The Hornets and Nets both put their preseason plans on the board Monday, and each team will get a quick four-game tune-up before the games start counting.
Charlotte opens at home against Brooklyn on Oct. 6 at 7 pm ET, then stays home for Milwaukee on Oct. 11 at 7 pm. The Hornets will head to Boston on Oct. 14 for a 7:30 pm ET tip before closing the preseason at Memphis on Oct. 16 at 8 pm ET.
Brooklyn’s schedule starts with that trip to Charlotte, then continues with a home game against Philadelphia on Oct. 8 at 7:30 pm ET. The Nets will also visit Washington on Oct. 12 at 7 pm ET and Miami on Oct. 14 at 7:30 pm ET.
Charlotte is coming off a 44-38 season that ended in the play-in tournament, where the Hornets fell in the final game for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. The franchise has now missed the playoffs in each of the last 10 seasons, the longest such streak in the NBA.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, finished 20-62 in 2025/26, which was the third-worst mark in the league. The Nets have been out of the postseason for the past three years.
Both teams have already been busy this summer, too. They were part of the six-team mega-deal that sent LaMelo Ball to Minnesota, Naz Reid to Charlotte, and Julius Randle to Brooklyn, among other pieces moving around. Charlotte also added first-round picks Hannes Steinbach at No. 14 and Christian Anderson Jr. at No. 18, while Brooklyn used the sixth pick on Mikel Brown Jr.
In Other News...
Hornets Face A Roster Squeeze And One Massive Unanswered Question
The Hornets are heading into the stretch run of roster housekeeping with more bodies than the regular season allows, and the front office has several decisions lined up before opening night. Charlotte is carrying 18 players on standard contracts, so someone has to go, or at least get shifted around, before the team can settle on a compliant group. On top of that, three contracts come with guarantee dates, and three club options are due by Oct. 31, which means the next few weeks will say plenty about how the Hornets want this roster to look.
Tidjane Salaun, Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley all sit in that option window, while the club also has to sort through the rest of its depth chart and decide who fits long term. The bigger backdrop is the flexibility Charlotte still has after the LaMelo Ball trade, including a massive trade exception that remains unused, even after the Hornets added Dorian Finney-Smith through a different exception. For a team trying to balance present needs with future moves, that unused tool is the one question hanging over everything else. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets May Finally Be Zeroing In On A Backcourt Answer
The Hornets have spent plenty of time searching for more stability in the backcourt, and a possible answer may be starting to come into focus. Charlotte has been linked to a veteran guard who could give the second unit a steadier hand, with enough scoring and playmaking to take some pressure off the starters and keep the offense moving when the bench comes in.
There is also a familiar thread behind the interest, since executive Jeff Peterson has a prior connection to the guard from their Atlanta days. That kind of front-office comfort often matters when a team is trying to patch a clear need, and it could help explain why Charlotte is at least exploring the possibility of a move as it looks to firm up a position that has been in flux. [Read more 🡒]