NBA general managers are loving the Hornets. They’re exciting with a high ceiling
.JPG "Charlotte Hornets guard James Bouknight (5) passes in front of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, right, in the second half Monday in Oklahoma City.")
The makeover transpiring on Trade Street is receiving national recognition.
In the latest sign of ramped-up expectations leading into the 2021-22 season, the Charlotte Hornets were shown plenty of love by executives throughout the NBA. Scanning through NBA.com’s annual anonymous survey of the league’s general managers released on Tuesday reveals the Hornets garnered third-place distinctions in three separate favorable categories. They essentially were tabbed as a team on the rise that’s made good personnel decisions.
Results of the survey further validate what coach James Borrego has been saying since the Las Vegas Summer League in August: The Hornets are hot. And people around the NBA are taking notice. The Hornets were among the top three teams expected to be most improved this season, finishing third in voting.
“Well, we want to be a relevant team in this league,” Borrego said Tuesday. “Obviously, there’s eye on us now and that’s a good thing. But there can be no sense of complacency right now. This has got to be hunger right now, we’ve got to be driven right now, we’ve got to go make this happen. To sit here and hope, and wish that we become a good team is not going to help us. We’ve got to make it happen. I love the fact that people recognize these players and the work they’ve put in. This has taken a lot of work to get to this point today, but we’ve got a long way to go.
“We’ve got to go make this happen. But I have a sense of hunger about this group. They’ve got something to prove and we’ve got to go make it happen. So we are in a good place that way.”
Apparently, so is their style of play. Their uptempo scheme and unselfishness passing of the ball has them tied for third with Atlanta when it comes to which team is most fun to watch. The Hornets’ offense, bolstered by pace and the open-floor look, is successful because they genuinely play for each other.
The virtual accolades don’t stop there.
James Bouknight collected 10% of the vote among the executives breaking down the rookie who was the biggest draft steal based on where he was selected. Bouknight looked good in his pro debut Monday, pouring in 20 points in the Hornets’ 113-97 win over Oklahoma City. Kai Jones, Charlotte’s other first-round selection, also picked up some consideration in the rookie category.
To this day, Borrego is just as befuddled as others unsure why Bouknight dropped straight into their lap.
“I couldn’t believe we were able to draft this kid, first of all, when we got our hands on him,” Borrego said. “And just learning more about him, this is a very proud kid. And I just love his mentality more than anything.
“The skillset is there for us. That’s going to fit. He can score the ball at all three levels. He gets to the rim, he’s got the mid-range, he can shoot out to 3. Obviously, as you saw (Monday) night, he can play-make as well. He can have the ball in his hands or he can play off the ball. I just love his overall mentality. The fearless mentality. He fits with Melo. Those two are fearless in their approach to the game.
“Very confident kid and I think as a whole we want to be a unit that’s confident. And I think he fits in that area. I love having him here. I couldn’t believe we got our hands on him, but I think he showed (Monday) night why we drafted him and he’s still got a long way to go, which is the beautiful piece. But I’ve seen a lot of growth from Vegas to where we are at today.”
Bouknight had little interest in taking any sort of victory lap around the room.
“I’m not even focused on all that for real,” he said. “I’m just here right now and I’m focusing on the present and the Charlotte Hornets. All that doesn’t really matter to me.”
What does, though? Their placing in the most exciting teams category.
“I’d agree on that,” Bouknight said. “We are definitely going to be fun. You guys got a little taste of it (Monday). I feel like when we put it all together, we are going to be a tough team to beat for real. A tough young team in this league.”
Executives seem to also believe that.
“I think it validates how we’ve drafted, how we’ve developed and how we’ve competed,” Borrego said. “Those are the things that we said when we first took over here a couple of years ago — we want to be an exciting team, one of the most exciting teams in the league. And a lot of that is built out of who you draft, how you develop and then your style of play. All three of those things are coming together right now.”
Hornets’ Kelly Oubre didn’t practice
When the Hornets hit the court for practice Tuesday, they didn’t have Kelly Oubre with them.
Oubre exited the third quarter of Monday’s game with a right lower leg strain and did not return. He landed awkwardly after getting his dunk attempt partially blocked by Thunder center Mike Muscala. He quickly got up under his own power and walked gingerly prior to getting pulled from the court.
He’s still listed as day-to-day and Borrego isn’t overly alarmed about the injury.
“No setbacks there,” Borrego said. “We’ll see what he looks like in the morning. Hopefully, we’ll get him back here soon. We’ll err on taking it slow with him. I haven’t seen the fall yet, but it looked pretty rough. I’ve got to go back and look at that. But he’s a tough kid. He wants to get back out there, but we want to be cautious with him.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 7:38 PM.
