Ty's 2022-2023 NBA Season Preview: Hornets, Pistons, Kings
/
Welcome to day three of my 22-23 NBA countdown. We are getting seriously close to teams with play in potential. We just are not there yet.
At number 24 I have the Charlotte Hornets. This team was already on the wrong side of the coin, then the awfulness happened with Miles Bridges. What he did was atrocious, he should miss a ton of time on the court and I would not be shocked if he winds up in court. He has much bigger issues than basketball right now. That being said, he may have been their number two guy. That is a big hit for this team. LaMelo Ball is a very good player. He has all the tools you want in a modern point guard and his shot is getting better. But he is hurt and is going to miss time at the start of the season. Gordon Hayward is washed and then some. Kelly Oubre is a fine player, but everywhere he goes and starts, they do not win much. Terry Rozier got paid, and is an offensive threat, but he has become more of a liability now. PJ Washington is good, but should be better. James Bouknight is not nearly as good as I thought he was going to be. Mason Plumlee is washed as well. Bryce McGowens has potential. Nick Richards is an okay big off the bench. Dennis Smith Jr is getting another shot. And JT Thor is a rad name. But the Hornets are not very good. They barely made the play in last season and they will be lucky to win 30 games this year. They are trending way, way down.
At number 23 I have the Detroit Pistons. I really, really like the direction they are trending in. They are like the opposite Charlotte Hornets. They are building something solid, but they are still a year or two away. I understand they have playoff hopes, but they are not there just yet. Cade Cunnigham is a star in the making. I have adored watching him since he was at Oklahoma State. I am buying all the stock that I can in Cunningham. He is great. I love the Jaden Ivey pick. Pairing him with Cunningham in the backcourt is a wonderful idea. When he slows down and learns the way of the NBA, he could be awesome. He is a great running partner for Cunningham. I also love the Jalen Duren pick. He is a very skilled big already and will only get better. He could be a solid starter on a very good playoff team. Marvin Bagley finally got a shot to play a lot and did some nice things. He did get hurt, but he avoided a serious injury and should be back soon. Saadiq Bey could be a Swiss army knife guy for this team. Isaiah Stewart is big and nasty and I love watching him play offense and defense in the post. I like that they got Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks. When they are healthy they can contribute. Isaiah Livers is healthy again and can provide bench scoring. I love that they went out and traded for Bojan Bogdanovic. He is another bench scorer. The problem is that they are just not ready yet. Give it a year or 2 and this team will be good, like playoffs good. They are not there yet though.
The final team for the day, at number 22 I have the Sacramento Kings. I fully understand that they have high hopes of being in the playoffs, that they think they are ready, that they had a great Summer League and that everyone is ready to go. But we are talking about a team that has not been in the playoffs for 16 years. That is the longest drought in professional sports. They do have a good team, and I love hiring Mike Brown as the new head coach. But again, this is the Kings. I still do very much like De'Aaron Fox. He is showing signs of improvement every year. When he is on the court he can play. He just needs to stay healthy. Domantas Sabonis is an awesome offensive player. He is such a good low post guy to run the offense through from time to time. He's just very poor on the defensive end. Keegan Murray was great in Summer League. Now it is time for that to translate to the real guys. Davion Mitchell is a very good on ball defender. He can guard every guard in the league. Kevin Huerter is kind of blah, but can shoot. Malik Monk has flashes but has never fully put it all together. Harrison Barnes is solid, but it is clear he cannot be the best guy on a playoff team. Richaun Holmes is somehow still underrated, but he is still doing his thing. Alex Len is washed. Josh Jackson is a bust. They signed Matthew Dellavedova and Quinn Cook for some reason. And Trey Lyles is still there. This is a weird roster and they are not as good as the front office and their fans may think. I like some pieces, but some others make no sense at all. The Kings may be the most confusing team in all of the NBA. That is it for today. See you all tomorrow for the next three teams.
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.