had a depth issue. Injuries to LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams and midseason trades of staring forwards PJ Washington and Gordon Hayward exacerbated those problems, but beyond those four, rookie sensation Brandon Miller, and the ever-durable Miles Bridges, Charlotte lacked talent down the roster.
Sure, Tre Mann had his moments. Vasilije Micic was good for a solid outing on occasions. Davis Bertans would have the random night where he'd shoot the cover off the ball. But in all, Charlotte struggled when their marquee players either sat or failed to contribute. The statistics bear it out.The Hornets bench was abysmal in 2023-24. Their -4.5 net rating was second worst among all NBA squads, only ahead of the lowly Detroit Pistons.
Nick Richards, currently a starter who will transition to a reserve role upon Mark Williams' return, has been a double-double machine. His performance in Wednesday night's nail-biting win against the Toronto Raptors concluded with a stat line that no Charlotte Hornets has amassed since Dwight Howard donned the purple and teal nearly a decade ago.That pair, veterans Cody Martin and Grant Williams, and upstart energy big man Moussa Diabate have the Charlotte Hornets bench humming.
"Their contribution was huge. We needed every one of those buckets. We needed every one of those stops that I thought that those guys helped us get. Really exciting to see Tidjane get his first NBA regular season bucket and free throw attempts. I thought Cody and Tre and Grant did a great job of helping us score. I also thought that that group did a great job of stabilizing us defensively too...