Who are the Charlotte Hornets most important bench pieces?

Matt Alquiza | 2 Hours Ago

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Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets roster has some serious top-end talent. Lamelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Mark Williams (health pending) are four quality building blocks for the franchise to work with. NBA games are traditionally decided by the starting units, but on occasion, a strong bench mob can swing a close tilt. Charlotte has revamped their bench in recent years with flurry of trades and free agent signings, but the question begs, who are the most important players on the Hornets bench?

Nick Richards

Richards is near the top by default. Mark Williams' backup was elevated into a starting role last season when Williams went down with a back injury, and Richards acquitted himself well. The former Kentucky Wildcat averaged 9.7 points and 8 rebounds in 67 games with the Hornets in 2023-24. With Williams health already in question, Richards projects to see big minutes early on.

Even if Mark Williams returns for the regular season, Richards will play a massive role with the 2024-25 Charlotte Hornets. Richards is the Hornets only reserve who projects for a legitimate role that stands taller than 6'6". The rookie Tidjane Salaün and the vet Taj Gibson bring size to the Charlotte bench, but neither are likely to see the floor in competitive action this season.

In an Eastern Conference with big men like Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, Bam Adebayo, and now, Karl Anthony-Towns, size matters. Richards will be tasked with slowing down some of the NBA's most daunting interior threats, making him pivotal to Charlotte's success this season.

Tre Mann

Microwave bench scorer is an important NBA archetype. Jason Terry, Manu Ginobili and Lou Williams have been key players on great NBA teams due to their ability to get buckets against fellow reserve players. Tre Mann is the closest thing Charlotte has to those NBA luminaries.

Mann is a solid ball handler who has the ability to heat up and get buckets against tight defense. He averaged nearly 12 points per game in 26 starts with Charlotte last season, but it's a safe bet that his game will transate to, and even improve, coming off the Hornets bench. Allowing Mann to be a secondary playmakre on the second unit (alongside Vasilije Micic) should allow his game to thrive. The Hornets lacked a real bench scoring threat in 2023-24, ranking 24th in the league in points off the pine. Mann should change that.