Hornets’ Frank Kaminsky shows a glimpse of what he’s going to be

There has been a droning quality to the Charlotte Hornets’ recent games:

Slow starts and too many turnovers lead to a double-digit deficit. That deficit leads to quick, panicky shots that worsen the situation. They make a run that ultimately proves fruitless.

That’s how you lose five of six and drop out of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference.

Wednesday was typical, a 102-89 fall at home to the Boston Celtics.

One thing was atypical: We got a glimpse of rookie Frank Kaminsky’s whole offensive game, and it was mighty impressive.

Kaminsky scored a career-high 23 points and matched his career high with seven rebounds. He made some 3s, he posted up and he got to the foul line six times.

“He’s obviously more comfortable at both ends of the floor,” said Hornets coach Steve Clifford.

“You’re starting to see his versatility; he’s getting the ball in the paint more. As he gets stronger, a lot of these little drives that aren’t falling right now will either be (shooting) fouls or will go in.”

Flash back to June, when the Hornets drafted Kaminsky ninth overall. The pick was immediately panned: Take Justise Winslow, the dynamic forward from Duke. Take the slew of draft picks the Celtics were offering to trade down. Take anything besides this 7-footer with the goofy sense of humor who spent so much time at Wisconsin shooting 3s.

The Hornets felt Winslow was redundant to what they already had in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Nic Batum. As for Boston’s trade offer of a handful of picks, someone involved with the discussions made an interesting analogy.

That person said the Celtics asked for the Hornets’ dollar and offered four coins in return. The problem with those future picks is the coins could have been half-dollars or quarters or they also could have ended up pennies.

Trading quality for quantity seldom works in an NBA draft where players outside the top 10 frequently are gambles. The Hornets had confidence Kaminsky could help, so they stuck with their convictions, and he’s beginning to pan out.

Clifford said recently that Kaminsky has progressed faster in absorbing NBA defensive concepts than he anticipated. That has allowed Clifford to step up Kaminsky’s minutes because he can be trusted to guard a wider spectrum of opposing big men.

It’s at the other end where he has special skills. He’s shooting 37 percent from 3-point range, which is promising but not unexpected. Where he has surprised is in the low post. He is arguably the Hornets’ second-best low-post option behind Al Jefferson; Batum would be the only other Charlotte player in such a discussion.

He’s crafty and a good dribbler for his size. Kaminsky had a late growth spurt in high school that made him a big man. Up to that point he had viewed basketball from a guard’s perspective.

“I’m comfortable in both places,” Kaminsky said of the perimeter and the lane.

“Obviously I learned to play on the perimeter first, but in college I tried really hard to develop a post game. I like playing in the post with the mismatches and such. I’m pretty much comfortable anywhere at the offensive end.”

The defense is a slower process, but the guy has already demonstrated he belongs.

Miami got Winslow, the Celtics kept their picks and the Hornets found a keeper.

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 10:47 PM with the headline "Hornets’ Frank Kaminsky shows a glimpse of what he’s going to be."