The Charlotte Hornets have been scrutinized for a lot of the moves they have made in recent years. On Monday night they made a move that many people have agreed was a good one and that was reportedly giving Michael Kidd-Gilchrist an extension worth $52 million over four years, according to ESPN.com.
Kidd-Gilchrist was the second overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Charlotte and has made major improvements since being drafted so the deal was a no brainer for Charlotte. Zach Lowe of Grantland reports that the deal is getting an almost universally positive reaction around the NBA. MKG would have likely made more money as a free agent had a he not signed this extension and had a good 2015-16 season with the cap going up significantly.
The knock on Kidd-Gilchrist has always been that he can't shoot jump shots and rightfully so. MKG has only attempted 18 three pointers in his career (none last season) and made three of them. Having said that though, Kidd-Gilchrist has improved on his mid-range jumper to the point that it is now a weapon. Kidd-Gilchrist made the league average of 37 percent from mid-range a year ago which is respectable yet still leaves room to improve.
Kidd-Gilchrist is a 6 foot-7 small forward whose best asset is his defense as he has been a reliable defender in his three NBA seasons. MKG has also been able to score just fine since he's been in the NBA and still at the very young age of 21, shows room for even more improvement on that end of the floor.
In 52 games a season ago the former Kentucky Wildcat averaged 10.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while making 47 percent of his field goal attempts. Kidd-Gilchrist may not be a complete player right now but he is already solid and in a few years this deal may look like a huge bargain for the Hornets especially if MKG continues to improve like he did a year ago.
