Who Are the Charlotte Hornets' Top-Five Defenders?

Professional sports teams always carry labels, year over year. Whether it’s the fans, national media, or anyone else in between who delivers it, they all get them.

I’d say the Hornets’ label, even within the fanbase, from what I've seen, would be that they aren’t a great defensive team. We’ve discussed it all offseason; fans have asked my YouTube co-host and me multiple mailbag questions about the defense alone.

So, rather than continue thinking with the herd, I wanted to at least put myself through the challenge of ranking Charlotte’s best defensive players.

Let’s do our best Black Eyed Peas and Get it Started.

No. 5: Ryan Kalkbrenner

Ryan Kalkbrenner always had to be on a list like this, regardless of how you feel about his deficiencies on the court.

Kalkbrenner is exactly what you’d expect him to be – that much is certain – but he fills that rim protector role like nobody’s business, especially for a rookie going into his second year. He’s had an offseason training program after a year in the NBA now, and you have to think he’ll get better, even if it’s incrementally. 

I’d imagine the conditioning is at least a little bit better for Ryan – he’s never going to be galloping in transition in the wide-open court trying to score…

He’s never even going to find himself ahead of the break. But I’d imagine the conditioning will get a bit better, which would be to his benefit, and he’s also got a lot more options. He’s going to be used in situations that best benefit Ryan, so that he’ll be put in a position to succeed on a consistent basis.

When you finish as the NBA's second-best C in blocks per game by the end of 82 games, you have to be on this list, right? Ryan Kalkbrenner finished second despite missing that stint with the elbow. He’s not versatile, but he has a niche. He plays it; he knows it well. He did it for four years at Creighton.

We’ve talked about this before: 

Kalkbrenner started every game he played at Creighton and has played the same niche for four years, and he’s still playing it to this day with Charlotte. He’ll be fine this year defensively, but you know what you’re getting from him, and you’re not getting much more this year – in my opinion – outside of some potentially improved conditioning. The only caveat is that if he whips out a three-point shot this year out of nowhere, my opinion might change. As of now, though? I have him at five.

No. 4: Grant Williams

Grant Williams deserves a ranking here more than most seem to give him credit for in the Hornets’ sphere. Outside of Kalkbrenner and Moussa Diabate, Grant is easily the best defender the Hornets have available in their frontcourt rotation. They’re going to rely on that skill set big time, too, with the deficiencies Naz Reid tends to have on the defensive end.

When you look at all of those possibilities, one thing becomes pretty clear: Charlotte needs frontcourt combinations that can give you a little bit of both offense and defense. Whether that’s alongside Moussa Diabaté, Ryan Kalkbrenner, or somebody else, having a player who can give you something on both ends matters.

That’s where Grant comes into the conversation. I’d expect him to be even more reliable this season defensively, simply considering the fact that he spent most of last season easing back into playing regular minutes after his ACL recovery.

No. 3: Brandon Miller

Brandon is a more-than-capable defender – B. Mill was one of Charlotte’s best perimeter defenders this side of Sion James at his best last year, and that “best version” of Miller wore a shoulder wrap so thick a mummy would’ve been impressed. 

He had lots of lapses at times, though. Part of me wants to think that’s because of the injuries and the lack of healthy NBA offseasons Miller has under his belt, which I’ll get to here in just a second.

You would also think that, in a perfect world, the Paul George favorite-player part of Brandon would come out this year on defense; Had LaMelo stayed, I could see that part of his game taking a bigger step this year.

But Brandon is about to take on an enormous amount of extra volume and scoring load — the kind of offensive load that will dramatically affect how Miller gets paid over the next five years…

And if it’ll even be the Hornets as the one paying you. 

When young, star-potential players have to take a jump in their offensive volume and primary scoring duties, like Brandon inevitably will be doing this year, himself? I don’t feel as if that scenario has fared well for NBA players of the past who haven’t already shown flashes of being a top-tier perimeter defender. Expecting a guy who hasn’t had a full, available offseason since before his rookie year to make a sizable defensive jump, and then to take on further scoring expectations… 

It'll be hard for anyone to hold Brandon to that standard.

NBA player or not, he’s a human being. He’s going to get more tired from exerting significantly more energy on the offensive end.

There are choices that come with being a primary scorer. I think Miller’s choice will be to prioritize his offensive development over his defensive growth; at the very least, Brandon is still talented enough to make an impact on defense, even with that extra weight on his shoulders. I think it says a lot about Miller’s defensive ability and potential defensive ability in the future that he’s on this list regardless of the caveats I just gave. 

I still believe he’s going to be one of their better players on that end… the jump in defensive production will just be incremental this year, at best, with every other adjustment Brandon will already have to make elsewhere.

No. 2: Sion James

I've spoken on this a lot and heaped my praise on Sion before, but to be the caliber of perimeter defender he is — doing it for 82 games, night in and night out — That’s something you don’t often see from rookies… ever. End of story.

Sion did it as an early second-round pick. I've even argued that James was this team’s best overall perimeter defender last season. 

He’s likely only gotten stronger and more conditioned for the NBA, which, you’d think, would only further his durability.

He’ll only get better this year after a full, non-rookie NBA offseason. The place players like Sion take the biggest leap in in the second season? 

It’s almost always growth within the niche he’s already best at; that’s undoubtedly defense. He knows NBA guys’ tendencies now. What spots they want to get to. How to use a scouting report from the morning of the game to help you when there’s five minutes left in the game and you’re down two. He will be an NBA player for a VERY long time, in my opinion.

There’s just not been enough outright reps for Sion against NBA players yet. 

What do I mean by that, do you ask?

Tulane’s a great school. Duke’s a great school; they’re two of the best in the entire country. There is no arguing that Sion is a very intelligent person. He uses that to his advantage as he should, but there’s only so much you can know as a rookie… even if you play all 82.

For example: 

When you’re Grant Williams, you may not be as athletic or strong in sheer nature as Sion James. What Williams does have on James? An absurd amount of reps that buy you basketball IQ that nothing but experience will pay for.

Grant isn’t close to the athlete James is. What Williams does know — Grant knows that Kevin Durant, when he’s doing a hesitation in-and-out dribble inside the arc with his right hand to get to the basket, Grant knows that 90% of the time in this scenario he’s going to go down the right side of the lane.

Of course, that’s all entirely made up about Durant, but what it represents is the knowledge of tendencies and how to exploit them. These kinds of things for Sion are what will come with time, and ultimately catapult him upwards in terms of the kind of defender he will be long-term.

It felt like last year was a hurricane for Sion James. 

Not only did he come out in one piece on the other end, but Sion also made it out in one piece when the odds were entirely against him. 

Defensively, most rookies fare like a mobile home in Hurricane Katrina; They’re 100% going to get whipped up into the whirlwind of the hurricane at some point. 

But Sion. No, not Sion. James had hurricane insurance. He’s got the stilts on his house, and no matter if it’s Katrina or otherwise, James’ foundation defensively is exactly like that of a strong house that survives a hurricane. 

Just like a home that stood firm through the storm, Sion will come out stronger on the other side this season in a similar way.

No. 1: Moussa Diabaté

Moussa is so good, man. 

That’s it. Analysis over. That’s the kind of deep insight you show up for right there.

In all seriousness: The fact that I and many others have discussed Moussa’s inefficiency defending shots at the rim… and yet, he’s STILL No. 1 on this list? To me, that speaks loudly to how good a defender he is at the C spot literally everywhere else. 

You know what I mean? 

For what you lose in Diabaté’s lack of rim deterrence, you could even argue he gives it right back and then some on the offensive end in every game, given the sheer number of offensive rebounds Moose pulls down. 

Is it ideal to have your starting C compensate for his inefficiencies elsewhere? No.

But Diabaté has some form of innate ability, one that I can’t quite quantify, to just make himself useful regardless of where the analytics tell you he’s falling short. Guys with the offensive limitations Moose has tend to get played off the court against better teams in playoff situations.

I truly don’t think that’ll ever be the case for Diabaté. 

In future postseasons, he may have to be used in a more matchup-dependent situation, but the sheer effort and switchability Moose gives you on defense alongside his impact on BOTH sides of the floor rebounding-wise will never go out of style.

Outside of MVP-caliber candidates like Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic at the C spot, league-wide? Guys who do it all? I truly believe you could make the case for Diabaté being one of the pound-for-pound most versatile defenders at the 5 in the entire NBA.

That argument, though? That’s a column for another day.