Hornets Add Three Players to Training Camp Roster

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Published: October 1, 2012

Solomon Alabi, Chris Wright and Dominique Morrison are your newest New Orleans Hornets (for now). Here is what you should know about them.

The Hornets have added three players to their roster, bringing the total to 17. The roster will have to be trimmed to 15 before the regular season begins.

Solomon Alabi is a 24 year old, 7’1″ center, instantly becoming the tallest player on the team. He spent the first two years of his NBA career with the Toronto Raptors; in the 2011-12 season, he appeared in 14 games for Toronto, averaging 8.7 minutes per game. He isn’t much of a scorer and has no jumpshot; however, he takes relatively good care of the ball when it’s in his hands, giving it up on just 11.2% of possessions, and is a very good rebounder. In his limited action in 2011-12, Alabi’s offensive rebound rate (14.6%) and total rebound rate (22.6%) were both well above the league averages for centers (9.6% and 15.1% respectively). This work on the glass resulted in a near-league average PER of 14.3. In addition, his on-court vs. off-court splits indicate a knack for defense; the Raptors allowed an impressive 7.8 points per 100 possessions less while he was in the game. This data all looks nice, but the majority of his minutes last year came either in garbage time or in the final five games of the season, so whether or not he could sustain those rebounding numbers is a legitimate question.

Chris Wright is a 23 year old, 6’1″ point guard who played with Olin Edirne of the Turkish Professional Basketball League last season. He averaged 15.4 points per 36 minutes on 45.7% shooting (31.6% from beyond the arc and 68.0% from the free throw line). In addition, he averaged 5.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 turnovers per 36 minutes. Prior to his year in Turkey, Wright played at Georgetown University, averaging about 4 assists and 12.5 points in just over 31 minutes of action per game.

Dominique Morrison is a 23 year old, 6’6″ undrafted rookie small forward who played his college basketball at Oral Roberts University. He averaged around 19.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in both his Junior and Senior seasons. Given how thin the Hornets are at the 3, he could have an outside chance of making the roster if he can impress the coaching staff over the next few weeks.

 

Barring a serious injury to someone like Darius Miller or Brian Roberts, these three players will be fighting for one roster spot, so expect all three to put forth 110% over the next month in an effort to become the New Orleans Hornets’ 15th man.

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