Inside how the Charlotte Hornets are playing the long game to quietly build an NBA power
Where they go, he goes.
When Caleb Martin is in Charlotte, running scout team for the Hornets, Nick Friedman is tracking his sprints up-court. When Jalen McDaniels is in Greensboro, blocking out a G-League bruiser, Friedman is there not to count his rebounds, but to evaluate them.
Sometimes, Friedman is with the Hornets. Sometimes, he’s with the Greensboro Swarm. But always, he’s Charlotte coach James Borrego’s eyes on the scene.
Friedman, veteran of three other G-League franchises, has the newly created title “player development coach.” In essence, he’s the watcher over four young players the Hornets hope end up as hits.
His biggest task is telling Borrego and the assistant coaches things they couldn’t get from a glance at a stat sheet or a glimpse at some game film.
“Are they maintaining habits? Are they playing with quick decisions?” said Friedman, a Miami (Fla.) grad in sports administration who has worked in pro basketball since 2014.
“With so much already on the plates of the coaches in Charlotte, I think this position is vital. Everyone can see the stats, but it’s analyzing off each game: Offense, defense, the whole picture.”
Borrego was giddy in September about owner Michael Jordan signing off on creating this position. Only a handful of other NBA franchises — notably the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers — have similar roles in their basketball operation. It reflects the importance Borrego and general manager Mitch Kupchak place on development, and last season’s success in that area with Devonte Graham and Dwayne Bacon.
Bacon spent 17 games in Greensboro last season and Graham spent 13. Each came back more confident the last two months of the Hornets’ season, and Borrego expanded their roles. Similarly, a Greensboro stint recently boosted the confidence of second-round pick Cody Martin, now in the Hornets’ rotation.
Graham is an emerging NBA star at point guard. Bacon started the first 10 games this season at shooting guard, but has been in and out of the rotation since. Their progress has sent a message throughout the Hornets’ roster that a Swarm assignment isn’t being discarded or rejected. As Bacon puts it, it’s not “punishment.”
“When we send a player to Greensboro, he’s there to get better, not to be cast off,” Borrego said. “We’re gonna bring you back better than you left us. The results speak for themselves. The players trust that.”
The Hornets have four players assigned to Greensboro most of this season — Caleb Martin (Cody’s twin brother), McDaniels, Kobi Simmons and Robert Franks — with the goal of at least one eventually advancing to Charlotte’s rotation. Maybe even becoming the next Graham.
Development is valuable to any NBA franchise, but small-market teams need it more. Kupchak has said it’s unrealistic to pursue “big fish” free agents to accelerate this rebuild, making draft-and-develop, augmented by trades, the course the Hornets must follow.
Get some love, get some experience
Borrego’s rule of thumb: If a young guy isn’t playing in Charlotte, he’s better off getting 30 minutes a game with the Swarm. But that leaves those players 90 miles away, playing in the 2,100-seat field house that adjoins the Greensboro Coliseum.
It’s Friedman’s job to be the connector, filing detailed, nuanced daily reports.
“I send a narrative after each game. Like, ‘Jalen McDaniels was 3-of-6 from 3, but how are his mechanics where we want them to be?’ Try to get in-depth. Obviously, not inundating them with a ton of information, but being specific,” said Friedman, who worked with now-Hornets starter Terry Rozier as part of the Boston Celtics’ G-League operation.
“The G-League is a league, so you can get caught up in wins and losses, but are we accomplishing individually what we need to get these guys ready to play (in Charlotte)? Cuz that’s the No. 1 goal.”
That means maximize each day for these four guys (Martin and McDaniels on regular Hornets contracts, Simmons and Franks on two-ways). It’s complicated because the Hornets’ and Swarm’s schedules don’t easily jibe.
“That’s one of the harder things to do because they’re flying differently (commercial, while the Hornets charter),” said Charlotte assistant Jay Hernandez, who oversees Friedman.
“It’s an ongoing look at the schedule at least a month in advance. To say, ‘We see these windows to be with us for a few days when we’re home.’ Maybe they don’t have games, so they can be a part of what we’re doing.”
Borrego calls this “showing some love” so that players don’t feel detached in Greensboro. Kupchak and director of player personnel Larry Jordan were at the Swarm’s home game Monday. Graham was there, too, sitting on the baseline.
“Oh, yeah!” Caleb Martin said about being connected.
“You feel like they’re doing such a great job of getting you prepared for the next thing. You never feel like you’re just here — not part of the team, not part of the plan.”
‘Hunting hands’
What exactly can Friedman do to speed development? For shooting guard Martin, a former star at Nevada and N.C. State, it’s focusing on NBA skills that weren’t priorities at the college level. He offered two specifics:
“For me, it’s sprinting the wings” in transition, Martin described. “You see guys like (Lakers guard) Danny Green just getting their shot off, and you don’t realize it’s him doing his work early (in each possession). From when your opponent misses his shot, it’s those first three steps you take up the floor. It’s got to be a burst of speed.
“... Another thing is creating fouls — getting four-to-six points off free throws. We call it ‘hunting hands’ — what (Houston Rockets star) James Harden does going into traffic against a smaller guard — knowing he’s going to swipe, not avoiding his hands but make him foul.”
Borrego said the essential element is communication, with Friedman the conduit of the message.
“My job is looking big-picture. The biggest thing Coach Borrego stresses is competitive spirit,” Friedman said.
“As long as our guys replicate that spirit, I can go to sleep at night at ease with where they’re at.”
