Offseason Approach

Add to a promising team ready for a playoff push

Actual Cap Space

-$18.5 million

Practical Cap Space

-$18.5 million

Projected Luxury Tax Space

$46.9 million

Under Contract (14)

LaMelo Ball
Miles Bridges
Moussa Diabate (non-guaranteed)
Tosan Evbuomwan (two-way)
Josh Green, P.J. Hall (two-way)
Sion James
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Kon Knueppel
Tre Mann
Liam McNeeley
Brandon Miller
Tidjane Salaun
Grant Williams

View Roster

Potential Free Agents (4)

Pat Connaughton (unrestricted – team option)
Antonio Reeves (restricted – two-way)
Xavier Tillman Sr. (unrestricted)
Coby White (unrestricted)

Dead Cap (0)

None

Projected Signing Exceptions

Non-Taxpayer MLE ($15 million)
(Bi-Annual Exception was used in 2025-26)

Notable Trade Exceptions

Collin Sexton ($8.2 million)
Tyus Jones ($7.0 million)

First Round Draft Picks

#14
#18

Notable Extension Candidates

LaMelo Ball (veteran extension)
Miles Bridges (veteran extension – as of July 14)
Josh Green (veteran extension)
Brandon Miller (rookie scale extension)
Coby White (veteran extension – through June 30)
Grant Williams (veteran extension)

Analysis

In some ways, the Charlotte Hornets offseason is pretty simple. Re-sign Coby White, draft two players in the first round, handle some extensions, sign a two-way player and get ready for camp.

In other ways, this is as complicated of an offseason as Charlotte has faced in some time. How much do you pay Coby White? What to do with two mid-round firsts? How to handle extensions for Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges? What if LaMelo Ball wants an early extension too?

This Hornets offseason is a great test of the final phase of the rebuild: Do you go all-in now to aid in a playoff push? Do you continue to be patient and let the core grow? If you go too early, you may not have the assets left to get over the top. If you wait too long, you might never even take those next steps.

This is where Jeff Peterson earns his contract as the team’s primary decision-maker.

Let’s start with re-signing Coby White, as that one seems like the biggest no-brainer on the board. Only the projected cap space teams (Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers) have enough money to pay White more than the Non-Taxpayer MLE amount of just over $15 million. There’s a possibility that the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons could maneuver to have cap space this offseason too.

Let’s take the Nets (they have a million young guards), the Bulls (White was just traded from there), the Hawks (they might need a true PG, not another combo guard) and the Lakers (they seem pretty set with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as their lead ballhandlers) off the list of suitors. That leaves the Pistons. White would be a terrific fit in Detroit, but it would cost the Detroit almost all of their depth to be able to sign White.

Basically: The Hornets shouldn’t have too much competition to sign White this summer. However, that doesn’t mean that Charlotte is going to get White on the cheap either.

White has earned a deal that’s worth more than the NTMLE, but he shouldn’t be breaking the bank either. If the Hornets can get White back for $72 million over four years, that would be good work. Ideally, they’d frontload the deal too. That way, as the rest of the roster gets more expensive, White’s deal would come down. If necessary, pushing as high as $80-$88 million would be fine, especially if Charlotte can get the declining deal structure and maybe even a team option on the final season.

No matter what, White should be back in the fold next season. He’s a perfect fit in the Charlotte backcourt because he can play with anyone due to his on- and off-ball ability. The Hornets have a whopping $47 million in wiggle room under the luxury tax going into next season. Now is the time to use some of the flexibility in exchange for more balance later.

The draft gives Charlotte another opportunity to add talent to their team. With two mid-round first-round picks, the Hornets should be able to add a couple of future rotation players. The team should target frontcourt depth, as Charlotte could use another true four on the roster. The other spot to look for depth is on the wing. Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel are in place as long-term wings, while Sion James is a good backup. Adding one more guy to that group in case Liam McNeeley doesn’t pan out, would be the smart play.

If the Hornets want to add more of a win-now player, they’ll have the full NTMLE to spend, even after re-signing White. Targeting an immediate frontcourt upgrade would be a solid strategy. John Collins, Dean Wade, Guerschon Yabusele or Harrison Barnes would all make sense to add to the frontcourt mix. One thing all of those players have in common? They can stretch the floor.

If Peterson wants to be really aggressive, he could wade into the trade market. Charlotte has young talent, expiring salaries and draft capital that they could offer. The Hornets own all of their own first-round picks moving forward, as well as what will likely be four additional first-round picks. The Hornets also have 13 likely second-round picks moving forward.

Charlotte might not be ready to jump into trade talks for Giannis Antetokounmpo. But other All-Stars will become available and they’ll be available for less than Antetokounmpo will be traded for. If Peterson wants to be involved in chasing a star, he can offer draft capital, plus the nearly $52 million in expiring salary owed to Miles Bridges, Josh Green and Grant Williams, as well as some of the team’s younger players, minus Knueppel (who would only be involved in a true blockbuster deal). If nothing else, all of those same assets are good to have for in-season trades.

If Peterson slow-plays things a bit, he can look at extending Bridges, as well as Brandon Miller this summer. It’s less likely that Green, Williams or LaMelo Ball will get extended this summer. Green and Williams aren’t necessary extensions, while Ball still has two years left on his deal beyond this upcoming one.

Miller put together a mostly-healthy season and he’s due a nice payday for it. Miller isn’t in no-brainer max territory, but he’s earned a fairly big extension. Because he’s not going to get a max, Miller may prefer a four-year deal, vs a five-year one to get him back on the market sooner. Something in the range of $140 million over four years feels about right for Miller. That’s an AAV of $35 million, which is below the max but still reflects Miller’s status with the Hornets and in the league overall. And, crucially, it would still be large enough to be extendable down the line.

Bridges’ situation is more complicated. He’s been a solid fit with Ball, but he’s not really an ideal four man. Bridges is undersized and he’s not a consistent shooter. Ideally, he’d be the first forward off the bench on a good team. Charlotte should let this one play out. If Bridges has a big year, they can always extend him in-season. If not, they can let him walk and create some cap space in the summer of 2027. Or, they could use his $22.8 million expiring salary in a trade.

The Charlotte Hornets took real steps this past season. Instead of being just a fun team, the Hornets were a fun AND good team. They fell short in the Play-In Tournament, but that doesn’t mean this wasn’t a successful step-forward season.

Now, the Hornets can’t rest on their laurels. Behind them, the Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat are all going to be better next season. There aren’t any obvious teams in front of Charlotte that will fall either. The Hornets can bank on some internal improvement, but the team has a chance to add talent and balance their roster a bit more this summer. The future is bright in Charlotte, and that future is now for the Hornets.