{"id":694405,"date":"2026-04-02T18:41:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/694405\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:41:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:41:28","slug":"hornets-mailbag-what-kind-of-run-could-charlotte-have-during-nba-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/694405\/","title":{"rendered":"Hornets mailbag: What kind of run could Charlotte have during NBA postseason?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Charlotte Hornets<\/a> are play-in tournament bound<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet, there are questions surrounding them as always.<\/p>\n

In this latest mailbag, we answer reader queries about the Hornets\u2019 chances for a lengthy stay during the NBA playoffs, what the current tournament picture looks like, Miles Bridges\u2019 future and more.<\/p>\n

NBA play-in tournament matchup<\/p>\n

@david84685268 asks on X, formerly known as Twitter: Would the Hornets play away in the play-in tournament if the season ended today?<\/p>\n

That is correct. Following Tuesday night\u2019s win in Brooklyn against the Nets, the Hornets climbed into a virtual tie with the Miami Heat. But here\u2019s the caveat: Charlotte\u2019s Southeast Division rivals hold the tiebreaker, leaving the Hornets in 10th place heading into Wednesday night\u2019s action.<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, left, speaks to forward Kon Knueppel, right, during action against the Memphis Grizzlies at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, March 21, 2026. The Hornets defeated the Grizzlies 124-101.<\/p>\n

(JEFF SINER\/jsiner@charlotteobserver.com)<\/p>\n

As things stand before they throw the ball up in the air in Miami on Wednesday night when the Heat host the Boston Celtics, the Hornets would take on the Heat at Kaseya Center on April 15 and would have to beat the loser of the game between the No. 7 and 8 seed also on the road to advance to the full eight-team Eastern Conference field.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still a week-plus remaining, so things can shift. But that\u2019s where we are at the moment.<\/p>\n

NBA playoffs spoiler<\/p>\n

@ceeceelewis8 asks on X: What seed do you anticipate the Hornets will finish & how far will they go?<\/p>\n

Much will depend on what happens this week. Over the next 7 days, the Hornets must take care of business against Indiana. And even Phoenix at home on Thursday to keep pace with Orlando and Miami and especially Philadelphia and Atlanta.<\/p>\n

With consecutive road games in Minnesota and Boston upcoming, the Hornets will need somewhat of a cushion to be able to hang with the likes of the Magic and Heat during the season\u2019s last week prior to the regular-season finale in New York against the Knicks on April 12.<\/p>\n

If things remain on the current trajectory, it appears the Hornets are going to finish in the ninth or 10th spot. If that is the case and the Hornets face, say, Orlando, they have a good chance to get past that matchup. If the Hornets must get through the Heat in Miami, that\u2019s where things could get tough.<\/p>\n

The Hornets lost the season series to the Heat 3-1, and it\u2019s not the most favorable of matchups. But if the Hornets can somehow win that second game, they\u2019re as dangerous as any of the lower seeds in the conference without a doubt. Not cooling off too much between now and then will be imperative.<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White drives past Sacramento Kings center Dyland Cardwell during the game Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte.<\/p>\n

(TRACY KIMBALL\/tkimball@charlotteobserver.com)Retaining Coby White<\/p>\n

Jakesheridan asks via Reddit: Do you see a realistic path toward signing Coby White while balancing contracts for Melo, Kon, Brandon and others?<\/p>\n

Absolutely. You could see the plan of Jeff Peterson, president of basketball operations, when he made the move to acquire Coby White the day before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. And Peterson actually admitted as such in the aftermath.<\/p>\n

Getting White on the Hornets\u2019 salary sheet now provides Charlotte with a key ingredient in unrestricted free agency in a few months. The Hornets possess White\u2019s Bird Rights, and it will be huge when putting together a competitive deal that White can\u2019t turn down.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, those rights allow the Hornets to go over the salary cap to retain White\u2019s services, giving them an advantage over other potential suitors. Pair that with White wanting to hang around in his native state \u2014 remember, he was Mr. Basketball in the state in 2018 and played for Roy Williams in Chapel Hill at North Carolina \u2014 and there\u2019s an extremely high probability White will be in Hornets\u2019 garb in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

Miles Bridges\u2019 future<\/p>\n

@ceeceelewis8 asks on X: Do you think the Hornets keep or move Miles Bridges in the offseason?<\/p>\n

That depends on how far the Hornets go this postseason and what president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson has as his vision for the team\u2019s starting power forward moving, well, forward beyond the 2026-27 campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, center, drives to the basket for a shot over Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, left, during action at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC on Sunday, March 29, 2026. The Celtics defeated the Hornets 114-99.<\/p>\n

(JEFF SINER\/jsiner@charlotteobserver.com)<\/p>\n

Bridges\u2019 value will probably be higher closer to the All-Star break given he\u2019ll be in the final season of the three-year, $75 million deal he signed in 2024. Expiring contracts are more sought after by teams leading into the trade deadline when executives are figuring out whether to clear cap space for the following summer.<\/p>\n

By then, the Hornets will also have a better idea where they sit in the 2027 NBA playoffs race.<\/p>\n

But with Peterson in control, as the Mark Williams trades showed a year ago, a move is never out of the question when reshaping the roster in an attempt to take that next leap. So if the right package falls into Peterson\u2019s lap, rest assured he\u2019ll pull the trigger on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Charlotte Hornets are play-in tournament bound. Yet, there are questions surrounding them as always. In this latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3777],"tags":[676,7,75,670,684,473,3878,963,685,113,6355,304,48,1011,189,10510,307,6,11,671,47,678],"class_list":{"0":"post-694405","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charlotte-hornets","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-brooklyn","12":"tag-charlotte","13":"tag-charlotte-hornets","14":"tag-charlottehornets","15":"tag-coby-white","16":"tag-hornets","17":"tag-indiana","18":"tag-jeff-peterson","19":"tag-knicks","20":"tag-magic","21":"tag-mark-williams","22":"tag-miami-heat","23":"tag-miles-bridges","24":"tag-minnesota","25":"tag-nba","26":"tag-nba-playoffs","27":"tag-nets","28":"tag-orlando","29":"tag-philadelphia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116336584080532817","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}