The Hornets’ offense has been a mess, and Hannes Steinbach is still stuck watching from the sideline.
Charlotte is off to a 3-6 start and sits 10th in the Eastern Conference, but the skid is already threatening to push the team out of the Play-In picture. The bigger problem is how the Hornets are getting there: Charles Lee’s group owns the NBA’s worst offensive rating, and the shot-making has been rough enough to raise real concern in Charlotte.
That’s why Steinbach’s role stands out. The rookie forward has barely been given a look, appearing in just three games off the bench and averaging 7.7 minutes per game.
For a team this shaky, that kind of restraint feels hard to justify. If Lee wants to build a culture where performance matters, then the message should cut both ways: sloppy play gets punished, and efficient, mature basketball gets rewarded.
Steinbach was taken 14th overall in the 2026 draft, and the 20-year-old came into the league with a strong reputation from Washington. His college résumé says a lot about what he can bring: 18.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 57.7 percent from the floor. He was billed as a two-way, highly efficient forward who can do damage in the paint, and those numbers back it up.
There’s also a practical angle here. Naz Reid is Steinbach’s biggest obstacle, and from a competitive standpoint, a veteran at power forward makes sense.
But Charlotte has enough inconsistency around him that there should still be room to test the rookie more seriously. Lee could slide Steinbach to small forward while Kon Knueppel deals with his lingering ailment, or even try him at center in a small-ball look.
The Hornets aren’t good right now, and that was probably expected. But if the season is already headed in a transitional direction, it makes sense to use it to find out what Steinbach can do. At this point, he probably couldn’t make Charlotte any worse.
In Other News...
Hornets Fans Have Every Reason To Panic About This Start
The early stretch has been rough enough in Charlotte to make even patient observers uneasy. The Hornets have stumbled through a poor start marked by heavy losses, a low offensive rating and an offense that has struggled to find any real rhythm, especially at point guard. Injuries have only made the picture murkier, leaving the team short on answers while it waits for healthier bodies and a few new contributors to settle in.
For now, the concern is less about one bad night than the shape of the whole opening month. The Hornets have been getting buried on the scoreboard and have not shown much consistency on either end, which is a dangerous place to be this early. There is still time for the return of injured players and some internal improvement to change the mood, but right now the start has given fans every reason to worry about how deep this slide could go. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Hit Another Low As Brandon Miller Concern Grows
Bostons visit only deepened a rough stretch for Charlotte, which was overwhelmed from the start in a 119-80 loss as Jayson Tatum poured in 34 points and Derrick White and Payton Pritchard added steady support. The Hornets never found much rhythm offensively, and the margin kept widening as the game wore on, leaving another flat night for a team searching for answers.
The bigger concern for Charlotte came with Brandon Miller, who exited at halftime because of right groin soreness. For a team already trying to steady itself after another lopsided defeat, any issue involving one of its most important young players adds a layer of unease, especially with the offense already struggling to generate much of anything. [Read more 🡒]
Tatums Big Night May Have Clarified A Celtics Lineup Call
Bostons visit to Charlotte turned into a one-sided NBA Cup night almost immediately, with Jayson Tatum setting the tone in a game the Celtics controlled from the opening minutes. Boston jumped out to an 18-4 run and never let the Hornets find much rhythm, rolling to a 119-80 win behind Tatums all-around impact and a defense that kept the margin comfortable for most of the night.
For Charlotte, the game also came with another concern when Brandon Miller left in the second quarter with groin soreness and did not return. The Hornets were already chasing a game that had slipped away early, and Millers exit only deepened the challenge as they tried to regroup against a Celtics team that looked settled in every phase. [Read more 🡒]