The Charlotte Hornets are still tinkering with the roster a week before training camp, and this time the move brought in a familiar kind of asset: shooting.
On Tuesday afternoon, after NBA insider Jake Fischer first reported on Sunday that Charlotte and the Atlanta Hawks were discussing a deal involving Buddy Hield and Dorian Finney-Smith, the talks moved fast. Less than 10 minutes after Fischer said the negotiations had picked up, the trade was done. The Hornets landed Hield and Ryan Nembhard from Atlanta in exchange for Finney-Smith.
Finney-Smith had only recently come to Charlotte, when the Hornets picked up the wing and three second-round picks from the Houston Rockets in a cash deal. Even then, his contract made him a tough cut candidate, but there never seemed to be a clean place for him on the roster.
Hield gives Charlotte a very different kind of piece. He is one of the most accomplished three-point shooters the league has ever seen, sitting 15th all time in made threes. At the same time, his 2025-26 season was easily the roughest of his career by almost every measure, with career lows in points, three-point percentage, assists, and rebounds.
There is still money attached, too. Hield has two years left on his deal, along with a player option at the end of the 2026-27 season. For this upcoming year, the 33-year-old is set to make $9.7 million guaranteed, which makes him the ninth-highest paid player on the Hornets roster.
Nembhard is the other part of the return, and his path in Charlotte looks short. The 23-year-old has now been traded twice this offseason. He spent his rookie year with the Dallas Mavericks, starting 27 of 60 games while averaging 6.6 points, 5.3 assists, and a 49% true shooting percentage.
His cap hit comes in at $2.2 million, a number Charlotte can absorb as it sorts through roster decisions heading into camp. The expectation is that he will not make the Hornets’ final roster, so his inclusion looks more like a mechanism to get the deal across the finish line than a move meant to add a long-term piece.
In the end, this was not the kind of trade that changes the shape of the season for either side. Hield is on an expiring contract and could be moved again at the deadline, while also giving Charlotte a veteran shooter who could be useful around Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, and Christian Anderson. For the Hornets, it turns a roster logjam into a proven marksman and a possible trade chip, without giving up anything with major long-term value.
In Other News...
Hornets Make Another Roster Move With Greensboro In Mind
The Hornets continued to reshape their offseason group by bringing in forward Tre Carroll while moving on from guard DJ Armstrong to open a spot on the 21-man roster. Carroll, an undrafted June prospect who played at Florida Atlantic and Xavier, also spent time with Washingtons Summer League team, giving Charlotte another look at a player still trying to carve out his NBA path.
For the Hornets, the move fits the familiar pattern of using the back end of the roster to keep options open, especially with the Greensboro Swarm in mind. Carrolls contract is expected to carry Exhibit 10 language, which would make him a candidate to land with Charlottes G League affiliate if he doesnt stick in camp, and that keeps one more developmental piece in the organization as the summer shuffle continues. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Just Turned One Veteran Into A Much Bigger Roster Debate
The Hornets have been active in reshaping the back end of the roster, and the latest move with Atlanta fits the kind of flexible, low-risk approach they have been leaning into. Charlotte is bringing in a young point guard in Ryan Nembhard and a proven perimeter shooter in Buddy Hield, while sending veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith the other way after his return from ankle surgery and with his contract still carrying some uncertainty.
For Charlotte, the deal adds another layer to the debate about how much roster space and salary commitment should be tied up in veterans versus younger, more movable pieces. Hield gives the Hornets another floor-spacing option, and Nembhard gives them a developmental guard to evaluate, but the move also leaves open bigger questions about what the front office wants this group to look like by the time the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Miller Now Carries The Pressure Of Charlottes Next Chapter
LaMelo Ball is gone, and with that move the Hornets have shifted the center of gravity in a big way. The roster now leans on Brandon Miller as a leading offensive piece, with Kon Knueppel, Naz Reid, Coby White and Moussa Diabate joining him in what looks like a very different next chapter for Charlotte.
Millers role is only part of the story, though. He is entering a contract year, which adds another layer of scrutiny to everything he does on the floor, and the Hornets are still working through what his long-term place in the franchise will be. For a team trying to reset around a new core, that makes every step from Miller feel a little more loaded than before. [Read more 🡒]