Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball drives to the basket against the Orlando Magic.
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball drives to the basket against the Orlando Magic. AP Photo
We’ve reached the point of this Raptors season where storylines are dying down as the campaign reaches its conclusion.
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Which is why today we’re taking stock of who is in a better long-term spot: Toronto or the Charlotte Hornets — Friday’s opponent at Scotiabank Arena.
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BACKGROUND
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Only Detroit has lost more games since 2009-10 (506) then Charlotte and this will be the ninth straight year the franchise misses the playoffs.
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They’ve only made it three times in the past 21 seasons — yikes — and haven’t won a round since doing so in both 2000-01 and 2001-02.
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Charlotte could finish last in home attendance for a second straight year, which isn’t surprising given that ugly history, even though North Carolina is one of the world’s hotbeds of hoops.
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Toronto will miss the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons, but at least has a somewhat recent championship win, has another conference final appearance to remember and is doing just fine attendance-wise.
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ADVANTAGE: Raptors
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ROSTER OUTLOOK
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Top players: LaMelo Ball, Hornets; Scottie Barnes, Raptors.
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Both players are one-time all-stars with a rookie of the year award under their belt. Both fill boxscores like few others, but have some limitations at this point.
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Barnes is the superior defender by far and has been able to stay a lot healthier.
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Ball’s shooting has dipped to a career-low 33.9% from three and 40.5% overall, but he is a more dangerous shooter.
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Most would agree Barnes is more impactful overall than Ball, who has been knocked as an “empty calories” type of player, despite his immense skill level.
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Other key long-term pieces: Hornets: Brandon Miller, Mark Williams (maybe), Tidjane Salaun (maybe).
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Raptors: Brandon Ingram, Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick (maybe), Ja’Kobe Walter (maybe), Jamal Shead.
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ADVANTAGE: Raptors
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Other solid veterans: Hornets: Miles Bridges. Raptors: Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett.
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ADVANTAGE: Raptors.
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Clearly Toronto is well ahead of one of its cellar-dwelling rivals. Ball is a huge question mark, as is Williams, who was nearly dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers before L.A. balked at his physical. Miller looks extremely promising, but has missed much of the season. There is precious little veteran help there.
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DRAFT PICK SITUATION
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Charlotte has a solid shot at having the best odds, along with Washington and Utah, of landing Duke star Cooper Flagg (currently 14%, same as the other two teams at the bottom of the standings), and 52.1% odds at a Top 4 selection, the same as Washington and Utah.
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You could argue no franchise needs Flagg more than the Hornets. The team will not have its second-round pick until 2028, which isn’t ideal.
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Still, the Hornets do have a second rounder coming from equally terrible New Orleans this year and another next year coming from Golden State or Denver.
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Toronto is in a neutral situation picks-wise, but will need lottery luck to select before Charlotte this year.
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ADVANTAGE: Charlotte.