The Charlotte Hornets suffered through an injury plagued season last year that saw franchise star LaMelo Ball play in only 36 games. After a promising 2021-22 season that saw them reach the play-in, they took a clear step back. It's hard though to envision the Hornets taking a step forward next season. They appear to be on the borderline of possibly being a play-in team and possibly being a lottery team. While the Hornets certainly should take steps to creating a winner, it's really going to be about development especially when filling out the end of their roster. The Hornets continued to add promising young players with Wednesday's signing of Leaky Black to a two-way contract, the team announced.

The Hornets had one two-way contract spot open and opted to sign Leaky Black. The other two players they have under two-way contracts heading into this upcoming season are Amari Bailey and Xavier Sneed. Black went undrafted in the 2023 draft and signed on with the Hornets during Summer League at the California Classic and in Las Vegas. Over the course of three Summer League games, Black averaged 2.7 points per game and 5.7 rebounds.

Black played five seasons of college basketball at UNC where he developed into one of the top defensive players in the nation. His final two seasons at UNC he was named to the ACC All-Defensive team. During his final season at UNC, he averaged 7.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals. He shot 41.1 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from the three-point line.

Under a two-way contract, Black is limited to only 50 games with the Hornets. He'll spend the rest of his time with the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets G League affiliate.