Hanifan's Offseason Outlook: Evaluating the Charlotte Hornets' 2025 offseason

For our second annual offseason outlook series, Hot Hot Hoops senior writer Matt Hanifan will provide his take on the offseasons of all 30 teams for the next 30 days! We will proceed in alphabetical order, starting with the Eastern Conference. Today, we will be hitting the Charlotte Hornets.

Past Previews:

Sept. 1: Atlanta Hawks
Sept. 2: Boston Ce l tics
Sept. 3: Brooklyn Nets

Evaluating the Charlotte Hornets’ 2025 offseason:

Additions: Pat Connaughton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Collin Sexton, Mason Plumlee, Antonio Reeves

Subtractions: Mark Williams, Josh Okogie, Jusuf Nurkic, Seth Curry (free agent), Taj Gibson (UFA), Wendell Moore (UFA),

Re-signed: Tre Mann

Draft: Kon Knueppel (No. 4 overall), Liam McNeeley (No. 29), Sion James (No. 33), Ryan Kalkbrenner (No. 34)

Hanifan’s outlook: Marred by injury to their two-best players, the Charlotte Hornets finished with their worst 82-game record (19-63) since 2004-05, when it went just 18-64. LaMelo Ball played in just 47 games while Brandon Miller — the No. 2 overall pick in 2023 — appeared in just 27. That’s not to mention that Mark Williams, Grant Williams, Tre Mann, Cody Martin and Nick Richards (pre-trade) were all sidelined at different points of the season.

Even with full health, the Hornets were expected to be one of the worst teams in the East. But those absences didn’t help, either.

The best news for them is that everyone begins the season at 0-0. And Charlotte didn’t have a bad offseason, either.

I was a big fan of what they did in the draft. Kon Knueppel, the Hornets’ No. 4 pick, is a baller. I’ve been high on him the since the start of his freshman season. He’s a winning basketball player. For one, he’s one of the best pure shooters in the class. Open, contested, heavily contested — he’s going to shoot lights out with pitch-perfect form paired with a very quick release. Knueppel plays off two feet beautifully and was also an underrated playmaker and defender at Duke.

I was, admittedly, never a fan of how Kalkbrenner moved athletically. But he’s one of the best pure shot-blockers in the class and great value at 34; Sion James is built like a middle linebacker (happy NFL opening day, everyone!) with intriguing defensive chops (he needs to continue to fine-tune his shot, though); and, while I was lower on McNeeley than the consensus, getting him at 29 wasn’t bad if he can be a more efficient shooter and connector.

Hanifan’s Offseason Outlook: Evaluating the Brooklyn Nets’ 2025 offseason

Additionally, I’m still surprised that Hornets general manager Jeff Peterson and Co. were able to fetch draft capital for Jusuf Nurkic, who was viewed as a negative asset. They could’ve done much worse than Collin Sexton and a second-round pick — both of which they can flip for more in six months.

Charlotte taking advantage of a desperate Milwaukee Bucks team — who was looking to shed cap in order to complete the Myles Turner signing — by acquiring Pat Connaughton and two future second-round picks for Vasilije Micic was great business, too.

Dinwiddie and Plumlee should be good veteran stop-gaps. I presume at least one — if not both — get flipped by the deadline.

All in all, I like what Charlotte did. A lot of its season will be contingent on the health of Ball and Miller, arguably the most important player in the organization right now. But the Hornets did a good job collecting assets and working with what they had.