The Charlotte Hornets followed up their promising 2015-16 season, when they placed sixth in the Eastern Conference and took the Miami Heat to seven games in the first round of the playoffs, with a disappointing 11th-place conference finish in 2016-17 and a spot on the couch for the postseason.
Following the fruitful 2015-16 season, which saw the Hornets win their first playoff game since 2001-02, many experts believed the team would go above and beyond its 48-win season despite losing Jeremy Lin, Al Jefferson and Courtney Lee to free agency. This was due in high part to the return of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to the lineup after playing only seven games in 2015-16 thanks to a couple of shoulder injuries.
For the first half of the season, it appeared as though the experts were correct. The Hornets won six of their first seven games, and had a 7-3 record at the 10-game mark.
The second half of November was not kind to the Hornets, however, and four straight losses beginning with an overtime defeat against the New Orleans Pelicans placed Charlotte at 10-8 at the end of the month.
Leading up to the All-Star break in mid-February, the Hornets kept going on losing streaks. In December, Charlotte went 9-7, which included losing four in a row during a tough five-game stretch away from home.
January was even worse. The Hornets lost five games in a row on two separate occasions in the first month of 2017, and accumulated a dismal 4-11 record.
The other theme of the season besides losing streaks was an inability to win away from home. The Hornets couldn’t seem to get anything together away from the Spectrum Center in uptown Charlotte, going 14-27 on the season. Whenever the Hornets played four or more road games in a row, which happened three separate times, the team lost all but four games.
Consequently, at home the Hornets were a more formidable opponent, but not by much, going 22-19 over the course of the season.
Following the All-Star break, the Hornets had a shot of making the playoffs. However, a 12-14 record negated those chances, leading to a fourth-place finish in its division and finishing three spots out of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Kemba Walker, the Hornets’ star point guard and floor general, was a lone bright spot for the team. Walker averaged a career-high 23.2 points-per-game and added 5.5 assists-per-game. On the court, Walker was the go-to man and clear team captain, taking all potential game-winning shots.
Because of his stellar season, Walker was voted an NBA All-Star for the first time of his career. The last Charlotte player to receive an All-Star nomination was Gerald Wallace for the Charlotte Bobcats during the 2009-10 NBA season.
Behind Kemba, there wasn’t really a second go-to player, however. Kidd-Gilchrist entered the season with high expectations, but ended up averaging a mere 9.2 points-per-game. Kidd-Gilchrist’s sole high mark was his team-leading 7.0 rebounds-per-game.
Shooting guard Nicolas Batum was second on the team in points averaged with 15.1, but it simply wasn’t enough. Many teams, knowing that Walker was by far the best the Hornets had to offer, made sure to shut him down as best they could, which was usually enough for a win.
The Hornets finished at 36-46 overall, winning 12 less games than a year ago.
Head coach Steve Clifford, who will be entering his fifth season at the helm in Charlotte in 2017-18, will bring back most starters to next season’s squad. One of the main questions circling through Clifford and general manager Rich Cho’s heads at the moment is who can the team bring in as a second star to play alongside Walker.
Finding an answer to the above question won’t be easy, but if it’s done, it just may the boost the Hornets need to return back to the playoffs in the future.
A season with all the promise of the playoffs and beyond turned out to be a bust for the Hornets. Losing streaks and away game struggles hampered any postseason hopes the team had in 2016-17. With most starters returning and the chance for a high draft pick, however, Charlotte can do enough this offseason to put itself in a better position for next year.
