Devonte Graham got a kick in the pants from teammates. Then his confidence kicked in
Devonte Graham is a smart guy and a problem-solver by nature.
But his confidence was shattered. So much so that his Charlotte Hornets teammates had to coax him — all but goad him — to take the shots everyone knows he’s made in the past.
“Getting on me for not taking shots that I would normally take,” Graham said of what he heard. “You’ve all seen it. I was just passing up shot after shot ...
“When I would come out (of games), guys would say, ‘Why are you not shooting the ball? Why are you passing up shots? We need you to shoot the ball! Nobody cares if you miss!’”
Message received, at least for one game. Graham broke out of a horrible slump Monday night, making five 3-pointers in the Hornets’ 118-101 road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
A lot is wrong with the 2-5 Hornets right now. They have lost three in a row, the lack of center depth is showing and the coach isn’t sure whether to tweak his rotation.
But pulling Graham, last season’s leading scorer, out of a nosedive was a pretty important step toward stability.
‘The Devonte we know’
“That was the Devonte we know,” said coach James Borrego. “It will only get better over time.”
It couldn’t have gotten much worse. Graham made two of 20 shots from the field in his prior two games and, as teammate Terry Rozier acknowledged Saturday, this slump had taken up residence inside Graham’s head.
Borrego said post-game Saturday, the first of two games with the Sixers, that it was on him to find ways to prop up Graham with better shooting opportunities.
Graham appreciated the gesture, but reasserted Monday night that nothing circumstantial caused this slump.
“Our offense, the way it’s designed, everybody gets looks,” Graham said. “I don’t put it on Coach, I don’t put it on the offense, I don’t put it on having new guys being here.
“At the end of the day, I’ve got to take all of that responsibility, and go out and make shots.”
Contract season
This is a particularly big season for Graham’s career. If the Hornets don’t sign him to an extension (they are limited by NBA rules in what they can offer), Graham becomes a restricted free agent over the summer.
He is currently playing on an incredibly cheap contract — a $1.66 million salary that wasn’t even guaranteed when he signed as a second-round pick.
The guard positions are in flux: Rookie LaMelo Ball, the third overall pick, is improving so rapidly that it’s inevitable he breaks into the starting lineup at some point this season. That means either Graham or Rozier would move to the second unit and presumably a diminished role.
After his prior two games, it would have been easy to mark Graham as the guy headed down the pecking order.
Now, it’s more complicated. And a lot more interesting.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 11:06 PM with the headline "Devonte Graham got a kick in the pants from teammates. Then his confidence kicked in."
