Hornets Sign DJ Mbenga

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Published: October 13, 2010

The Hornets have agreed to terms with free agent D.J. Mbenga. The 7-0 center played in 49 games for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, averaging 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

He will immediately try to challenge Aaron Gray for the backup center job, but Gray is simply a better player. Mbenga is decent insurance against injuries, but little else.

Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

As far as rebounding goes, MBenga has been statistically worse than average, grabbing a total of 13.6 rebounds last year, substantially less than the 15.4 average that centers put up.

Defensively he’s at his best, blocking at a rate twice that of the average center last season. He commits only 6.0 fouls per 40 minutes, which isn’t particularly bad for a backup center.

He’s horribly inefficient on offense, recording an efficiency rating of only 3.1, compared to 10.5 of the average center. There isn’t a shot you want him taking particularly, aside from the open dunk.

His free throw shooting is absolutely atrocious. Let’s just say he’s probably worse than Emeka, who has made a real effort to improve his free throw shooting recently.

He’s not a good passer, converting only 5% of his possessions into assists, about half of league average for centers. On the bright side, he turns it over slightly less than average. Yay!

For some reason people seem excited about this, but looking at his numbers there isn’t much to get excited about. Expect nothing and be satisfied if he gives more than that.

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