The Charlotte Hornets are back at the Spectrum Center tonight, and there’s no mystery about the first thing they need to clean up: pretty much everything from their preseason opener.
After getting blasted by the Brooklyn Nets’ first, second, and third teams, Charlotte gets another preseason shot at the new-look Milwaukee Bucks. The Hornets will be without Coby White, Kon Knueppel, and Grant Williams because of injury management. Brandon Miller and Christian Anderson Jr., who also missed the opener, will be a game-time call closer to tip off.
One of the biggest things to watch is how the Hornets handle rookie center Hannes Steinbach. It’s still way too early to draw any hard conclusions about his role this season. Charlotte’s preseason pattern suggests patience is the right approach here: Sion James didn’t make his debut in last year’s first preseason game until late in the third quarter, and he ended up playing all 82 games after beginning the regular season as the second player off the bench.
Steinbach was solid in his Hornets debut, but the picture changes if he’s working with better creators. It’s one thing to be fed by Jarkell Joyner and Michael Ajayi.
It’s another when the ball is coming from Dennis Schroder or Christian Anderson Jr. He should get some first-half run against Milwaukee, and that alone will tell us a little more about where he stands.
The other obvious area that needs a lift is the offense as a whole. Charlotte’s facilitating wasn’t good enough against Brooklyn, and while Coby White was unavailable, that excuse only goes so far.
White can’t be expected to play 48 minutes anyway, so somebody else has to organize the offense. The roster has options, but the Hornets need one of those options to actually seize the job.
There’s also the matter of getting into the paint and doing something with it once they get there. Charlotte was outscored 44-22 in points in the paint in the opener, and that kind of gap is hard to ignore. Without White pushing the pace, the Hornets need someone from the guard and wing group to create more rim pressure outside of Dennis Schröder.
And for the frontcourt, the ask is pretty straightforward: get busy around the rim and on the glass. Moussa Diabaté, Hannes Steinbach and Naz Reid all need to be more active near the basket, while Tidjane Salaün could use more controlled drives. Those are the kinds of details that won’t fix everything, but they’d be a start.
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Hornets Face A Huge Brandon Miller Decision With Big Stakes
Charlotte is staring at one of the biggest decisions of its young core, with Brandon Miller in line for a major extension discussion that could shape the franchises next several seasons. Around the league, teams are already juggling the same kind of early-extension calculus with promising wings and guards, but Millers case stands out because of how quickly his value has climbed and how much the Hornets have tied themselves to his development.
The stakes go beyond simple salary structure. Charlotte has to balance the appeal of locking in a foundational scorer against the kind of long-term risk that comes with committing early in a players career, especially when the price tag can escalate fast in todays market. For a team trying to build around a young nucleus, the decision on Miller is as much about roster direction as it is about the number on the contract. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Millers Next Hornets Deal Could Get Very Expensive
Brandon Miller is already moving into the kind of contract conversation that signals a franchise has made its choice. The second-overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft is eligible for a rookie-scale extension with Charlotte, and the expectation is that the sides will work toward a long-term deal that reflects how important he has become to the Hornets future plans.
Head coach Charles Lee has publicly shown confidence in Miller as a foundational piece, which only adds to the sense that this next step is more about timing than uncertainty. Still, when a young wing starts lining up for a premium extension, the cost can climb quickly, and the Hornets are now staring at a negotiation that could shape their books as much as their roster. [Read more 🡒]
Liam McNeeley Has A Real Opening In Charlotte Now
Liam McNeeleys first year in Charlotte did not unfold like a clean arrival story. The rookie spent much of the season in the G League and never really carved out a steady rotation role, leaving him more as a long-term project than an immediate answer for the Hornets.
This season gives him a different kind of opening. With several key players out or unavailable, McNeeley should get a chance to play early, and the opportunity comes with a clear challenge: his shot alone may not be enough to keep him on the floor. The Hornets need wings who can contribute in more than one way, and McNeeleys next step may come from growing as a playmaker or finding ways to stand out defensively, the kind of improvement coaches have been encouraged by as they watch how he handles each new test. [Read more 🡒]