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Orlando Magic’s youth will help Steve Clifford avoid Charlotte Hornets’ fate

By Philip Rossman-Reich

The Orlando Magic hired Steve Clifford to build a foundation. Now he has to take the team to the next level. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The Orlando Magic hired Steve Clifford to build a foundation. Now he has to take the team to the next level. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Steve Clifford, Charlotte Hornets, Al Jefferson
After signing Al Jefferson, the Charlotte Bobcats became a playoff team. But the Charlotte Hornets struggled to return. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /

What happened in Charlotte

So what happened?

The then-Charlotte Bobcats made the playoffs in 2014 behind the sixth-best defense in the league and a 24-12 finish to the season. It was a long way back up for the Bobcats, only a few years removed from a pitiful nine-win season.

But Charlotte failed to make the Playoffs in 2015.

Injuries kept Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson from playing 70 games and the team could not generate much offense overall. The now-Hornets were still 10th in the league in defensive rating. But without a strong offense — 99.6 points per 100 possessions, 28th in the league — the Hornets could not return to the playoffs.

The team acquired Nicolas Batum the following offseason to build up their offense and ease the playmaking burden on Kemba Walker.

It worked. Walker was healthy, Batum was an All-Star and the defense remained strong finishing ninth in the league. The Hornets were back in the playoffs, taking the Miami Heat to seven games in the first round.

Building off that success, the Hornets re-signed Batum in the offseason to a four-year deal hoping he would continue his strong play as a point forward and other players would fill in.

That never worked out. The Hornets failed to make the playoffs in the next two seasons, ending up with 36 wins in each year.

Batum never continued to progress and Walker was left carrying the entire scoring load again. Injuries at the wrong time derailed their seasons. The team missed on several draft picks, failing to get impact players to support the team.

The Hornets were still a tough team to beat — famously not beating themselves as Magic executives described Clifford’s teams — but they were not a playoff contender anymore. They were not growing into something bigger.