Added Length Paying Off Already for Hornets

It can be a long year on the defensive end for any NBA team that doesn’t stuff its roster with lengthy players possessing eagle-like wingspans. The Hornets aren’t the biggest team in the league in terms of verticality, but horizontally though? That’s been a different story.

Since the beginning of the Mitch Kupchak/James Borrego era, Charlotte has made adding length a continuous priority. Over the past three seasons starting in 2018-19, the team finished 23rd (112.0), 25th (112.8) and 16th(112.0) in defensive rating, with its sights set on finally cracking the top-10 this year.

“Any time you have more length, you should be a better defensive team, a better rebounding team,” explained Borrego.…