Grayson Allen gave the Hornets a jolt Saturday night, and it came in the exact way Charlotte hoped it might when it brought him in this summer: with shooting, volume, and a burst off the bench.
Allen poured in a season-high 27 points against Philadelphia, knocking down seven threes and doing it on just 12 shots. He finished 9 of 12 from the field and 7 of 10 from deep, with his last triple coming at the 3:41 mark to push Charlotte ahead 101-94. At that point, it felt like the Hornets had done enough.
They hadn’t. Philadelphia rallied and won anyway, which dulled some of the shine on Allen’s night. But even with the loss, 27 points off the bench was impossible to overlook.
That performance looked even sharper in light of what Charlotte had just put on the floor Friday in Washington. The Hornets managed only 79 points and shot 29.7%, a rough offensive night by any measure. Then Allen showed up the next game and buried seven threes.
Nobody is asking for that kind of explosion every night. If Allen can settle in around 10 or 15 points most games and spike like this every so often, that’s a useful weapon.
He entered Saturday averaging 13.5 points, so this was a clear step above his usual output. It also changed the way the trade looks in the short term.
The first-round pick in the Miles Bridges deal was always the part that drew the most attention, and that still may be the case when this is judged years down the line. That’s usually how future firsts get viewed.
But Allen is making the present matter more than expected. He’s already shown he can come off the bench and help, and against Philadelphia he nearly helped Charlotte steal a game.
It’s only one night, so there’s no reason to overreact. Still, Allen has moved from a piece I barely noticed when the trade happened to one that deserves a lot more attention now.
Seven threes again Monday night? That would be asking a lot. But after Saturday, it’s fair to think Allen might wind up being a bigger part of that deal than many expected at the time.
In Other News...
Hornets Need More Around Brandon Miller In Crucial Pistons Rematch
Brandon Miller gave Charlotte plenty to work with in the first meeting with Detroit, pouring in 31 points in a game the Hornets still could not finish off. Now the teams meet again with Charlotte sitting at 3-4 and trying to steady itself against a Pistons group that has opened the season 5-1, making this one feel like an early test of whether the Hornets can turn a strong individual effort into a more complete team performance.
The challenge is bigger because Charlotte is already dealing with two hamstring absences, which has thinned the rotation and put more pressure on the supporting cast around Miller. The Hornets do not need a miracle so much as a few more reliable scoring nights and cleaner minutes from the rest of the roster, especially in a rematch where Detroit already knows what Miller can do and will be ready for it. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Just Put Tidjane Salan In A Tough Roster Spot
Tidjane Salans recent night offered a small reminder of why the Hornets remain intrigued by him. He logged 12 minutes and flashed a few promising moments, the kind of brief run that keeps a young player on the radar even when his role is still in flux.
The bigger issue is what Charlotte has already done with his contract. The Hornets have reportedly declined the fourth-year option on Salans deal, which changes the timeline on his future and puts the team in a more delicate spot with a player it may still want to keep around. Charlotte could look to bring him back on a friendlier deal, but with his contract situation shifting, he also becomes a name to watch as the February trade deadline approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Face A Bigger Problem Than Another Close Loss
Another close loss left Charlotte with the same familiar frustration, this time after the Hornets let a late lead slip away against Philadelphia. The result was disappointing enough on its own, but it also reinforced a bigger issue hanging over the team right now: the Hornets are still trying to clean up the kind of late-game mistakes that keep turning winnable nights into losses.
Moussa Diabat pointed to execution as the problem, and the timing makes the concern even sharper with Charlotte still waiting on injured contributors Coby White, Kon Knueppel and Grant Williams to come back. Those absences matter, and the hope inside the locker room is that the roster will look more complete soon, but the Hornets also know the current stretch is exposing how much sharper they need to be before that help arrives. [Read more 🡒]