Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee. Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Charles Lee makes it clear he’s not committed to a starting lineup yet

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Colin Keane | Last updated Oct 7, 2025 12:17 PM ET

The Charlotte Hornets played their first preseason game on Sunday, which gave Hornets fans the chance to see one version of a potential starting lineup for their squad. Head coach Charles Lee rolled with a starting five of LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Moussa Diabate against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Interestingly, none of those five played more than 16 minutes in the 135-114 loss to OKC, with the exception of Knueppel, who logged 23 minutes.

Lee also gave significant minutes off the bench to Tidjane Salaun and Ryan Kalkbrenner, the latter of whom has reportedly impressed during camp so far. What can be deduced here is that Lee and Charlotte’s staff are still determining how much of a role Salaun and Kalkbrenner will or will not play in the regular-season rotation.

Collin Sexton and Tre Mann were the next highest minutes recipients off of Charlotte’s bench, each playing 17 minutes. These two guys may start a bunch of games for the Hornets this year, as indicated by Lee’s most recent comments about the team’s as-yet undecided starting five.

Hornets head coach Charles Lee discusses the team’s starting lineup

Lee met with the media on Sunday ahead of the OKC game and suggested that Knueppel, Mann, and Sexton are all viable starters for Charlotte. At this point, it’ll likely come down to optimal lineup chemistry — not individual performance — when Lee decides who will start for the Hornets on Opening Night.

What’s more, the starting five for the first game of the season in no way guarantees anything about the rest of an 82-game campaign.

"I spoke with Tre (Mann), Kon (Knueppel), and Collin (Sexton), and I said, 'You guys need to be prepared to start in a lot of different ways, and we'll see how the season goes,’” Lee told reporters.

️ Charles Lee on the starting lineup:

"It's been a really good, competitive, intense camp. I spoke with Tre (Mann), Kon (Knueppel) and Collin (Sexton), and I said, 'You guys need to be prepared to start in a lot of different ways, and we'll see how the season goes.'"

"Each one… pic.twitter.com/QUt777HcfF
— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) October 6, 2025

"Each one of them has had really high moments, good bright spots, and has shown that they earned to be out there and have a significant role, and I think all three will have a significant role. Every night, it might look a little bit different, and they need to be open-minded to it."

Lee then reiterated that he and his staff were looking to gather some intel about their roster against the Thunder.

"Tonight, trying to just get some data on which lineups work well defensively and which lineups work well offensively, and we'll keep carving out what we think makes the most sense for our team on a night-to-night basis,” Lee said.

Between Knueppel, Mann, and Sexton, plus LaMelo and Brandon Miller, the Hornets are set when it comes to guards who can score. Don’t forget about veteran bucket Spencer Dinwiddie, either.

Now, it’ll be up to Lee and his brain trust to determine how the Hornets can assemble lineups that give them the best chance defensively.