By Sam Perley

Another action-packed Summer League season has come and gone for the Charlotte Hornets as their playing schedule officially wrapped up last Saturday night following an overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors. The sample size is relatively small, but there are plenty of noteworthy observations to take away from the team’s five-game stay in Las Vegas.

Although he played just one game, Malik Monk looked sharp in his lone appearance with 23 points, two assists, two steals and just one turnover in 28 minutes against Oklahoma City on July 6. Monk’s shot selection and decision-making have improved significantly since his NBA debut and at still just 20 years of age, his immediate future is overflowing with potential.

First-rounder Miles Bridges had his fair share of electrifying moments and is currently the only NBA rookie in the tournament averaging at least 15.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. His offensive efficiency was a bit up and down, although he more than balanced things out with his hustle, defensive play-making and overall versatility.

Willy Hernangomez was perhaps Charlotte’s most consistent performer in Vegas, racking up double-doubles in each of his four showings. The third-year center finished with averages of 18.2 points on 50.0 percent shooting, 12.0 rebounds (third amongst all players), 1.8 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. Most notably though, he looked more comfortable spacing the floor, knocking down 5-of-13 three-pointers after totaling just 12 attempts in 48 games last season.

Dwayne Bacon got better and better as the competition unfolded, finishing with a team-Summer-League-high 28 points in Saturday’s game against Toronto. Charlotte’s second-round pick in 2017 has an NBA body and great physicality, which he used to his advantage in Vegas with a majority of his scoring coming via drives and after contact.

Rookie Devonte’ Graham was impressive running the point as he and Indiana’s Aaron Holiday are the only qualified rookies who averaged at least 10.0 points and 6.0 assists out in the desert. The Kansas alum dazzled with a handful of highlight passes and often times looked well ahead of the curve for a player picked in the second round.

J.P. Macura didn’t really light up any box scores, but he was constantly involved in the action and always around the ball. The two-way rookie signee from Xavier looked every bit the competitor he said he was earlier this month at Summer League Minicamp, making key play after key play whenever he was on the floor.

Hornets Head Coach James Borrego has stated that he envisions the team taking more three-pointers next season. Last year, the Hornets ranked 21st in the league with 27.2 long-distance attempts per game, which converts to 0.56 per minute. The offense of the future seemed to be on display in Vegas as the squad averaged 26.0 such attempts per outing, which comes out to 0.65 per minute thanks to the shortened quarters.

A byproduct of the increased three-point attempts was that the team certainly played (and looked) faster on offense. The Hornets consistently transitioned swiftly from defense to offense with the ball constantly moving around the perimeter. Charlotte owned the eighth-quickest pace in the league last season (101.25 possessions per 48 minutes), which could see a significant bump thanks to the reworked offense.