NBA 2018-19: Eastern Conference playoff picture prediction

7th seed: Charlotte Hornets

Will Kemba re-sign next season?

This one is largely dependent on Malik Monk. NBA critics and analysts will continue to poke fun at the decision of the Hornets to draft Monk over Donovan Mitchell, but for now, we need to move past that. Yes, Monk had an abysmal rookie year, and it was quite easy for fans to jump off the Monk bandwagon.

However he is still very young, he is only 20 years old. It is too early to give up on him, and the way he played in the last few games of the season should give Hornets fans hope that they will get the high scoring backcourt they desired.

In the last six games of the season, he averaged near 20 points per game and four assists a game in only around 25 minutes per game.

If he keeps up that scoring and the Hornets increase his minutes, he could be getting anywhere between 20 to 23 points per game. I don't expect him to average that next year, but I think he could average around 18 points per game.

In an earlier piece, where I graded the new coaching hirings in the league, I gave the Hornets hiring of James Borrego a B.

It could have been higher, but Borrego hasn't had much head coaching experience aside from interim stints. He is a member of the Gregg Popovich coaching tree and has stated he intends to increase Monk's role.

Kemba Walker is just going to need to play like himself and if his love and passing for Charlotte are real then he should be able to lead this team under their new head coach into the playoffs.

The addition of Tony Parker shouldn't be written off, his leadership and championship experience will help the team in ways that won't show on a boxscore.

I think the change of coaching and Malik Monk becoming the scorer scouts had envisioned will allow the Hornets to push for a lower playoff seed in the East.