Every season, there are teams caught in the NBA’s wasteland. Even as most teams embrace tanking — this being the last year before the league changes draft lottery odds — there are those that get... caught.
Right now, the Charlotte Hornets are caught. At a record of 28-35, they’re tenth in the East — 4.5 games back of a playoff spot, yet nine games ahead of last-place Atlanta. In the position they’re in, with just six weeks left in the season, it looks like they’ll miss the playoffs and have a mediocre draft pick.