The Charlotte Hornets have remained the laughingstock of the NBA even after they rebranded back to their original moniker from the Charlotte Bobcats. Charlotte finished with a 27-55 record this past season and failed to make progress after participating in the NBA Play-In Tournament the two seasons prior. 2023 also marked the seventh consecutive year they missed the postseason.

Nonetheless, the Hornets did land the No. 2 overall pick and selected Alabama standout Brandon Miller. But even then, naysayers already have their pitchforks out claiming that Charlotte blew it again by passing on an absolute stud like Scoot Henderson for the second pick. Of course, only time will tell if the Hornets made the right choice of Miller over Henderson.

As for free agency, the Hornets have not made much noise either this offseason. As if they can do anything about it given the mediocrity of the franchise. No marquee free agents want to come to Charlotte. Spoiler alert: no one did. The Hornets did extend LaMelo Ball to a five-year $260 million supermax contract. At least they were able to secure the All-Star to stay. Other than that, their only other move was extending a qualifying offer worth $7.9 million to Miles Bridges, who was exiled from the league last season due to domestic violence.

Overall, the Charlotte has lacked in making moves this offseason. With that, here is the Hornets' biggest roster concern deep into 2023 NBA free agency.

Hornets' biggest roster concern deep into 2023 NBA free agency

Lack of a starting caliber center

Currently, the Hornets have three centers on their roster — Nick Richards, Kai Jones, and Mark Williams. Richards is entering his fourth season, Jones is now onto his third year, and Williams just finished his rookie campaign. Even though they have three centers on their roster, Charlotte still lacks a true starting caliber center. Perhaps their new ownership group can do something about.

In fact, they've lacked a compatible starting big man to pair with LaMelo Ball since he arrived in the NBA. Ball ideally deserves a center who can consistently be a lob threat as well as a consistent finisher around the rim. No offense to Charlotte's previous starter Mason Plumlee, but he didn't quite fit that bill. And he wasn't as exciting an option as the recipient of the brash point guard's flashy passes.

Perhaps the Hornets could target Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela in a trade. Capela is a legitimate lob threat. He was the benefit of plenty of alley-oops from James Harden back in their days with the Houston Rockets. Ball has needed a legitimate rim runner that he can throw lobs to or give pin-point passes to on dives to the rim and Capela is the perfect man for the job.

Nonetheless, if the Hornets don't land any starting-caliber big men like Capela in a trade, Williams is likely the one to draw the start come opening night since he did finish the 2022-23 season as the team's starter. Though he didn't play much during the start of the season, the incoming sophomore impressed through the second half of the year. He ended up playing 43 games, including starting 17 of his last 18 appearances. In those 18 games, Williams averaged 11.7 points and 9.7 rebounds and shot 62.9 percent from the field.