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3 creative lineup configurations the Charlotte Hornets should explore in 2025

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Matt Alquiza | Last updated Aug 17, 2025 2:17 PM ET

Charles Lee has a cupboard chock full of hoopers to deploy in his second season as the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets.

A bevy of offseason additions have reshaped Charlotte's roster, and it's up to their general Lee to figure out which combinations will find success in 2025-26. Not that the sitting head coach of an NBA team will heed my advice, but if I were on the bench, here are a couple of options I'd tinker with when the season tips off in October.

1. LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Tidjane Salaün, Ryan Kalkbrenner

This is the equivalent of getting the band back together but replacing the lead guitarist.

Charlotte's Summer League championship was spearheaded by their 2024 and 2025 draft classes, and this potential lineup for the senior squad is a mix of those two plus the franchise's cornerstone in LaMelo Ball.

The connectivity of Ball, Knueppel, and McNeeley will make for exciting offense, while the bulk and brawn of Salaün and Kalkbrenner will cover some of the inevitable defensive deficiencies that present themselves in this lineup.

Ball and Knueppel will carry the brunt of the playmaking duties while Salaün and McNeeley keep the defense honest as floor spacers. Both of those players (McNeeley specifically) showed some acumen as second-side playmakers in Summer League, and if defenses over help on actions that involve Ball and Knueppel, both Liam and Tidjane will thrive.

2. Tre Mann, Collin Sexton, LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Mason Plumlee

Let's get weird!

In 2014-15, the Phoenix Suns deployed a three-pronged point guard trio of Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, and Isaiah Thomas that was broken up for chemistry reasons, but performed reasonably-well for how diminutive it proved to be.

The Hornets won't ever start Ball, Sexton, and Mann together, but playing the trio together for stretches would be intriguing if nothing else.

The NBA playoffs proved the need for steady ball handlers, and Charlotte would have handles in spades with this trio in the back court.

Bridges and Plumlee would open things up for the guard trio with solid screening and cutting, and if they fully invest in doing the 'role player' things on both ends, this five could be a ton of fun.

3. LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Liam McNeeley, Moussa Diabate

Shooting, shooting, and more shooting.

Charles Lee loves a five out look, and this configuration, although undersized, would be exactly that.

Diabate made his bones on offense last season as a screen-setting, rim-running big man, and this array of snipers dotting the perimeter would give him acres of space in the lane to maneuver into.

The other four players on the floor are competent handlers and decision-makers that would gobble up advantages created by Ball off the bounce.