By Sam Perley, hornets.com
2016-17 Review | Treveon Graham
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Tipping Off
Another newcomer to the organization, Treveon Graham flew under the radar a bit to secure the first guaranteed roster spot of his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets during the 2016-17 campaign. Graham’s debut season in the league was largely defined by his constant readiness, high-level defense and range shooting throughout the course of the year.
Training Camp Surprise
Undrafted in 2015 out of Virginia Commonwealth University and having spent all of last season with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League, Graham first emerged on the scene for the Hornets at training camp in September. Graham, a guard/forward combo who had previously spent time with the San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic organizations, impressed the Charlotte coaching staff enough to land the final roster spot on the team.
Graham made his NBA debut on Nov. 2 in Charlotte’s 109-93 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers and two games later scored his first career points in the team’s 122-100 home victory against the Indiana Pacers.
Later that same week, Graham started his first game for the Hornets in place of an injured Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, finishing with two points, three rebounds and a career-high two assists in Charlotte’s 113-111 home loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Over the first two months of the season, Graham played sparingly for the Hornets, putting up averages of 2.4 points on 66.7 percent shooting and 0.9 rebounds over 7.4 minutes in eight total outings through Dec. 31.
Appearances Pick Up
Graham’s playing time slowly started to increase thanks to a handful of rotational player injuries that plagued the team midway through the season. In 19 contests after Jan. 1, Graham averaged 2.0 points on 41.9 percent shooting (55.6 percent from three-point range) and 0.8 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per game.
During this span, he totaled a career-high 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting and a career-high-tying two steals in the team’s 89-79 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on April 10. One night later, Graham capped off his first NBA season with 10 points, a career-high four rebounds and another pair of steals in the team’s 103-76 road defeat to the Atlanta Hawks.
Final Numbers
In 27 appearances this season, Graham managed averages of 2.1 points on 47.5 percent shooting (60.0 percent from three-point range) and 0.8 rebounds across 7.0 minutes per game for the Hornets.
While the sample size is small, Graham certainly utilized his three-point attempts efficiently this season when given the opportunity. The 23-year-old rookie finished the season by becoming just the third player in league history to shoot at least 60.0 percent from three-point range on 15-or-more attempts over the course of an entire NBA campaign (9-of-15). Pete Maravich (Utah/Boston; 1979-80) and Dahntay Jones (Denver; 2008-09) are the only other players to ever accomplish this particular feat.
2017-18 Season Outlook
Graham has a non-guaranteed contract for the 2017-18 campaign, but is certainly in the mix for another one of Charlotte’s roster spots when the next NBA season begins. During exit interviews on April 12, Graham looked back on his inaugural year with the Hornets.
“I try and be as solid as possible. Try and learn the game and learn what I need to do when I get out there – definitely defensively. All the defensive schemes we go through, I try and make sure I’m on top of it, so when I go out there I’m on top of things. Offensively, if I have an open shot I shoot it. I try and be as consistent as possible. I think the consistency I bring to the tape is something [Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford] might like.”
“The last two games [of the season] I played pretty well. Just building off of that and showing the coaches some of the things I can do. [I want to work on my] conditioning, work on my body and being healthier. Taking corner threes, elbow threes, catch-and-shoot-type shots. So, just being able to knock those when I get them [and] defensively being able to guard multiple positions.
Graham is also expected to play for the Hornets at the Orlando Pro Summer League in early July. Last year, Graham ranked tied for seventh amongst all players in scoring at this particular Summer League competition (16.0 points) while playing for the champion Orlando Magic White squad. Johnny O’Bryant, Briante Weber and any incoming rookies will likely join Graham on Charlotte’s team this year as well.