After the firing of James Borrego as the Charlotte Hornets' head coach, they are in need of someone who can run this young team. The Hornets had been trending upward in Borrego's four-year stint at the helm. They've drafted fairly well in that time span by netting Miles Bridges in 2018 and LaMelo Ball back in 2020. Charlotte also has added a good holster of veteran players around their young guys that have played a huge role in the team's success. Now, it's time to go out there and find the right coach to help culminate all this talent.
Mark Jackson pretty much got the short end of the stick while he was in Golden State. He was there from 2011-2014 and helped the pieces that they had on the roster develop into the surefire players they are today. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green were able to figure out the type of roles that they needed to play in order for the team to be successful. Year by year they improved and in the 2014 playoffs, they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Clippers. Jackson was fired afterward and supplanted by Steve Kerr, who would go on to win a title in his first year and two more down the road.
The point is, Jackson put the system in place, while Kerr just had to tweak a few things on offense to help get the team over the hump. Working with a young team like the Hornets shouldn't be a problem for Jackson, in fact, he will probably be able to elevate them more than what Borrego was able to in his stint. LaMelo Ball is one of the most versatile young stars in the league and Miles Bridges is a solid three-level scorer. Jackson could work his magic with those to building blocks. Oh yeah, plus he is more of a defensive-minded head coach, so that is already a positive impact he could bring in on day one.
Sam Cassell
Sam Cassell has no head coaching experience, but he has been an assistant coach with over 20 years in the league. In that time span, he has worked with Doc Rivers a lot to make sure his teams run plays efficiently on the offensive side of the ball. Say what you want about Rivers, but the man is sure a model of consistency when it comes to making it to the postseason. If anything, Cassell might just be able to bring that playoff juice with him to wherever he could end up. If it is in Charlotte, then they'll be in luck. His vast knowledge of the game will benefit this Hornets group greatly.
Now just chill for a little a bit, Frank Vogel isn't a bad coach. Despite his odd stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, he did a phenomenal job in his first couple of seasons. Hell, he won a title and that's the ultimate goal, right? Things broke down on him at the end there because the team signed Russell Westbrook and it happened to be a bad fit. Plus, some of the key pieces from that championship squad were traded away or they failed to retain. Then of course there was a series of injuries that just made it damn near impossible for them to salvage their season by making it to a Play-In game.
Vogel is a defensive-minded coach that can help the Hornets clean up some of their glaring mistakes on that end of the floor. Of course, simple boxouts and effort will be preached, but zone schemes will be so much better. He is sure to bring in a real plan if he is selected and interviewed for the job.
The top two choices are former players and point guards at that. Both guys would be able to help LaMelo Ball tap into a different level. Mark Jackson is fifth on the all-time assists list, so that should tell you how big of a help he could be for Ball and the rest of the squad. While Vogel has amassed the most time as a head coach in the league, so the Hornets have a lot of liable options available.
Honorable mention
For anyone that is on a Quin Snyder bandwagon right now, it is a little too early to tell if he'll be available. He is still cooling in Utah with a pretty solid team. Let's just wait and see what happens.
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