The Charlotte Hornets are being pressed to acquire one type of player this summer.
The Charlotte Hornets were one of the best stories in basketball this past season, putting together an incredible stretch of play during the second half of the year and nearly making a shocking playoff appearance.
The Hornets sent a very strong message to the Eastern Conference in the process, and it seems as if they are only a couple of pieces away from being serious threats.
But where are Charlotte's most pressing needs heading into the summer?
The Hornets are loaded with young talent virtually everywhere, and it goes beyond their dynamic trio of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. They don't appear to have any significant weaknesses.
However, there is one area in which Charlotte could stand to improve: its frontcourt.
More specifically, Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey fees that the Hornets need to get a bit beefier on the block.
"But if the Hornets have one part of the rotation that could use a bit more depth, it might be the frontcourt. And ideally, it'd be a sort of change-of-pace big who could better deal with bulkier 5s," Bailey wrote.
Charlotte Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images.While Bailey likes both Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner, he isn't sure that either is equipped to deal with the stronger centers in the NBA.
"Diabate is listed at just 210 pounds, and though Kalkbrenner is huge even by NBA standards (7'1" and 256 pounds), he's not really known as a bruiser," Bailey added. "Landing a more physical 4 or 5 (or combo 4-5) in the draft, free agency or through a trade would better equip Charlotte for another long-haul regular season."
Funny thing is, the Hornets did have such a player the year prior in Jusuf Nurkic, but they traded him for Collin Sexton last offseason.
Not that it was a bad deal for Charlotte, as it was then able to flip Sexton for Coby White at the trade deadline, and the Hornets appear dead set on re-signing White in free agency.
Perhaps Kalkbrenner could utilize his size more to solve Charlotte's interior problem, but the Hornets may want to add some insurance just in case.
The good news for Charlotte is that those types of centers are typically cheap in this modern era of space-and-pace ball, so it should be able to find one in free agency.
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