Charlotte Hornets Post-Trade Deadline Projected Depth Chart
The long needed winds of change have finally come for the Charlotte Hornets. After a flurry of trades Charlotte have now turned over up a third of their roster. To recap:
Out: Gordon Hayward, PJ Washington , Kyle Lowry (likely buyout)
In: Grant Williams, Vasilije Micic, Tre Mann, Seth Curry, David Bertans
With the Hornets bringing five in compared to sending just three players out, two players will need to be waived. For the purpose of this exercise I've projected the cuts to be James Bouknight and Frank Ntilikina, but this is unconfirmed.
Point Guard | LaMelo Ball | Vasilije Micic | Ish Smith | Amari Bailey (TW) |
Shooting Guard | Cody Martin | Nick Smith Jr | Seth Curry | Tre Mann |
Small Forward | Brandon Miller | Bryce McGowens | Leaky Black (TW) | |
Power Forward | Miles Bridges | Grant Williams | JT Thor | |
Center | Mark Williams | Nick Richards | Davis Bertans | Nathan Mensah (TW) |
The goal of Charlotte's trade deadline moves were collecting draft picks. This means most of the incoming players don't have a clear "fit" in the Hornets future. The current Hornets depth chart looks heavily unbalanced with too many backcourt players, but that will only be temporary issue for the rest of the 2023-24 season.
I'm torn on if the Hornets will force feed minutes to young players like Mann and Nick Smith Jr, or choose the experienced veteran in Seth Curry. If Steve Clifford is still head coach, I would expect the latter.
In the backcourt it makes sense to let Micic run the second unit to see if he could fulfill the role for next season and beyond or if he will be traded again this off-season.
One other option is Charlotte could go "big" by playing Miller at SG, Bridges at SF and Grant Williams at PF. However, with such a glut of two guards in Martin/Smith Jr/Mann, that would create a log-jam elsewhere on the roster.
