The Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte Hornets made a huge jump this past season, exceeding their win total from the past two seasons combined and making the playoffs for just the second time in the past ten years. Last summer’s signing of Al Jefferson played a major factor in that improvement and in being well under the salary cap and having a pair of first round picks, the Bobcats should be able to add some more pieces to help their rise in the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte Hornets (43-39 last year)
2014-15 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Al Jefferson/Brendan Haywood
PF: Bismack Biyombo/Cody Zeller
SF: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist/Jeffery Taylor
SG: *Gerald Henderson/Gary Neal
PG: Kemba Walker
NBA Free Agents:
PF-Josh McRoberts (UFA)
PG-Luke Ridnour (UFA)
PF-Anthony Tolliver (UFA)
SG-Chris Douglas-Roberts (UFA)
PF-D.J. White (UFA)
PG-Jannero Pargo (UFA)
2014-15 Team Salary: Approximately $41.3 million
Team Needs:
1. Power Foward:
With Josh McRoberts already opting out of his contract and becoming an unrestricted free agent, the Hornets suddenly have a hole to fill at power forward. Bismack Biyombo hasn’t developed as hoped and Cody Zeller is not ready to take over the starting spot. If Charlotte is unable to re-sign McRoberts, finding another veteran to pair up with Al Jefferson in the frontcourt becomes a pressing need.
2. Backup Point Guard:
With Luke Ridnour entering free agency, the Hornets need to find a backup for Kemba Walker. Charlotte has the 9th and 24th overall picks in the 2014 NBA Draft so they could land somebody like Shabazz Napier, Tyler Ennis, Elfrid Payton, or Jordan Clarkson with the latter of those selections. Even if they address this need via the draft, they should look to add a veteran in free agency.
3. Find another Jefferson:
Charlotte has not been an attractive destination for marquee free agents but that changed last summer when Al Jefferson decided to come to the Tar Heel state at a rather reasonable rate. With around $18 million in cap space, the Hornets should hope to find another high level free agent to bring in without drastically overspending. Accomplishing this won’t be as easy as last off-season since there are a lot more teams with cap space than a year ago. Ideally, this player would be a capable scorer since the Bobcats were often time offensively-challenged last year.
OTHER NBA OFF-SEASON TEAM NEEDS PAGES:
ATLANTA HAWKS
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.