3 surprise Hornets 3 duds

[MasterIchiro]

My surprise Hornets

#1 Rozier - his playoff run was for real. He will seize the starter role opportunity and lead the team by example, with fury. He's a gym rat and this will be infectious. His teammates will love feeding off his energy and he will get the ball in big situations. Maybe all those close games swing our way this year.

#2 Malik Monk - with spacing at a scarcity on this roster, he will see big minutes. JB has stated that Monk can make plays for himself but he's also needed to create opportunities for teammates. Monk can generate offense in small spaces. He was always the second most dangerous with space behind Kemba, but pairing them hurt the defense. Rozier's ability to guard shooting guards will result in big minutes for Monk. He may not be efficient but Booker put up 26 with big minutes while only making 32% of his threes.

#3 Cody Zeller - He's overdue for a healthy season. The front office made multiple attempts to upgrade the position for Kemba, but with no star having high usage, Zeller will be a bigger part of the offense. A mobile big like Cody fits this young squad seeking to push the ball at a tenacious pace.

Duds:
Marvin
MKG
Nic

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I'll buy on Terry & Cody. I'm still not expecting much out of Malik, but time will tell.

My surprise Hornet in Malik's place will be PJ. Just a gut feeling that by mid-season he will be starting and doing well.


On the duds I think that Nic is actually going to be OK this year. He's never going to perform to that contract, but I expect him to be a bit more healthy this year, play a bit less, and to just do a bit better overall as a result. In agreement about MKG and Marv.

My dud in Nic's place will be Malik. While he has the potential, needed offensive skills, and opportunity ... I don't think that he will do what he needs to do in order to put it all together.

[LofJ]

MKG, Nic, and Marvin are already duds, so nothing changed there.

As for my 3 surprises I'll go with Rozier, Zeller, and Bridges.

Rozier will get ample playing time and will have the ball in his hands a lot. I predict that he will play better than most expect and establish himself as a starter level player.

Zeller has been the 2nd best player on the team for years. He was Kemba's Draymond and he will continue to be that guy for Rozier and Monk. Only now I think he will start to assert himself more on offense.

After seeing Bridges in summer league I'm confident he's going to have a good year. Physically he looks fantastic and he has improved his shot release by making it a lot faster. He will improve his shooting percentages and have more endurance to play both ends next season.

Monk and Bacon are the wildcards. With all the veterans still on the roster there won't be enough playing time for both of them to get consistent minutes. I don't know what to expect here, but due to the fact that Bacon is NOT a playmaker at all I think the smart call would be to give Monk the nod.

And for the same reason above PJ likely won't see the court much next season. I hope a trade materializes by the deadline to clear out the roster so we can see him get consistent minutes.

[Robot Rock]

I hate to do these because I'm superstitious but I have hopes for Rozier and Bacon to break out, and Miles too...

As far as duds, Marvin and Batum are locks. One of Monk or Zeller will surprise and the other will disappoint. PJ will play less than 200 NBA minutes all season.

[MasterIchiro]

Bacon and Miles are up there for me as surprises but the need for space tilts the scale to Malik. His ability to navigate small spaces is unique to this team and it is one of the primary skills we lost with Kemba. That ability was a big part of our offense.

PJ is gonna be good but conditioning is an issue for rookies no matter what. I think he will be like Bacon from last year, disappeared in Greensboro. When he comes back he will look like a starter. I'm not sure you can load a rookie with big minutes.

Thread rebrand: A team of duds - The Robot Rock Thread

[Robot Rock]

Bacon and Miles are up there for me as surprises but the need for space tilts the scale to Malik. His ability to navigate small spaces is unique to this team and it is one of the primary skills we lost with Kemba. That ability was a big part of our offense.

PJ is gonna be good but conditioning is an issue for rookies no matter what. I think he will be like Bacon from last year, disappeared in Greensboro. When he comes back he will look like a starter. I'm not sure you can load a rookie with big minutes.

Thread rebrand: A team of duds - The Robot Rock Thread

Well, pretty much everything I said in this one is legitimately possible, so it's not really worthy of a "me" thread. But I'll give better material in others.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I think that most of us expect Bacon and Miles to play well this year. They've been working hard.

What I want from Bacon is the improved passing we saw last year to continue and for him to break out the year 1 defense again.

From Miles I want to see him be a bit more aggressive and consistent. I expect him to continue to put up good all round numbers.

[JDR720]

Surprise

Nic, he will average 15/5/5.
Bacon, will be one of our top 3 scorers
Rozier, he will put up stats but he might not actually be good.

Duds
Marvin, he wont get many open shots without Kemba.
MKG, shame corner here he comes. Probably wont be in the regular rotation.
Zeller, Rozier isn't a good shooter so his primary skill of setting screens isn't that useful with the starters.

[MasterIchiro]

Hopefully one of the starters will be Monk and Cody can give him the best screens he's ever had.

[Liver_Pooty]

Bacon, Rozier, Miles, and Cody will not be surprises. Half the people on here expect Bacon to be our leading scorer. Rozier is a tough ass player who will give it his all. Miles i expect improvement. Zeller has shown hes solid when healthy, but a bump to his knee on his coffee table will keep him out 50 games.

Malik Monk will be the true difference. Hes either the next Ben Mclemore or a true player. We will see

[KingCat]

Bacon, Willy, and I honestly cannot think of one more...

Dud: Miles, Rozier, Marv

[Rays Pompadour]

Surprise: Graham, Batum, Zeller
I think we'll see Graham and Rozier on the floor together a lot more than we realize. And at the moment, the Hornets have NO injury insurance for Rozier. Graham can play. The bar is so low on Batum that I don't think he has anything to do but surprise. And I'll make a wild prediction that Zeller will be healthy all season.

Dud: Bacon, MKG, Biyombo
The next time I see Bacon dunk in somebody's face will be the first time. Too many fade-aways. He has Hendo disease. MKG...we all know why. When you can't shoot, you are useless. Useless. And, you know, Bismack could be so much more. I do think he'll be a situational contributor and come up big from time to time, but he's just so boneheaded.

Honorable mention: Mitch Kupchack. I'm still waiting for you to sign someone, Mitch.

[Snidely FC]

Surprise

Cody Martin - NBA ready defender (2018 Mountain Defensive Player of the Year), can guard 1-4 switchable, good playmaker; if he will make some 3 balls CHA could finally have the 3&D wing it needs

PJ Washington - Let PJ play, and I think his skillset will shine

MKG - ought to look better playing alongside younger guys at a faster pace; he's a strong positional rebounder, for instance, who can initiate as well as finish fast breaks

Dud

Malik Monk - Small positional size, anti-fundamental play, and inability to defend at this level will eventually erode his playing time and his trade value

Willy Hernangomez - Stiff in the post and on D must simply hope not to find himself alongside Byron Mullens on Mount Turnstile

Jaylen McDaniels - paucity of functional strength will keep him off the court

[316Hornets]

3 surprise Hornets:

Cody Zeller - Zeller has always done what the team has asked of him and for much of his time, he's had to be Kemba's bodyguard. For the first time, he will be unleashed to do things other than setting screens nonstop. This should help him avoid injury, as well as, increase his scoring output.

Miles Bridges - Bridges has the fundamentals down, but wasn't asked to carry a big load last season. With the team in a rebuilding type mode, Bridges will be leaned on as one of the focal points of the rebuild. I expect to see him taking a lot more shots this season.

PJ Washington - Washington is a guy that can score and run with the best of them. I don't expect him to play perfect ball, but I do expect him to have some high scoring games this season.

3 duds:

Terry Rozier - Think we'll have a case of a dog's bark being bigger than it's bite here. I'm okay with it because he should ensure we get a pretty solid draft pick

Malik Monk - I don't know what's going on with him, but it's obvious to me the coach wasn't a big fan of his last season. Haven't heard much from him this offseason and really have to question whether his head is in it right now.

Biz - no real NBA level qualities besides rebounding and blocks. Not someone I'd want to give much run to in a rebuild.

[GoBobs]

Surprise - MKG, I still believe.

[MasterIchiro]

Surprise - MKG, I still believe.

Man some of you guys are on what appears to be a seven year mushroom trip. Where did you get them? I've never tried them but now I'm curious.

[predators]

Surprises -
Marv - I think he plays lights out trying to be a rental for a contender.
MKG - Contract Year will need to play a bigger role on the team. Stock can really only go up.
PJ - Health permitting, i think he looks better than Miles.


Duds -

Graham - Most over-rated player on the roster. I think he gets exposed with more minutes.
Monk - I just don't think he has the length or handle to play his game in the NBA. I think he needs to develop more self awareness of what he can actually do at the NBA level.
Bacon - Not really a Dud, just won't meet the sky high expectations set for him. He's not going to be a 1:1 replacement for lamb.