lower playoff seeding, would they look to make moves at the trade deadline or hold firm and ride it out with the young guys?
I would be very surprised if the Hornets make a trade this season that values the short term over the long term. Even if they hang around the playoff hunt in January and February, they should be more receptive to trading a veteran for a draft pick than the other way around.
If James Wiseman is ineligible the rest of the college season, does the small sample size hurt his draft stock? Would he fit well with the Hornets?
Memphis ruled Wiseman ineligible and is appealing to the NCAA for reinstatement. This is complicated, involving a lawsuit the 7-foot-1 Wiseman dropped (but can reinstate) and the role Memphis coach Penny Hardaway played in Wiseman’s family moving to Memphis during his high school time.
However, whether Wiseman plays any more college basketball is probably irrelevant to his NBA draft stock, so long as he stays healthy. He’d be an asset to any team, but he’d sure be a good fit for the Hornets: There is already a wide gap between starter Cody Zeller and any other Hornets center, and the reserves — Bismack Biyombo and Willy Hernangomez — are both free agents after this season.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 9:42 AM with the headline "Has Devonte Graham become Kemba Walker’s successor? Could Hornets use James Wiseman?."
