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Some Cody Zeller love in Zack Lowe's (espn) 32 crazy NBA predictions: Cody Zeller wins his starting spot back from Dwight Howard Charlotte will resist as long as possible. The Hornets have invested sweat equity in Howard. Steve Clifford loves him. They have concerns about Zeller's ability to bang every night with enemy starting centers. Howard is not the sort of player who offers more value as a reserve, and the Hornets might lose him if they go this route. But it feels kind of inevitable. Zeller is an eager-beaver, rough-housing screen-setter who fits well with Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum. He's faster diving from the arc to the rim than Howard, and has improved his finishing. He will not demand post touches, or pout when he doesn't get them. He can't touch Howard as an individual rebounder, but he's one of those Nene/Roy Hibbert types who boxes out so teammates can get the statistical credit. Charlotte was an elite defensive rebounding team with Zeller, anyway. The Hornets famously plummeted to 3-17 without him last season. That wasn't all about Zeller, obviously. It was about the, umm, quality of his backups, and the rest of a thin roster. But something about his game clicks. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21002422/zach-lowe-32-crazy-nba-predictions-2017-18