Hornets Can't Rely on LaMelo Ball's Inconsistency Next Season

The Hornets were bad at a lot of things last season. Defense, shooting, availability, vibes, but nothing crashed harder than the offense. Charlotte finished 29th in offensive efficiency, and the assist-to-turnover ratio wasn’t far behind, settling at 28th. They couldn’t score. They couldn’t pass. And they couldn’t do either without giving the ball away.

Sure, LaMelo Ball missing half the season didn’t help. But even when he was available, the impact was more erratic than anything. Ball posted career worsts in both field-goal percentage (40.5) and three-point shooting (33.9), and his 4.0 turnovers per 36 minutes marked the second-worst rate of his career. 

The highlight passes and logo threes are still there, but so is the chaos. At his best, Ball remains the Hornets’ only true offensive engine. At his worst, he's a volume shooter without a governor. Charlotte doesn’t just need LaMelo back. They need a sharper, steadier, and more available version of him.

To be fair, the 2024–25 season marked Year 1 of the Charles Lee experiment. It was also the first-year offensive installs rarely ran like clockwork, especially when injuries hijacked the depth chart. Still, even with some expected growing pains, this was rough.

The roster around Ball didn’t offer much help. No other Hornet averaged even four assists per game. Of the five players who took double-digit shots a night, only Mark Williams shot better than 44 percent from the field. And he's a big. When your only efficient scorer is a vertical spacer who needs someone to set him up, and no one else can pass, it’s a problem.

All of this raises a bigger question. Is the offense too Ball-centric for its own good? Could this team benefit from a little more movement, a little more cutting, and a little less standing around while LaMelo plays high-stakes improv?

These are the kinds of structural questions Charlotte’s front office has to confront this offseason. What kind of team are they building around Ball? What kind of players best compliment him? And what happens if this version of him with the flashes of brilliance wrapped in unpredictability is just who he is?

For now, the scoreboard told the story. The Hornets’ games averaged 223.8 combined points, and only 39 of 82 contests cleared the 226.5 mark. Translation is even the betting markets gave up on seeing fireworks in Charlotte. Let’s see if the front office can spark something new before the upcoming season.