The Hornets are off to an amazing start of the season, with their record sitting at 10-6. Going into the season, the Hornets front office was hoping to make a push for the Playoffs and it looks like they're doing exactly that.
Kris Dunn
Dunn is Charlotte's franchise player and after signing a 5-year max deal during the offseason, he wad tasked with leading the current roster into the Playoffs. For now, it seems like doing a decent job and Hornets indeed are in the spot that gets them into the Playoffs. However, the season is still in its early stages amd the East has never been stronger, making his job a lot more difficult. At the moment, Dunn is averaging 21.8 pts, 4.6 ast, 3.5 reb, 2.1 stl while shooting 48.4% from the field and 43.9% from three. These are some decent numbers for the former Providence guard and it doesn't look like he'll give up his Playoff hopes just yet.
Trae Young
Another player whom the Hornets can thank for their current record is sophmore point guard Trae Young. The former Oklahoma guard did a lot of work this offseason and has improved in quite a few areas of his game. He's been a phenomenal Robin to Dunn's Batman and is currently averaging 17.2 pts, 5.4 ast, 2.9 reb and 0.9 stl per game. Unfortunately, he suffer a minor injury in the game against Toronto and has been watching the last few games from the bench. Surpriaingly, the Hornets won olall but one of these games with the Magic putting an end to their 5-game winning streak. Trae is soon to be back and the Hoenets hope for their current form to continue once he's back.
Mikal Bridges
Another player worth taking a look at is the rookie Mikal Bridges. Whether you consider him a zero-impact palyer or a defensive stud, it can't be denied his addition to the roster had a major impact on the way Charlotte plays. He's shown ability to guard some of the alrady established CSL forwards and is expected to improve even more in the future. His current stats sit at just 7.1 pts, 1.9 ast, 2.2 reb and 0.9 stl per game but it's his performances on the defensive end that should be looked at more closely.
The bench
One of the biggest differences in the current Hornets roster is the bench. The addition of Bridges allowed Korkmaz to come off the bench, together with Wood who was added in the free agency and Petteway who seems to have found his old Pistons form. Hia scoring helped the Hornets get a W over AD's Pelicans and almost defeat pre-rebuild Thunder but now-Raptor Qi din't allow it to happen. All three, together with extremely efficient Ndoye Youssou have put up a agood fight against every other team's bench while Petteway has also shown he can start during Trae's absence.
The East
As mentioned above, the biggest problem this young Hornets team has to face is the depth of this year's Eastern Conference. There are at least 9 legit playoff contenders this year and Hornets are doing their best to be one of them. Whether they qualify for the Playffs or not, the current season has the potential to be conaodered a succes for the Hornets and they'll continue to look for opprotunity's to improve and build a bright future here in Charlotte.
