The trait Hornets coach James Borrego prays No. 3 pick shares with P.J. Washington
Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego needs another P.J. Washington with the No. 3 draft pick.
Not specifically a player of Washington’s dimensions or skill set. Rather, as quick a learner as Washington was as a rookie, when he won the starting job at power forward.
The Hornets and the rest of the NBA face a compact offseason in which the Nov. 18 draft will come less than two weeks before the start of training camps. That all but eliminates time to help rookies assimilate to their new teams before camp.
With so much at stake with this third overall pick, Borrego has to figure out how to compensate for the loss of summer league and several months of one-on-one teaching of the rookies.
“It’s a major challenge,” Borrego said in a one-on-one interview Wednesday with The Observer. “For a lot of rookies, summer league is extremely important. You get to understand the system, the terminology, the speed of the game, the players, the level that’s expected to compete.
“This young rookie is not going to have that. It’s up to us just to continue to work with him. It’s going to have to be a process from Day 1. We can’t skip steps.”
Ideally, whoever the Hornets choose third overall would mimic how Washington developed. The coaches were taken aback last preseason by Washington’s rapid ability to learn and process, to such a degree he excelled in his first preseason game (at Boston) and won the starting job for the season opener.
That’s probably an unreasonable expectation. Veteran Marvin Williams called Washington among the fastest learners he has ever seen among rookies. Borrego said he’s prepared to adapt throughout a three-week preseason, because this whole offseason has been about adjusting in the pandemic.
“They’re going to have to be adaptable, but we’re going to have to be patient, as well,” Borrego said of the three draft picks the Hornets hold (Nos. 3, 32 and 56 overall.) “It’s up to me and our staff to navigate that, so it is a productive transition for both sides.”
The NBA’s calendar is forming: Free agency will begin Nov. 20, with the Hornets having about $20 million in salary-cap room. The regular season will start Dec. 22, and training camps are expected to commence around Dec. 1.
Borrego answered questions on a quick startup, after not playing a game since March 11, with Observer NBA writer Rick Bonnell:
Bonnell: How much or little opportunity have you had to interact with the draft candidates, considering the pandemic limitations?
Borrego: It’s been very limited in what we can do on the personal level. The connection piece — the touch, the feel with the player — there has been very little access to these players. I miss that. I think it’s the biggest piece (of evaluation). Players can look good in a one-on-none workout, having a great day shooting the ball in Charlotte. The thing I get the most out of in those visits is the personal connection. Looking them eye-to-eye as they respond to certain questions. The natural gut feel you get for a player, that has not been there for me right now.
That’s where you’ve got to trust our front office and (general manager) Mitch (Kupchak)‘s instinct. Sitting at No. 3 is better than sitting further down the (draft) board because it’s a smaller sample size potentially.
Bonnell: Among the players currently on the roster, who do you know is in the core of what you’ve got going on going forward?
Borrego: Devonte (Graham) was one of those guys from start-to-finish (last season) — great. Terry (Rozier) was in that world as well. When you look at our roster as a whole, any one of these players could take a step and become a significant part of our team going forward.
This is about whoever steps up in camp and produces. Shows us that they affect winning — that’s who is going to play here. For me, there are no restrictions on who plays and (no expectations to) play certain veterans. This is about who rises to the top in camp.
Bonnell: For the first time since you and Mitch arrived, you have lots of roster-building tools in the No. 3 pick and abundant cap space. What are the areas at the top-of-mind to address soon?
Borrego: The general answer is players who affect winning at this level. We’ve got to get players who have the ability to make plays for others (and) more shot-makers. And players who make people better on the floor and off the floor. Often that comes in the form of a veteran. We want to bring professionals into our organization. ... That will come in the form of free agents, this summer or next.
In the interior, we need to get better. Finishing at the rim and protecting the rim. We have to affect the paint more than in years past.
Bonnell: You mentioned that even when you played so much better in those last eight games, you still were a poor defensive-rebounding team. Priority there?
Borrego: We have to be a better defensive-rebounding team from Day 1. I’m not waiting for that to happen in free agency or the draft. We want to address that (with acquisitions) and we will. But this also has to come internally; commitment to taking care of the boards. We have the ability, the size and physicality. Now, it’s about the attention to detail to doing it every single possession.
Bonnell: Anything in particular you learned about your team from the two-week mini-bubble that should carry into the preseason?
Borrego: The biggest thing we got out of the bubble was (heightened) communication. To value each other even more. The bubble really allowed us to open up as people. Communication was at its highest; that’s the best I’ve seen within our program.
That communication builds trust; we want to be a team that cares about each other and ultimately we trust each other. Trust to have uncomfortable conversations and to be vulnerable. We trust each other to be pushed.
Bonnell: To your knowledge, is everyone healthy heading into training camp?
Borrego: To my knowledge, yes. We have 90% of the group here (playing pickup games at Spectrum Center). We’re back at it, getting good work in.
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "The trait Hornets coach James Borrego prays No. 3 pick shares with P.J. Washington."
