Preseason never tells the whole story, but it does leave a trail. For the Hornets, the four-game stretch offered enough clues to sort out who helped themselves and who left more questions behind.
Dennis Schröder is one of the clearest cases on the disappointing side. His preseason line - 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 turnovers and 25 percent from three - doesn’t exactly jump off the page.
The shot volume was low, but the efficiency still wasn’t there, and that mattered for a Hornets offense that can already get streaky. Schröder has never been known as a great jumpshooter, and his struggles from deep showed up right away.
Since he’s a new addition, though, that has to be part of the conversation.
Brandon Miller’s numbers were more productive, but the context made his preseason tougher to evaluate. He finished with 16.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 turnovers and shot 31.8 percent from the field.
The Hornets were missing offensive help around him - no Kon Knueppel, no Coby White, only one game of Grayson Allen - and Miller is also coming off shoulder surgery. Even with that in mind, the expectation is still that he leads the scoring and creates offense for himself.
That didn’t show up enough. He rarely got all the way to the rim, and when he did, the results were mixed at best.
Ryan Kalkbrenner’s preseason raised a different kind of concern. Charlotte knew what it was getting defensively when it drafted him, but there wasn’t much sign of improvement there.
Offensively, he did what he tends to do: offensive rebounds, efficient finishes when the chance was there. Getting him into comfortable shot attempts was another story, in part because he doesn’t seem to mesh especially well as a roll man with Charlotte’s playmakers.
He also didn’t record an assist and kept showing turnovers that are hard to ignore from a player soon to be 25. Even so, the Hornets badly need rim protection and deterrence, and that gives him a path to minutes.
Still, it sounds like his role will be more situational than last season.
On the other end of the spectrum, Liam McNeeley continued to give the Hornets reasons to feel good about his development. After a strong Summer League, the preseason didn’t bring a huge leap, but it did reinforce that he’s already better than he was last season.
The three-point shot remains a strength, and he’s added more physicality, some playmaking and more comfort handling the ball. Turnovers are still an issue, but the overall trend is positive.
Hannes Steinbach may have been Charlotte’s best preseason performer. He doesn’t top the list because he was already coming off a strong finish to Summer League, so the preseason was more about confirming what he’d shown there.
He did that. The offensive rebounding stood out again, and so did his ability to get out in transition.
With Kalkbrenner struggling, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Steinbach crack 10-plus minutes a night right away in the regular season.
And then there’s CAJ. After a shaky two weeks in Summer League, there were real concerns about whether he was ready to help the main roster immediately.
When he didn’t play in the first two preseason games, those worries only grew. But against Boston and Memphis, Charlotte’s No. 18 pick looked much more settled, especially on offense.
It was only a two-game sample, but the physicality looked better too, and that kind of improvement doesn’t disappear once the games start counting. With Coby White out, he’s likely to get some solid minutes soon.
In Other News...
Brandon Miller Just Delivered The Kind Of Start Hornets Fans Wanted
Brandon Miller gave the Hornets the kind of early jolt their season opener needed at Barclays Center, flashing the athleticism that made him one of the franchises core young pieces. The second overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft is entering his fourth NBA season, and Charlotte has already made it clear how much it values his place in the rebuild.
His start was headlined by a highlight dunk, the sort of play that can set a tone in a game and, just as importantly, remind everyone how much more upside still sits in his game. After an offseason extension, Miller is no longer just a promising piece for the Hornets. He is part of the long-term answer, and nights like this are why the optimism around him has stayed so strong. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Miller Now Carries A Bigger Hornets Expectation Than Ever
Brandon Millers rise in Charlotte took another major step when he signed a rookie-scale extension that locks him in long term and signals just how central the Hornets believe he can become. After opening the season with 18 points against the Brooklyn Nets and logging a team-high 35:39, the second-year wing looked every bit like someone expected to shoulder more than scoring as the franchise tries to build something real around its young core.
Miller has already framed his value as more than a shot-making burden, pointing to the broader role hes supposed to fill on both ends of the floor. For the Hornets, that means a player who can help in ways that show up beyond the box score, and for Miller it raises the bar even higher as Charlotte pushes toward a playoff chase it has been talking about all offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Dennis Schrder Is Already Giving The Hornets Something They Needed
Dennis Schrder did not need much time to show Charlotte what it was getting when it brought him over from Cleveland. Starting at point guard in the Hornets 110-103 win over Brooklyn, he finished with 19 points and looked very much like the kind of steady hand this roster has been searching for. His impact went beyond the box score, too, with coach Charles Lee pointing to the veterans leadership and basketball IQ as traits that stood out almost immediately.
For a Hornets team still sorting out its identity, that kind of presence matters just as much as scoring. Schrder has already earned the staffs trust, and the early signs suggest he can help organize possessions, settle the group and bring a needed voice in tense stretches. The bigger question now is how quickly that influence shows up when the games get tighter and the margins shrink even further. [Read more 🡒]