The Charlotte Hornets suffered a big blow for their 2015-16 NBA campaign after small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went down with a shoulder injury during the team’s pre-season game last weekend against the Orlando Magic.
Kidd-Gilchrist tore a labrum and dislocated his shoulder, possibly sidelining him for up to six months though reports claim that he is likely out for the entire season.
The second overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft had the option not to undergo surgery but the chances of him re-injuring it again loomed. Surgery was performed Tuesday and such puts a damper on the chances of the Hornets for the coming season.
With the unfortunate sidelining of Kidd-Gilchrist, the Hornets will now have to undergo some adjustments to cover his loss.
One player that could be tasked to fill in the hole is new recruit Nicolas Batum whom the Bobcats acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh back in June.
Batum is expected to take Kidd-Gilchrist’s small forward position in the starting lineup which could be a blessing in disguise given his outside shooting prowess.
“For his career he has always been around 13 or 14 points per game, but I think he will get more play calls here,” says coach Steve Clifford via NBC Sports. “The big thing isn’t necessarily the number but how efficient he is – and I think he will play very efficiently.”
Being a guard of course, this would mean that Batum could be stretching his role a bit at the small forward position.
If such does happen, Batum’s slide into the small forward position does open up the logjam at the off guard spot. And one person who could stand to benefit from that is another new face – Jeremy Lin.
Lin is of course aching to return to his old self after a disastrous year with the Lakers and with the right opportunity, the whole roster adjustment could provide him just that.
If Lin does not get the starting off guard position, he will likely be the first man off the bench to spell Kemba Walker.
In fact, such was seen as the scenario beforehand but with Kidd-Gilchrist likely out for the season, Lin’s playing time could dramatically be boosted.
The issue right now is how Clifford is able to retool his current lineup in the light of Kidd-Gilchrist’s unfortunate plight. It could be a setback or then again not, seeing the Hornets have enough people to hold fort as Kidd-Gilchrist recovers from his shoulder injury.