The Charlotte Hornets were in need of a bench ball-handler when they traded for Coby White at the NBA Trade Deadline in February. With LaMelo Ball off the floor, the offense struggled behind Collin Sexton, Sion James, and Tre Mann as the lead ball-handler, and a move was clearly needed if Charlotte wanted to push for the playoffs.
The Charlotte Hornets could make additional moves this offseason to prepare for the 2026-27 NBA season. Charlotte made headlines earlier this month by trading away star point guard LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a massive four-team deal.
Summer League usually means very little. The Charlotte Hornets won Summer League last year, and while they did have a lot of success, that title didn't lead to any postseason success for the actual team.
How many of the NBA players to score at least 35 points in a game before turning 20 years old can you name in five minutes?
The Charlotte Hornets have no chance of landing LeBron James in free agency. I'm sorry to be the one to break that news to you. That doesn't mean the GOAT's free agency decision won't have ripple effects on the rest of Charlotte's offseason dealings, though.
At the end of the game or in other big moments, it's usually the team's stars who have the ball. Sometimes, though, it's the role players who get the chance to shine and deliver.
Jeff Peterson has been a busy man this summer, but it’s clear he still has some work to do. The Hornets have 16 men on their roster, meaning some players will have to go.
The 2026 Las Vegas Summer League has come and gone, and for Charlotte Hornets fans, it did not recapture the magic of their joyous title run in 2025. And to be frank, a lot of it wasn’t really that fun at all.
The Charlotte Hornets have changed the way in which they build their roster in recent years. In have come fundamentally sound players with a track record of winning, and out have gone athletically gifted but raw talents and players who haven’t already proven they can contribute to winning.
As the greater NBA world awaits LeBron James' upcoming free agency decision, things are quiet in the Queen City. Jeff Peterson made a flurry of moves at the onset of free agency, and since then, the Charlotte Hornets have been dormant.
The Charlotte Hornets have added a lot of players this offseason. They brought in Christian Anderson Jr., Hannes Steinbach, Royce O'Neale, Grayson Allen, Naz Reid, and Dorian Finney-Smith.
The Charlotte Hornets are taking some big risks this upcoming season. They traded LaMelo Ball. As a matter of fact, they traded 40% of the starting lineup that recorded the best net rating in the NBA last year.
Typically, the path to the NBA for most players is to spend at least a season in college to get high-level basketball and important development under their belts.
The 2026 summer represented the Charlotte Hornets’ first real glimpse into the franchise’s post-LaMelo blueprint. The organization is clearly prioritizing patience, player development, and long-term flexibility.
After an impressive 2025 Summer League that saw the Charlotte Hornets fly home as champions, the 2026 Summer League Hornets had a different story of their own.
A year after the Charlotte Hornets were crowned Summer League champs, Sin City didn't treat the Bugs nearly as well this time around. That said, there were some positives that came out of the two-week event.
Jeff Peterson has been a very busy man this offseason, to say the least. After making the decision to trade LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves, he quickly got to work on putting the finishing touches on a deal to bring back Coby White, traded Miles Bridges, and acquired veteran wing Dorian Finney-Smith for depth.
One mistake fantasy managers make every offseason is focusing only on individual players. The smarter approach is to look at entire NBA teams. When a franchise changes its identity, everyone on the roster is affected.
This offseason, the Hornets made a transformational change in sending out former All-Star guard LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves in exchange for a haul mostly centered around picks.
The 2026 NBA offseason has been in full swing over the last few weeks. Several teams have made both blockbuster and smaller trades, but few franchises have been as active as the Charlotte Hornets.
The one-year reign of Summer League supremacy is now really over for the Charlotte Hornets. On Friday night, the team officially wrapped up their time in Las Vegas, playing and losing a consolation game to the Sacramento Kings 92-90.
Hannes Steinbach recorded another double double and Tidjane Salaun chipped in 18 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Charlotte Hornets to beat the Sacramento Kings.
The Charlotte Hornets do not remotely resemble the 2025-26 version of the team. Things have drastically changed, and they could change even more ahead of the regular season.
July 13: The trade is now official, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer tweets. June 26: The Hornets and Suns have agreed to a trade, according to Shams
The Hornets pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the summer when they agreed to trade LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves on June 25. With the expanded four-team deal finally being finalized on Friday, Charlotte president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson was able to explain his rationale for the move, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Thursday night marked the first game of the NBA Summer League for the Charlotte Hornets, meaning the debuts of their two first-round picks, Christian Anderson and Hannes Steinbach.
The Charlotte Hornets have traded their two franchise cornerstones, LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, while acquiring veteran pieces like Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, and Naz Reid, after spending multiple years building around that duo.
There's been one constant in the Hornets' aggressive, multiyear rebuild: getting draft picks from the Suns.
The Charlotte Hornets are continuing to add future assets, possibly for an even bigger swing later.
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