{"id":714235,"date":"2026-04-19T22:42:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T22:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714235\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T22:42:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T22:42:29","slug":"hornets-offseason-outlook-experience-maturity-will-be-crucial-for-charlotte-to-take-the-next-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714235\/","title":{"rendered":"Hornets offseason outlook: Experience, maturity will be crucial for Charlotte to take the next step"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a dominating display of basketball after the turn of the calendar year, the Charlotte Hornets<\/a> \u2014 for reasons unknown \u2014 reverted back to their immature, frustrating and irresponsible ways during the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n

LaMelo Ball<\/a> grabbed the ankle of Miami Heat<\/a> center Bam Adebayo<\/a> as he was in the air, causing the 6-foot-9 big man to fall on his back and miss the rest of the game, which the Hornets won.<\/p>\n

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Ball, who should have been ejected, stayed in the game, which left a sour taste in the mouths of NBA observers.<\/p>\n

One game later in Orlando<\/a>, the Hornets completely imploded. Miles Bridges<\/a>, a man with a stark and dark history of violence, was seen clearly hitting Magic guard Desmond Bane<\/a> when both of them were on the floor, fighting for a loose ball.<\/p>\n

Everything to know for the NBA playoffs: Predictions, series previews, X-factors<\/a><\/p>\n

Once again, the call turned in favor of Charlotte, with Bridges staying in the game, only this time, no advantage seemed to matter.<\/p>\n

The Hornets could barely produce points, and their defensive symmetry was entirely nonexistent.<\/p>\n

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For a team that so many favored to make the playoffs, sympathy turned \u2014 and quickly \u2014 due to the return of its bad habits and general lack of maturity.<\/p>\n

2025-26 finish<\/p>\n

Record: 44-38, 9th in the Eastern Conference. Eliminated by the Orlando Magic<\/a> in the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n

Highlight of the season<\/p>\n

The in-season turnaround showed this team does have the technical capabilities to achieve more than what has otherwise been expected of them, which only makes the end to the season so disappointing. The Hornets went 33-16 from Jan. 1 on, outscoring opponents by an average of 10.2 points per game, signaling considerable upside.<\/p>\n

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Players signed for next season<\/p>\n

LaMelo Ball<\/p>\n

Miles Bridges<\/p>\n

Josh Green<\/a><\/p>\n

Grant Williams<\/a><\/p>\n

Brandon Miller<\/a><\/p>\n

Kon Knueppel<\/a><\/p>\n

Tre Mann<\/a><\/p>\n

Tidjane Sala\u00fcn<\/p>\n

Liam McNeeley<\/a><\/p>\n

Ryan Kalkbrenner<\/a><\/p>\n

Sion James<\/a><\/p>\n

Key free agents<\/p>\n

Coby White<\/a> (UFA)<\/p>\n

Moussa Diabat\u00e9<\/a> (Non-guaranteed)<\/p>\n

Projected salary<\/p>\n

$142,124,695<\/p>\n

Projected draft picks<\/p>\n

Nos. 14 & 17<\/p>\n

Draft focus: While the Hornets did find success at the center position with both Diabat\u00e9 and Kalkbrenner this season, they can afford to think bigger. Should Michigan\u2019s Aday Mara be available, his 7-3 frame should be enormously attractive for this young team, particularly from a defensive perspective.<\/p>\n

The team is currently projected to have access to the full non-tax MLE if it re-signs Coby White, which seems to be the plan. The Hornets have virtually all of their key players under contract and clean books. They’re in good shape financially.<\/p>\n

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Needs and goals<\/p>\n

The Hornets need an adult in the room. There has to be a culture change within the locker room, and it likely starts by removing Bridges to some extent. Loading up on cheap veterans, with high locker-room and leadership value, should be of the utmost importance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a dominating display of basketball after the turn of the calendar year, the Charlotte Hornets \u2014 for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3777],"tags":[1179,7,970,684,473,3878,963,497,1439,685,5756,968,966,921,189,10510,6357,6,47,76,972,1560,6358],"class_list":{"0":"post-714235","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charlotte-hornets","8":"tag-bam-adebayo","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-brandon-miller","11":"tag-charlotte","12":"tag-charlotte-hornets","13":"tag-charlottehornets","14":"tag-coby-white","15":"tag-desmond-bane","16":"tag-grant-williams","17":"tag-hornets","18":"tag-josh-green","19":"tag-kon-knueppel","20":"tag-lamelo-ball","21":"tag-liam-mcneeley","22":"tag-miami-heat","23":"tag-miles-bridges","24":"tag-moussa-diabate","25":"tag-nba","26":"tag-orlando","27":"tag-orlando-magic","28":"tag-ryan-kalkbrenner","29":"tag-sion-james","30":"tag-tre-mann"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116433790119122490","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714235","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=714235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}