The Charlotte Hornets are staring at a much busier free-agent picture next offseason than they did this summer. Last year, the roster shuffle was mostly built through trades, with Coby White the lone major free agent before he was re-signed for three years. That kind of quiet offseason is not likely to repeat.
Brandon Miller sits at the center of everything. If an extension is not reached before then, he would head into restricted free agency next offseason.
Even so, the expectation is that the Hornets will lock him in long before things get complicated. He is the face of the franchise, and there are signs he could be taken care of before the season begins.
If that does not happen, the idea of Charlotte letting restricted free agency play out still feels hard to imagine, even with recent examples like Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Duren showing how messy that path can be.
Moussa Diabaté is another name to watch. He has gone from a two-way deal to a standard NBA contract after a real breakout, but that deal runs out after this season. An extension does not sound likely, and the Hornets will probably want to see how their rebuilt frontcourt looks all the way to the trade deadline before deciding whether to keep him.
Grant Williams also enters the picture on an expiring contract, which makes him both a free-agent case and a possible trade chip. His future is less certain than Miller’s, though there is still a path back. The Hornets like him, and he likes being home, so a reunion is possible.
Pat Connaughton’s situation is a little different. His team option was picked up this offseason, pushing his free agency to next summer, but he also looks like a strong cut candidate as the Hornets try to trim and simplify the roster. He may not be around long enough for that free agency to matter much.
Grayson Allen has the biggest financial decision among the veterans. He holds a player option worth more than $19 million, and the most likely outcome is that he opts in and stays put. Still, if he puts together a huge season, he could decline that option and test free agency for a better deal.
Charlotte also has a group of team options to manage on Kon Knueppel, Tidjane Salaün, Tre Mann, and Liam McNeeley. Those are expected to be easy calls, with the Hornets almost certain to pick them up. Mann is the one exception worth monitoring; if he does not take a step forward, his option could be declined and send him toward free agency.
In Other News...
Hornets Get A Painful Christmas Reminder About Their NBA Standing
Christmas Day has long been the NBAs showcase stage, the sort of calendar slot where contenders, stars and rivalry games get the spotlight. The Hornets have never been part of it, and this years schedule only sharpened that reminder as the league lined up high-profile teams while one of Charlottes most recognizable former faces, LaMelo Ball, was set to be featured elsewhere.
For a franchise still searching for the kind of national pull that earns those holiday invitations, the omission says plenty about where it sits in the league pecking order. Even with a player as marketable as Ball having once been the centerpiece in Charlotte, the Hornets remain outside the group the NBA trusts to carry one of its biggest regular-season days, and that gap is hard to miss when the Christmas slate drops. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Enter 2026 With One Defining Question About Their Core
As Charlotte heads toward the 2026-27 season, the conversation around the roster is already centered on the same thing: which pieces can truly anchor the next version of this team. The Hornets have a core that includes rookies and younger holdovers, and the early evaluations are being shaped by Summer League flashes, past-season production and the natural hope that a few promising stretches can grow into something sturdier.
Still, the biggest challenge is separating what looked good in a small sample from what can actually carry over once the games matter. Summer League can point to strengths and reveal growth areas, but it can also mislead if it gets treated like a final verdict, which is why the Hornets next step is less about celebrating individual moments than figuring out which players belong in the long-term answer. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Miller Just Took On A Bigger Hornets Reality
Brandon Miller has already become the centerpiece of the Hornets next chapter, and the latest sign of that is as plain as a video game rating. In NBA 2K27, Miller comes in at 85 overall and stands as Charlottes highest-rated player, a neat snapshot of how quickly the teams hierarchy has shifted after moving on from LaMelo Ball. After a season in which Miller played 65 games and put up 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per night, the Hornets are now looking at him less like a promising piece and more like the player around whom the roster has to make sense.
That reality brings real contract stakes with it this summer. Charlotte may look to work out a rookie-scale extension with Miller, but if that does not happen, he would be headed toward restricted free agency next summer. For a franchise trying to reset its identity, the timing matters, especially with Miller and Kon Knueppel now viewed as the faces of the team. The Hornets have already accepted that their future looks different than it did a year ago, and Millers next move will say plenty about how quickly that future can take shape. [Read more 🡒]