CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Should the Terry Rozier-or-Devonte Graham backcourt decision become a Rozier-and-Graham decision?
If ever there was a season for the Charlotte Hornets to experiment, it's this one. The record is going to be bad no matter how these players are configured. If this is about youth and development, then ride with the young guy showing the most promise.
That guy so far is Graham.
The backup point guard, a second-round pick in the 2018 draft, has blown up in the first two games: He leads the Hornets in scoring with a 23.5-point average. He is shooting a stunning 12 of 16 from 3-point range. On a team that can't avoid turnovers, he is still making three assists for every give-away he commits.
And he's outplaying the starter at his position, Rozier, by a significant margin.
So then you might ask, as the Hornets leave on a four-game West Coast trip, why not replace Rozier in the starting lineup with Graham? My answer would be Rozier is still one of the better players on this team _ particularly defensively _ so why not maximize what you do have?
Don't pull either Rozier or shooting guard Dwayne Bacon out of the starting lineup, but do play Graham and Rozier as much together as you can.
That idea was always in coach James Borrego's head. After a 121-99 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Borrego said he anticipates going more with Graham and Rozier together, partially in reaction to losing Nic Batum for a couple of weeks with a broken finger.
"We can play them together," Borrego said. "We can play Terry off the ball some with Te' out there. We'll look at that lineup. We played it some tonight."
