The Charlotte Hornets are heading into the season with the same old problem: they’re not close to fully healthy. That’s been the theme of the preseason, too. Kon Knueppel, Grant Williams, and Coby White missed the entire exhibition slate, and the Hornets still managed only a 1-3 record.
The good news is that help is coming. The deeper issue is what they’ll actually look like when everybody is finally available.
Charlotte may not have the same top-end talent after trading LaMelo Ball, but this roster suddenly has real depth at multiple spots. There are more usable pieces here than the Hornets have had in a while.
So with the season opener looming - and with Williams, Knueppel, and White probably not ready for it - the question becomes how Charles Lee will sort through all of it once the roster is whole. If everyone were healthy, the Hornets’ starting five would likely be set up this way.
The frontcourt situation is the trickiest part of the puzzle. It’s still not entirely clear what Charlotte will do with Diabaté and Hannes Steinbach. Diabaté could open the year the way Ryan Kalkbrenner did last season and eventually get bumped, but Steinbach also has a path to the job before White and Knueppel are back.
For now, though, the feeling is that this is the group Lee and the staff would write in if they had every option available. There’s no obvious reason to pull Diabaté from the starting group yet after the strong year he put together as a starter in 2025-26.
Even if that’s the lineup, the bench situation is just as interesting. There are several players who could make a case to be the first big man or wing off the bench, and if Steinbach stays close to the starting group, he’d likely be the sixth man to begin with.
And the depth doesn’t stop there. Royce O'Neale, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Tidjane Salaün, and Christian Anderson Jr. all have arguments for real minutes too, which tells you how many options Lee has at his disposal.
That’s a big change from last season, when Lee had to manage rotations with one eye on keeping LaMelo Ball and others healthy. It got the job done, but it also kept anyone from really getting extended run. After what happened in the preseason, though, the Hornets may not be able to let up on the restraint just yet.
There are plenty of ways for Lee to spread the 48 minutes around. In other words, he has options - maybe more than he’s had before.
In Other News...
Hornets Open Season With A Depth Test They Didn't Want
The Hornets are heading into Wednesdays opener against the Brooklyn Nets still sorting through some early-season health issues, with Kon Knueppel, Grant Williams and Coby White all back to individual work but not yet ready to suit up. Each player is working through a return-to-play plan after injuries suffered in offseason or training camp settings, leaving Charlotte to open the year a little thinner than it would have preferred.
Knueppel and Williams are managing hamstring injuries, while White is continuing his return from a left calf strain. The team has said it will provide more updates as appropriate, but for now the focus is on how Charlotte covers those absences right out of the gate and what that means for a roster already being asked to absorb an early test. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Enter A New Era With One Huge Question To Answer
Charlottes new season began with a different look and a different pecking order after the front office moved on from LaMelo Ball and brought in Naz Reid plus draft capital. The Hornets are now trying to reset around Brandon Miller, who signed an extension and is expected to handle a much bigger share of the offense, while the early part of camp has already been complicated by injuries to Kon Knueppel and Coby White.
The frontcourt picture is just as unsettled, with a center battle that has given the coaching staff something to sort through right away. Moussa Diabat is viewed as the favorite to open there, but Hannes Steinbach and Ryan Kalkbrenner are both in the mix, and the way that race develops could say plenty about how quickly this group can settle into its new identity and stay in the hunt around .500. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets New Core Could Keep One Strength Alive After LaMelo
Even after a roster shakeup that sent LaMelo Ball out of Charlotte, one of the Hornets clearest identity markers may stay intact. They led the NBA in three-pointers made last season, and the offseason additions of Naz Reid, Grayson Allen, Royce ONeale and Dennis Schroder give the team a different-looking group without necessarily changing its willingness to let it fly. With Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel in position to play bigger roles, the shot profile could remain a calling card as the new core settles in.
For a team trying to redefine itself, that kind of continuity matters. Charlotte no longer has the same engine it did before the trade, but the pieces brought in through those moves suggest the Hornets still want spacing, pace and perimeter volume to be part of the formula. If the young wings and the incoming veterans mesh quickly, the offense may not look the same as before, but it could still lean on the same strength that helped carry the group last season. [Read more 🡒]