The Charlotte Hornets’ new starting group has landed near the bottom of the league in one early ranking, coming in at No. 24 in the NBA.
That’s the projection for a lineup expected to feature Coby White, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Naz Reid and Moussa Diabaté as Charlotte begins Year 1 of the post-LaMelo Ball-Miles Bridges era. Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report placed the Hornets’ first five at 24th overall.
There’s no question where the spotlight is going to sit. Miller and Knueppel are the fresh faces driving the franchise forward after Ball and Bridges moved on, and both arrive with plenty left to prove.
Miller played 65 games last season in his third year and put up 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from the field, 38.3% from 3-point range and 89.2% at the line. His career line now sits at 19.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, and he was the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft.
Knueppel, meanwhile, turned in a big rookie season even without taking home the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award. He averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, hit 47.5% of his shots, knocked down 42.5% from deep and made 86.3% of his free throws. He also led the NBA in 3-pointers.
Miller’s future is already a talking point, too. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Hornets could sign him to a $208 million rookie-scale extension. If Charlotte and Miller do not agree to a rookie-scale extension for whatever reason, he would become a restricted free agent next offseason.
Reid gives the group a proven scoring punch and a player plenty of Hornets fans are eager to see in Charlotte. He won the 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year award and has career regular-season averages of 11.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, along with playoff marks of 10.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists.
Last season with Minnesota, Reid averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 45.6% from the field, 36.2% from beyond the arc and 73.2% from the free-throw line. He also had six double-doubles.
White steps in as Charlotte’s new starting point guard after the Ball trade. He finished the 2025-26 season at 17.4 points per game between Chicago and Charlotte, after the Bulls drafted him seventh overall in 2019. For his career, White has averaged 15.4 points per game.
Charlotte opens the 2026-27 season on the road against the Brooklyn Nets, with the home opener set for the Hawks. The Hornets are coming off a season in which they beat the Miami Heat in the first play-in game before losing to the Orlando Magic in the second, missing the playoffs again.
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Coby White Now Carries A Hornets Question That Could Define Their Season
With LaMelo Ball gone, the Hornets are looking at Coby White in a very different way this season. Charles Lee expects the guard to take on a larger role after White re-signed with Charlotte following last seasons trade, and the team is counting on him to keep scoring while also handling more of the playmaking load.
For Charlotte, the question is bigger than whether White can fit in. The Hornets need his development to help stabilize the backcourt and give them a real chance to chase a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, which is why his next step as a creator matters so much to the season ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Enter A New Era With One Huge Question To Answer
The Hornets are stepping into the 2026-27 season with a very different look after the trade of LaMelo Ball to Minnesota, and the front office has clearly chosen a youth-driven reset. Charlotte still has enough offensive talent to believe it can score with most teams, but the bigger question around the franchise is how quickly the group can mature into something more stable and competitive in the East.
Head coach Charles Lee has spent the offseason steering the conversation toward a new way of winning, one built on taking the game seriously on the defensive end and supporting that vision with experienced help. The additions of Naz Reid, Royce O'Neale and Grayson Allen fit that plan, but the Hornets still have to prove the pieces can come together fast enough to keep the season from becoming another long lesson in development. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Fans Are Stuck On The Rob Dillingham Drama Off The Court
Rob Dillinghams brief stop in Charlotte already had people doing a double take, and the paperwork around it only added to the intrigue. The Hornets waived him on Sept. 28 after acquiring him in a trade, with the move tied to roster and financial considerations rather than anything on the floor, making it one of those transactions that feels more about the business side of the league than player evaluation.
Still, the conversation around Dillingham has not stayed confined to basketball decisions. Unverified social media screenshots involving Dillingham and influencer Tatiana Chanel have been making the rounds, and the online chatter has given Hornets fans another layer to unpack even though the interaction has not been confirmed. The larger question now is less about why Charlotte moved on and more about how much of this off-court noise will linger around a player whose time with the team was over almost as soon as it began. [Read more 🡒]