Do the Charlotte Hornets Have a Higher Floor or Ceiling with Coby White?

How does pivoting to Coby White impact the Hornets?

Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White (3) walks toward former Chicago Bulls teammates | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Charlotte Hornets traded for Coby White at the last deadline, a decision that had major ramifications. It gave them the ability to easily re-sign him in free agency, and it might've helped their decision to trade LaMelo Ball.

Regardless, the offense will now primarily be run by White, which does change the dynamic. White is not Ball. They're two very different players, with different strengths and weaknesses. Does the pivot raise the floor, ceiling, or both for the Hornets' offense?

The Hornets would like to believe it at least keeps the ceiling the same. The numbers with White are about as good as they are with Ball, though there's a huge sample size discrepancy. I believe, based on the type of player each one is, that the ceiling is not higher. This offense won't be able to do what it did last season.

White is a good player, but he's not an elite facilitator. He won't serve up as many open looks to Hornets shooters Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. He doesn't have the gravity that Ball does, so the spacing won't quite be the same. That, to me, lowers the ceiling.

However, having White as the primary point guard probably does raise the floor. White isn't going to have any of those 30-point triple-doubles that Ball could put up, but he also isn't going to shoot 4/18 and have six turnovers to eight assists.

Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White (3) shoots over the defense of Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There was a large variance in the type of game Ball could have on a nightly basis. That's not the case with White. The highs are not as high, but the lows are not as low. White's career field goal percentage is 43.4%, and Ball has just one season above that mark, and that was his rookie year at 43.6%.

White's career turnover percentage is 12%. Ball's is 14.4%. You could live with that because of the immense assist numbers (39.1% career assist percentage to Ball's 19.3%), but that does raise the floor for an NBA offense.

The Hornets will have to adjust the offense to fit White's style rather than Ball's, but the numbers were good enough and his playstyle is safe enough that it should raise the floor while lowering the ceiling. We will just have to see if that's to this team's benefit or detriment over the next couple of seasons.

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for the latest news and updates on the Charlotte Hornets