Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

In Their Bag

Charlotte Hornets

I never thought I would ever put the Charlotte Hornets in this category. They’ve now won nine games in a row, holding the longest winning streak in the NBA. In those nine games, they’ve beaten some of the best teams in the league, including the Spurs, Rockets, and the Sixers. Within this span, they have the best offensive rating in the NBA at 120.8 and the fourth-best defensive rating at 107.7, just ahead of the Detroit Pistons. Lamelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, and Brandon Miller have all been playing amazingly. It’s going to be interesting to see if they can keep playing well and hopefully ride this momentum into the playoffs.

Bag Lookin’ Shallow

Jonathan Kuminga

After a miserable four and a half years in the Golden State, Kuminga finally got his wish and is now an Atlanta Hawk. For his entire career up to this point, he’s never had a consistent spot in the rotation. Even when he was playing well, Steve Kerr wouldn’t trust him enough to get consistent minutes. It was especially hard for him to prove himself once they traded for Jimmy Butler. Not only did they add another forward on the team, but someone who wasn’t efficient from three. Having Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, and Jonathan Kuminga on the floor was never an option because of the horrendous spacing problems, thus leaving Kuminga on the bench. But now with Atlanta starting to rebuild, Kuminga’s finally getting consistent minutes to prove what he’s capable of. But if he doesn’t show that he can impact, his time in the NBA will come to an end soon. On the other hand, if Kuminga taps into the potential we all think he has, he will finally have proved that he belongs and can contribute at the NBA level.

No Bag

Sacramento Kings

For as long as I can remember, the Sacramento Kings were simply the Charlotte Hornets of the West. Well since the Hornets are apparently good now the Kings are on their own. They’re a dysfunctional franchise, have never had an identity, and there’s never been a sense of direction in which way this organization has been heading. They seem like they’re in win-now mode with three all-stars on their team, yet they’ve lost 12 in a row, sitting at the bottom of the West. It’s why I thought they should’ve traded Domontas Sabonis at the trade deadline to help boost themselves into a rebuild. Instead, they traded one of the best young defenders in the league (Keon Ellis) and Dennis Schroder, who they just signed to a multi-year contract, for De’Andre Hunter. Now they’re stuck with an inefficient wing making 23 million dollars this year, then 24 million the year after that.