Summer League opens this weekend for the Charlotte Hornets, and the first look at this group comes with three clear questions hanging over it.
The biggest one starts with Tidjane Salaün. Charlotte knew what it was getting when it used the sixth overall pick on him a few years back: a long-term project with real upside.
That upside still hasn’t fully shown up, but there’s still a path for him to become a quality NBA player. There were stretches last season when it looked like the game was starting to slow down for him and he played with more confidence.
There were also plenty of moments when he still looked out of place and like he didn’t belong on an NBA roster. This isn’t exactly a now-or-never moment, but entering his third Summer League, Salaün needs a strong run to give the front office something to believe in.
Point guard is the next major watch item. Jeff Peterson hasn’t added another veteran at the position since trading LaMelo Ball, and while it would make sense to bring one in, a strong Summer League from Anderson could push the Hornets toward a Coby White-Christian Anderson pairing this season.
A line like 18 points and six assists per game wouldn’t lock anything in for the regular season, but it would go a long way with a fan base that has plenty of reason to be uneasy about the point guard room. Anderson’s size has never stopped him from producing at the college level, and the expectation is that it won’t be a barrier in the NBA either.
He has spent his whole life being smaller than most of the players around him and still found ways to stand out. The real question is whether he already looks ready to handle the second unit from day one.
Then there’s the frontcourt, where Charlotte got a lot more right than plenty of people expected. A year ago, plenty of eyebrows went up when Peterson headed into the season with Moussa Diabaté, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Mason Plumlee as the team’s three center options.
Plumlee agreed to terms on the first day of free agency, too. But the Hornets ended up being proven right.
Diabaté showed flashes in the 2024-25 season and then took another step this past year, showing he can be one of the best at his position even without being a real scoring threat. Kalkbrenner, for a second-round pick, quickly established himself as a dependable backup.
Now Charlotte is looking at Hannes Steinbach as another center with real upside. The Hornets think highly of him and believe he has starting potential. That probably won’t happen right away if Diabaté remains part of the immediate plan, but Steinbach could be developed into the future and eventually move ahead of Kalkbrenner.
In Other News...
Jeff Peterson Just Framed The Hornets Reset Fans Have Waited For
Jeff Peterson spent the offseason making the kind of moves that usually signal a front office has picked a direction, and in Charlottes case the direction is finally hard to miss. The Hornets have turned over major pieces, added future draft capital, and brought in veterans who fit a different timeline, while also using the draft to keep layering in young talent. It is a reset built more around flexibility and patience than trying to patch last seasons problems with another quick fix.
Petersons comments made the bigger picture even clearer for Hornets fans who have been waiting for a coherent plan. Charlotte is no longer pretending the next step has to be immediate, and the roster now looks like one that can be shaped around its younger core and the players the front office believes can grow with it. The unresolved part, of course, is how far the team is willing to lean into that long-term approach before the wins have to catch up. [Read more 🡒]
Jeff Peterson Just Sent A Clear Message About The Hornets Rebuild
Charlottes rebuild has been framed by a strong finish last season, but the front office is making clear that one hot stretch is not changing the long view. After winning 28 of its final 38 games, the Hornets still moved into a summer of sweeping changes, and president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson has been stressing that the organization is thinking bigger than a quick bounce back.
Petersons message is aimed at avoiding the kind of shortcut that can leave a team stuck in the middle for years. The Hornets want the process to be deliberate, not a rush to chase one playoff appearance, and that philosophy matters now as the roster continues to take shape around the long-term plan. [Read more 🡒]
Coby White Just Took On The Hornets Role That Changes Everything
Coby White is set to slide into a much bigger spotlight in Charlotte after arriving from Chicago on a three-year, $74 million deal this offseason. For a Hornets team that has spent the summer reshaping its roster, Whites move gives the backcourt a new direction and puts him in position to be one of the central figures in whatever comes next.
The Hornets have been busy reworking the lineup around a fresh mix of talent and draft capital, and Whites role is part of that larger reset. With Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel among the pieces expected to matter right away, Charlotte is clearly trying to build a different kind of foundation, and Whites fit at point guard will be one of the first things to watch when the season opens. [Read more 🡒]