After a promising season that featured LaMelo Ball's rise to stardom, the continual progression of Miles Bridges, and the career revival of Terry Rozier, the Charlotte Hornets are looking to get back into the playoff mix in 2022.

Now competing in a revamped and far superior Eastern Conference, the Hornets will have some big challenges ahead of them this season.

In the hopes of getting back to postseason relevance and improving from last year, the Hornets are set to make some serious strides and improvements during the 2021-22 NBA season.

As they hope to climb the ranks of a stacked Eastern Conference and make their mark on the league, let's take a look at four bold predictions for the Charlotte Hornets.

LaMelo Ball will be an All-Star 

Coming off a terrific rookie campaign that saw him win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, LaMelo Ball is on pace to become an Eastern Conference All-Star during this year's All-Star game and continually take his game to the next level. With his handles, playmaking ability, and limitless scoring range, Ball has proven himself as bona fide superstar and will only get better with time.

For a Hornets team that's been in search of their franchise superstar, there's no doubt that they've found exactly that with Ball, who's already shown his ability to lead by example and make everyone around him better. Heading into his sophomore season, Ball may even take things up a notch and elevate the Hornets to playoff contenders this season.

Gordon Hayward will be back with a vengeance 

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After enduring another injury-riddled season that saw him miss most of the 2021-22 NBA season, Gordon Hayward will be back healthy and ready to be a difference maker on this upstart Hornets squad that's looking to make the playoffs this season. With his skills and prior experience, Hayward will be savvy veteran that can continue to serve as mentor to their younger players while providing them with some clutch playmaking in crunch time scenarios.

As he works tirelessly to get back to All-Star form, Hayward will be locked in and ready to have a big year for the Hornets in the hopes of leading them to their first playoff appearance since 2016. Given his previous injury history, the pressure will be on for Hayward to be back healthy for a full season and provide Charlotte with the quality depth and some stellar play that he's previously been known for.

James Borrego will be an NBA Coach of the Year candidate 

In his third year as the Hornets head coach, James Borrego made a ton of progress with this team and got them into the play-in tournament. Even though they lost by a wide margin to the Indiana Pacers, they still showed lots of promise and will look to build on that heading into the 2021-22 NBA season, especially with the young and athletic team that the Hornets have assembled over the past couple of seasons.

In his fourth season with the team, Borrego will be set on continually implementing a winning culture into this up-and-coming Hornets team that's destined for playoff stardom in the years to come. So with all this going for Hornets head coach James Borrego, there' s a good chance he'll find himself in the conversation for NBA Coach of the Year in 2022.

The Hornets will return to the the NBA playoffs 

After a tumultuous five seasons since they last made the playoffs, the Charlotte Hornets are ready to turn things around and get back to where they belong. When they parted ways with Kemba Walker a few seasons ago, things were looking bleak for this team with a cloud of uncertainty around the future of their franchise, but after drafting Ball, we all got a glimpse of what this team is capable of with him running point for them.

Not to mention the depth this team now possesses with Hayward, Miles Bridges, Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, Kelly Oubre Jr., James Bouknight, and Mason Plumlee now in the Hornets rotation. Under Borrego's direction, this team can go far and have a highly productive season as they'll be fighting through the tough and gritty Eastern Conference to stake their claim as a top-8 team.

This year they'll look to keep pace in their quest to return to the postseason. With so much already going for them, things are now headed in a positive direction for the Hornets as they continue to progress and live up to the winning standard that's been put in place by team owner Michael Jordan who happens to know a thing or two about winning at the highest level.