CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Hornets rookie LaMelo Ball playing so well as a starter begs a question:
Should it be Devonte Graham or Terry Rozier as the other starting guard?
Perhaps one solution going forward is Graham and Rozier both playing alongside Ball. Coach James Borrego has experimented with that 3-guard lineup and the initial results are encouraging. In the 78 minutes those three have played together, the Hornets outscored opponents by about 22 points per 100 possessions.
You won't see that lineup against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night because Graham is still out with a groin strain. However, Borrego says he expects to continue using his top three guards together in significant doses. Borrego has also occasionally played three guards together by subbing Malik Monk into that mix.
"I'm more and more comfortable with it," Borrego said of 3-guard units. "We're figuring out how to guard with that group, but I like what I see offensively. That's the real strength of it — ball-movement, catch-and-shoot, the ability to play-make."
Ball has been spectacular in five consecutive starts. In those games, he's averaged 22.6 points, 6.6 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 2.8 turnovers, shooting 44% from the field and 51% from 3-point range. While Ball's starts have been as fill-in for various injured teammates, it's hard to imagine him returning to the second unit.
That leaves a choice for Borrego to move either Graham or Rozier — one of Charlotte's top two scorers last season — to the bench. That is, unless he goes with three guards, as he did to start the Utah Jazz game before Graham was hurt in the second quarter.
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The obvious downside to playing Ball, Graham and Rozier together is it makes the lineup really small. While Ball is big for a guard at 6-foot-7, Graham and Rozier are 6-1. Also, playing those three together often means shifting 6-7 Gordon Hayward from small forward to power forward.
But at least in the small sample so far, the defense holds up with that group: With Ball-Graham-Rozier on the floor together, the Hornets give up 96.9 points per 100 possessions. That's actually better than the Hornets' season-long average, allowing 107.6 points per 100 (12th in the NBA).
The early returns suggest the Hornets are dynamic offensively with Ball-Graham-Rozier on the floor (119 points per 100 possessions). But playing that way puts a heavy burden on Rozier to guard the best opposing perimeter scorer constantly, while also contributing offensively.
Ball has length and quickness, but gets lost sometimes in the complexities of NBA defensive rotations.
"Terry can guard his position at a high level," Borrego said. "Devonte may not be the biggest guy or the most athletic guy, but Devonte knows his (defensive) spots, his rotations.
"Where we can make up a lot of ground is in LaMelo's development defensively. He's still growing defensively, but he does give us length and size, which allows us to switch."
Borrego added that if the Hornets are efficient offensively in a 3-guard set, it aids the defense because more made baskets means more opportunity to have set half-court defense, rather than guard in transition off misses.
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Borrego sees a side-benefit to playing a 3-guard unit; it could take some burden off Hayward to constantly carry Charlotte's offense.
Hayward leads the Hornets in points per game (22.9) and minutes (35.7). General manager Mitch Kupchak expressed concern in a recent Observer interview about not over-using 10-year veteran Hayward.
"Quite frankly, I don't want to see him playing 38 minutes a game and scoring 35 to 38 points a game. I think that's too much," Kupchak told The Charlotte Observer.
Borrego sees an offensively-potent 3-guard rotation as potentially addressing that.
"It allows me to rest Gordon some," Borrego said. "I don't feel like when Gordon goes out of the game, I'm losing as much offensively with those three guards together."
