There will be plenty of attention on Michael Malone when North Carolina takes the floor for the 2026-27 season.
After making the transition from the NBA to college basketball, Malone will face enormous expectations in his first season leading the Tar Heels. While much of the discussion surrounding UNC has focused on talent, roster construction and defensive potential, another important question could determine just how successful this team becomes: Who will consistently lead the offense?
That question may be more complicated than it initially appears.
North Carolina has assembled a roster featuring several talented players who have previously been significant offensive contributors at their respective schools. The challenge for Malone will be finding the right balance between those players while making sure everyone understands his or her role.
Terrence Brown, Matt Able and Neoklis Avdalas are among the players who could find themselves adjusting to different responsibilities in Chapel Hill.
Brown, in particular, enters the season with plenty of offensive experience. He averaged nearly 20 points per game at Utah last season, demonstrating that he is capable of carrying a substantial scoring load. However, his role at North Carolina could look different depending on how Malone chooses to structure the offense.
Recent addition and projected starting center Cameron Fens is another player who brings proven production. Fens averaged 14.4 points per game at South Dakota, while Avdalas averaged 12.1 points per game at Virginia Tech.
Those numbers are encouraging, but they also illustrate the challenge facing Malone.
At their previous schools, these players were often trusted with the ball and given opportunities to create offense. At UNC, they will have to share those responsibilities with a roster filled with talented players.
As Kade Nix recently pointed out, several Tar Heels transfers arrived from programs where they carried significant offensive workloads, although their efficiency varied throughout the season.
“With Malone now assembling these players before his first season as head coach, how he distributes offensive opportunities can have a major impact on the Tar Heels’ ceiling,” Nix wrote.
That could become one of the most important storylines of the season.
Malone doesn’t necessarily need one player to dominate the ball. Instead, he needs to establish a system in which players understand when to attack, when to create for teammates and when to step aside and allow someone else to take control.
That is easier said than done.
A successful team needs players who are willing to sacrifice individual statistics for winning, particularly when several members of the roster have already demonstrated that they can produce offensively. If UNC can develop that mentality, its offensive ceiling could be extremely high.
The encouraging part is that there doesn’t appear to be a shortage of players capable of scoring.
Brown has already shown that he can put points on the board at a high level. Able has also flashed the potential to become an important offensive weapon, while Avdalas brings another versatile option to the rotation. Fens, meanwhile, gives the Tar Heels another player who can contribute consistently from the frontcourt.
The question isn’t necessarily whether North Carolina has enough scoring.
It is whether Malone can organize all of that talent into a cohesive offensive attack.
That will require clear roles.
Someone will inevitably lead the team in touches and scoring, but UNC doesn’t need every possession to run through one player. Malone could potentially build an offense that allows different players to take over depending on the matchup.
That versatility could become one of the Tar Heels’ biggest strengths.
If Brown has a favorable matchup, UNC can allow him to attack. If Fens establishes himself inside, the Tar Heels can feed him. If Avdalas or Able catches fire from the perimeter, Malone can ride the hot hand.
The key will be ensuring those decisions happen within the structure of the offense rather than turning into individual possessions.
That’s where Malone’s coaching experience becomes particularly valuable.
His ability to establish expectations, manage personalities and get players committed to a common objective could be just as important as the individual talent on the roster.
And there is reason for optimism.
None of these players need to prove that they can score. They have already done that at previous stops. Now, they need to prove they can do it together.
If Malone successfully defines those roles, UNC could have an offense that is difficult to predict and even harder to defend.
Brown and Able, in particular, could emerge as the players who take the biggest scoring leap in their new environment. Both have shown enough throughout their young careers to suggest that they can handle increased responsibility when called upon.
Ultimately, North Carolina’s scoring question may not be a problem at all. It could become one of the team’s greatest advantages.
Malone simply has to figure out how to distribute the opportunities.
If he can get his talented roster on the same page, the Tar Heels could enter the season with far more offensive firepower than opponents are prepared to handle.
If you’d like, I can also make it more dramatic and click-worthy, while keeping it suitable for a sports-news website.
