The Charlotte Hornets moved up in the lottery to the number two overall pick in 2023. Falling one spot shy of Victor Wembanyama (sorry to remind everyone), they were left with the pick of the litter.
The Charlotte Hornets do not have a true rim protector. As amazing as Moussa Diabate is, his true strength is offensive rebounding and relentless effort.
Here are three teams that look like they're headed for a decline in fortunes ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season.
How many of the players to appear in the most playoff games for every NBA franchise can you name in five minutes?
It will be a new-look Hornets team that takes the floor for the 2026-2027 season. Gone are familiar faces like LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges. In are rookies Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson.
An athlete's peak tends to coincide with the youthfulness of their 20s. Sometimes, though, that apex happens when they've had more time to marinate in experience, and that's sometimes true in the NBA.
The Charlotte Hornets probably had a lot of reasons to trade both Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball. Bridges was on an expiring contract, which is like gold in NBA trades.
The Charlotte Hornets, perhaps controversially, did not have any NBA award winners last season. Kon Knueppel had a wonderful case for the Rookie of the Year award, and Charles Lee got some Coach of the Year buzz, but nothing came to fruition.
Tosan Evbuomwan, who spent time with four NBA teams over the past three seasons, has signed a two-year contract with Barcelona, the Spanish club announced in a press release.
Steph Curry playing for the Charlotte Hornets has always felt like a pipe dream. It's something that has occasionally popped up as a "what if" sort of question and then faded into the background.
The NBA off-season has hit a standstill now that LeBron James decided to take his talents to the City of Brotherly Love (no, I am unmoved by Mario Hezonja's return to the league).
It’s been four years since the Charlotte Hornets had an All-Star. The last was LaMelo Ball, who as we now is now a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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.
For a very long time, the Charlotte Hornets have sought to lock down the frontcourt. It has been a struggle since the Al Jefferson days. It's been better in the 2020s, but there have still been fundamental issues present.
The summer of 2026 has been a confusing one for Charlotte Hornets fans. With the team trading away its face of the franchise in LaMelo Ball, many have had no problems voicing their displeasure about the direction of Buzz City.
Kon Knueppel and LaMelo Ball were lighting it up together, quickly establishing themselves as one of the most dangerous duos in the league. It lasted just one season, however, before the Charlotte Hornets moved on from the veteran.
In a pair of interviews with Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer, Hornets head coach Charles Lee expressed optimism about the team’s offseason moves while acknowledging it was tough to see longtime starters LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges be traded to the Timberwolves and Suns, respectively.
The Charlotte Hornets haven't had an All-Star since LaMelo Ball early in his career. And with him gone, it feels like they won't have one again for a while.
Are we sure the Charlotte Hornets are done wheeling and dealing? As it stands, Charlotte has 18 rostered players, the max a team can carry during the offseason, with one glaring weakness left to fill: backup point guard.
The Charlotte Hornets have been ridiculously busy this offseason. That isn't always a good thing. Moves for moves' sake are not really smart team-building, so it's important to look at each move and analyze it instead of just saying that they did a lot.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After a spectacular run through the second half of the 2025-26 season, the Charlotte Hornets looked primed to be a more competitive unit in the upcoming campaign.
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.
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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