The calendar has turned to September. You know what that means, right?! Our offseason outlook series is back for the third-straight year!
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 be going in alphabetical order, beginning with the Eastern Conference. Today, we will look at the Charlotte Hornets’ summer!
Previous offseason outlooks:
Evaluating the Charlotte Hornets’ 2026 offseason
Additions: Grayson Allen, Naz Reid, Royce O’Neale, Dennis Schroder, Dorian Finney-Smith
Subtractions: LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Josh Green, Tre Mann, Xavier Tillman, Antonio Reeves
Re-signed: Coby White
Draft: Hannes Steinbach (No. 14 overall), Christian Anderson (No. 18 overall)
Hanifan’s outlook: After three seasons with 27, 21 and 19 wins, respectively, the Hornets took a massive jump in 2025-26, winning 44 games, a 25-win bump. They were spearheaded by LaMelo Ball and rookie sharpshooter Kon Knueppel and tantalizing third-year wing Brandon Miller, finishing No. 5 in offense and No. 11 in defense.
This offseason, they traded Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Naz Reid, who is three years removed from winning Sixth Man of the Year, to improve their frontcourt depth, plus one unprotected first-round pick and three first-round swaps. General manager Jeff Peterson sold high on Ball, who played 72 games — the second time in six years he’s played more than 51.
The Hornets also (finally) offloaded Bridges to Phoenix for Allen and O’Neale, who both fit perfectly into Charles Lee’s spaced, movement-driven offense. Additionally, they bought low on Finney-Smith and snagged Schroder late into the summer.
This is a good team. LaMelo Ball did drive a lot of their offense, but Knueppel, Schroder and Coby White — who re-signed with the team on a three-year, $74 million deal — is still a respectable backcourt with a good intersection of ballhandling, shot creation and movement shooting.
I love what Peterson’s building. They have managed their assets exceptionally well and should be in contention for a play-in spot again this season.
Grade: A-
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If nothing else, Hornets are definitely getting younger. Four good players in last two drafts with two more coming next year (thanks to Adam Silver’s gross mishandling of the Rozier trade). Who knows, Charlotte could become a playoff team this season while still developing.
They traded the two worst defenders in the starting lineup (defense was 5 points better with Ball and Bridges off the court) for a ton of draft assets, and had a great 2026 draft, A+ offseason IMO. Where most EC teams are spending picks to improve now – Indiana, Miami, Toronto, Philly – or already spent them – NYK, CLE, ORL – they are going in the opposite direction like Boston and adding picks. They play like Boston with constant threes and OREBs on offense, just lack the top end talent and defense.