The Charlotte Hornets have already spent much of the offseason reshaping the roster, and the next move could come at center.
With LaMelo Ball dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the team leaning into a younger core built around Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller, Charlotte has added even more youth through the draft. Hannes Steinbach went 14th overall, and Christian Anderson followed at No. 18.
That kind of roster churn creates decisions, and Moussa Diabaté looks like one of them. The 24-year-old is coming off the best season of his career, but he’s also entering the final year of his contract, which puts the Hornets in a familiar spot: keep a productive big man for the short term, or cash in while his value is still strong.
Diabaté put up 7.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and a block per game in the 2025-26 season while shooting 63.1 percent from the field. He gave Charlotte exactly what it needed inside - boards, rim protection and efficient finishing - and that profile should draw interest if the Hornets decide to shop him.
The wrinkle is that Charlotte already has other young frontcourt pieces in place. Steinbach arrives after a big freshman season at Washington, where he averaged 18.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 57.7 percent overall and 34 percent from three. As an early pick, he looks positioned to earn rotation minutes right away.
Ryan Kalkbrenner is in the mix too. In his rookie season, he averaged 7.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 75.3 percent from the field.
That leaves Charlotte with a possible logjam in the middle. Rotating minutes among Steinbach, Kalkbrenner and Diabaté could be tricky, unless the Hornets use Steinbach at power forward when Naz Reid is off the floor.
So the question isn’t whether Diabaté can help. He can. The real question is whether Charlotte would rather keep him as part of the rotation or turn his breakout season into draft capital and trust Steinbach and Kalkbrenner to handle the center spot as the Hornets keep building around Knueppel and Miller.
In Other News...
Hornets Fans Know Exactly Why This New Topps Release Will Sting
Topps is lining up a fresh round of basketball card buzz with its 2025-26 Chrome Black release, and the timing figures to matter in Charlotte. Pre-orders open Tuesday, July 28 at 12 p.m. EST on the companys website, with the product set to include rookie cards, parallels, inserts like Carbon Flare and Home Court, and autographs from some of the sports biggest names.
For Hornets fans, though, the real draw is the rookie chase, especially with Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg among the names in the set. The only thing still hanging over the release is the price tag, which Topps has not announced yet, leaving collectors to wonder how steep the entry point will be when the pre-order window opens. [Read more 🡒]
Should Hornets Risk Scarce Assets On Peyton Watson's Upside
Peyton Watson has become the sort of restricted free agent who can make a front office pause, especially for a team like Charlotte that is still hunting for young, two-way talent without much margin for error. The Hornets have been linked to the idea of working out a sign-and-trade with Denver, a path that would let the Nuggets manage their cap situation while giving Charlotte a chance to buy into Watsons upside rather than waiting for the market to sort itself out.
The appeal is obvious after Watsons recent season in Denver, when he flashed real value on both ends and looked like a player whose game was starting to turn a corner. The risk is just as clear, though, because the sample is still small and the cost of chasing that kind of promise can be steep for a team that needs every asset to count. If Charlotte is serious, the question is not whether Watson fits the profile of a worthwhile swing, but how much of its future it is willing to put on the table to get him. [Read more 🡒]
Gilbert Arenas Just Flipped The LaMelo Play In Blame Game
Gilbert Arenas has a habit of turning a familiar basketball argument on its head, and this time the debate circles back to a Charlotte moment that still lingers. LaMelo Ball was fined by the NBA after a hard foul that sent Bam Adebayo out of a play-in game late in overtime, and the play quickly became part of the larger conversation about how much force was too much in a game with so much on the line.
Arenas, though, pushed the discussion in a different direction by disputing the criticism aimed at Ball and suggesting the focus should not be on Charlottes guard at all. His take adds another layer to a sequence that already drew plenty of attention, even if the larger claim around the injury and Miamis handling of it remains exactly the kind of thing that keeps the blame game humming long after the final buzzer. [Read more 🡒]