The Charlotte Hornets are coming off a 44-38 season, but one NBA analyst thinks the next step could actually be backward.
Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report predicted Charlotte will be worse next season than it was last year, even after a stretch in which the team posted the NBA’s best offense after January 1. The Hornets still missed the playoffs, and they did it by one game.
Swartz pointed to a roster that has enough depth and enough shooting to stay competitive, but not necessarily enough to break through. "There's a fair amount of depth on this Hornets team and plenty of shooting to go around," Swartz wrote. "Charlotte seems destined for another .500-ish record unless they use those future picks and swaps to go after another star."
Charlotte has made some moves this offseason. The team re-signed Coby White, acquired Dorian Finney-Smith from the Houston Rockets and drafted Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson.
Next season, the Hornets are expected to start White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabate.
The bigger picture hasn’t changed much: Charlotte hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2016.
Not everyone was thrilled with the Ball trade, but Hornets president of basketball operations and general manager Jeff Peterson defended the move in comments to Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Peterson said he was comfortable with it because of Miller and Knueppel.
"I’m very comfortable," Peterson said. "[Hornets head coach] Charles [Lee] and I had a conversation with both of them knowing that these trades can be challenging.
Sometimes I do think we forget that we’re human beings dealing with this stuff - lives and its emotions. Those guys are friends and they are in the locker room every day.
At the same time, Charles and I kind of explained, We believe in you guys, too. You guys are here.
We want to continue to see you guys grow. This is going to challenge you guys.
You guys got to continue to get better.' We wouldn’t have made that trade if we didn’t feel comfortable with what they can continue to be developing into."
In Other News...
Hornets Face A Brutal Question Without LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Balls absence leaves Charlotte with the kind of roster question every rebuilding team eventually has to answer: who gets the ball, who creates, and who can actually handle the extra weight over the course of a season? The conversation naturally starts with Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller, both of whom are expected to see bigger opportunities, while Coby White also factors into the picture as someone who could be asked to absorb more responsibility in the backcourt.
What makes the issue tricky is that each of those players is still working through something different, whether it is sharpening a skill set, expanding a role, or simply proving the workload is sustainable. Even the rookies, Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr., are part of the broader evaluation, though their promise comes with obvious limitations right now, which leaves Charlotte staring at a season defined less by certainty than by how quickly a new hierarchy can take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Are Sending A Clear Message About Their Next Step
After finishing 44-39 and putting together one of their better seasons in years, Charlotte is entering the next phase with a different kind of urgency. The front office has already sent a clear signal through recent trades that the Hornets are not trying to simply chase last years progress, but to shape the roster around younger pieces such as Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel.
That approach may come with a step back in the standings, and NBA insider Tim McMahon expects exactly that in the coming season. For a fan base that had reason to believe the club was inching closer to respectability, the direction now looks more patient than aggressive, with the focus shifting toward a longer rebuild rather than an immediate push in the Eastern Conference. [Read more 🡒]