30. Charlotte Hornets
Poor Hornets fans. Poor, poor Hornets fans.
Charlotte went from a perennially average team to the worst team in the league in a matter of minutes. That’s what losing Kemba Walker can do to your franchise.
The Hornets are now stuck overpaying Nicolas Batum, Terry Rozier, Marvin Williams, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Cody Zeller and Bismack Biyombo.
Even though the Hornets will likely be the worst team in the league in the 2019-2020 season, they do have some nice young pieces. Malik Monk could develop into an above average starting two guard. Miles Bridges, despite a rough rookie season, looks like he could be a legitimate player in the future. PJ Washington, the 12th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, projects as a solid forward. Devonte’ Graham and Cody Martin are two backup-level point guards who could develop into decent starters at some point in the next few years. It’s not that they don’t have any talent. It’s just that the timing is all out of whack.
The biggest problem with the Hornets is that their overpaid guys are all past their primes or just not very good, and none of their young guys look ready to make an impact any time soon.
The Hornets are set up to be a tanking team for the next few years as they build around Bridges and Washington. I’m not sure what that spells for their distant future, but their immediate future doesn’t look too good.