Jeff Peterson’s rebuild earning praise as Hornets aim to become a real NBA threat

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated Jul 24, 2025 12:46 PM ET

Following the Mitch Kupchak era, the Charlotte Hornets quietly hired Jeff Peterson to be their new GM. In the time since that hiring, the Hornets have slowly but surely stockpiled assets and begun building for a legitimate future for the first time in a long while.

Gone are the days of Charlotte having a league-worst front office/management team. In fact, the Hornets ranked 20th on Sam Quinn's rankings with CBS Sports, but he had plenty of good things to say about Peterson and company.

"They've slow-played their rebuild but are largely managing it well thus far," Quinn said. "They've quietly accumulated a fair amount of future draft capital with trades of P.J. Washington, Terry Rozier, and Mark Williams (it's not their fault they lost out on a Lakers haul because of a failed physical)."

And perhaps more importantly, Quinn says the young players make sense together, though there are still holes on the roster. "The jury is still out on Charles Lee, but he was about as highly regarded as first-time head coaches get," he added.

Quinn spent a lot of time comparing the Hornets and Washington Wizards, a very similar team with a slightly higher-ranked front office. Why is that? According to the analyst, Washington is just a bit ahead on a few things, including when the books clean up.

"Charlotte seemingly has the worst draft pick among the two teams, with Tidjane Salaun looking lost for most of his rookie season, though there's obviously still time for him to figure it out," he said. "The Hornets also started with a greater talent base than Washington, as LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller are both plausible long-term star candidates."

Regardless, Quinn says the tide is turning, and the Hornets are moving in the right direction, albeit at a slow pace for now.