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After finishing the 2024-25 season with a 19-63 record, the Charlotte Hornets started their offseason with more questions than answers. Questions about LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller's health moving forward, Mark Williams' status with the Hornets, and will the team will have an impactful offseason in general.
A few months later, a Hornets' front office executive claimed: “We had the best draft in the league.”
They added guys that complement their young stars in Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley, being talented catch-and-shoot players. While Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner landed in the Hornets' lap in the second round, adding four guys to an already young nucleus is a solid foundation for their head coach to stand on as he enters year two.
Charles Lee has some wiggle room to work with now
In his first year, Charles Lee inherited Ball, Miller, and the rest of the core pieces from the season prior, but there were low expectations. Everything ran through their young stars, and Miles Bridges was a standout offensively, but the ball stuck at times, and possessions often ended with the least desirable shot or Bridges bailing them out. With Ball and Miller both being shut down due to injuries, questions about Lee arose around job security and if he were the right hire by fans.
Lee got dealt a bad hand, but has a better one to start off his sophomore season as a coach. His players seem to respect him and he's embodied that player's coach mentality with everyone on the roster. Adding more capable players alongside their young stars and acquiring more veterans via trade and free agency, like Collin Sexton and Spencer Dinwiddie, will make Lee's job easier.
This could be the most talent the Hornets have seen in decades
The Kemba Walker era in Charlotte has been the most successful in their franchise's history since the 1990s, but the present day Hornets have more talent than Walker's teams. Still, Walker was the face of the franchise when they last made the playoffs in 2016, so he still has a leg to stand on. Now that he's an assistant coach on Lee's staff, he'll do anything he can to get these guys back to playing meaningful basketball.
LaMelo Ball already has a few different franchise records and was an All-Star back in 2022. Brandon Miller took a leap in his second season before his injury, posting career-highs across the board. Miles Bridges has been the glue guy for the team, guarding the opposing team's best players and falling into place as a solid third option. Compile that with the rest of the young pieces and veterans they added and the Hornets are in a better place than they were a season ago.
The Eastern Conference is open at the top and bottom
After witnessing the Indiana Pacers pave their way to the NBA Finals, there is optimism in the Eastern Conference. The Atlanta Hawks made a power move by acquiring Kristaps Porzingis, while the Milwaukee Bucks were able to pry Myles Turner away from the Pacers, and the Knicks added more firepower to help Jalen Brunson by adding Jordan Clarkson. Those teams could be dangerous come postseason time.
As for the bottom of the East, it's open for business for teams like the Hornets. Whether that be through the Play-In Tournament or making it outright, that should be the goal for a young team trying to settle in. With the right culture in place heading into the 2025-26 season, it could be more realistic for them this time around.
