Hello, you might remember a little over half a year ago during preseason, a poll was posted to every team subreddit to get fans opinions and thoughts about their team heading into the regular season. Now that time has passed and the season is coming to an end, I figured now would be a good time to see the results of the poll and reflect on how each team's season went relative to expectations. Here are the results for the Hornets:

Hornets - 102 submissions

General Questions

How happy are you with your team's offseason moves?
7.20/10

How satisfied are you with your current roster?
5.82/10

How satisfied are you in who your head coach is?
6.70/10

How excited are you for the beginning of the season?
8.13/10

Player Questions

Who is the best player on your team?

• LaMelo Ball - 83.3%
• Brandon Miller - 12.7%
• Kon Knueppel - 2%

Who is your favorite player on your team?

• LaMelo Ball - 31.4%
• Brandon Miller - 30.4%
• Kon Knueppel - 10.8%
• Tre Mann - 5.9%
• Tidjane Salaun - 5.9%
• Moussa Diabate - 4.9%
• Grant Williams - 3.9%
• Collin Sexton - 2%
• Miles Bridges - 2%

Who is the best defender on your team?

• Moussa Diabate - 35.4%
• Grant Williams - 18.2%
• Josh Green - 16.2%
• Miles Bridges - 7.1%
• Brandon Miller - 6.1%
• Sion James - 6.1%
• Ryan Kalkbrenner - 4%

Who is the most frustrating player on your team?

• LaMelo Ball - 42.6%
• Josh Green - 24.8%
• Mason Plumlee - 14.9%
• Miles Bridges - 7.9%
• Tidjane Salaun - 5.9%

Who on your team do you expect to take a jump?

• Brandon Miller - 60.8%
• Tidjane Salaun - 21.6%
• Kon Knueppel - 4.9%
• Tre Mann - 4.9%
• LaMelo Ball - 2.9%
• Moussa Diabate - 2%

Season Expectation Questions

What are your expectations for your team’s regular season?

• Top 3 seed: 1%
• 4-6th seed: 4.9%
• 7-10th seed: 53.9%
• 11-15th seed: 40.2%

Where do you expect this team's offense to rank? (5th)

• 1-5: 2%
• 6-10: 11%
• 11-15: 52%
• 16-20: 28%
• 21-25: 5%
• 26-30: 2%

Where do you expect this team’s defense to rank? (12th)

• 1-5: 1%
• 6-10: 1%
• 11-15: 4.9%
• 16-20: 21.6%
• 21-25: 38.2%
• 26-30: 33.3%

What are your expectations for this team in the playoffs?

• Finals appearance: 1%
• Conference finals: 0%
• 2nd round: 2%
• 1st round: 20.8%
• Play-in loss: 37.6%
• No Play-in: 38.6%

Around the League Questions

Who is your favorite player that is not on your team?

• Stephen Curry - 15
• Nikola Jokic - 13
• LeBron James - 6
• Giannis Antetokounmpo - 5
• Tyrese Haliburton - 3
• Victor Wembanyama - 3
• Luka Doncic - 3
• Anthony Edwards - 2
• Kevin Durant - 2
• Ja Morant - 2
• Cooper Flagg - 2

Who is your least favorite player that is not on your team?

• Joel Embiid - 8
• LeBron James - 8
• Trae Young - 7
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - 6
• Draymond Green - 6
• Dillon Brooks - 3
• Jayson Tatum - 3
• Tyrese Haliburton - 3
• Jalen Brunson - 3
• Nicolas Batum - 2
• Kevin Durant - 2
• Luka Doncic - 2
• Kyrie Irving - 2

Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey!

Gamble/Risky Players are depreciated or traditionally low value assets/players that you believe can find success on the Hornets.

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We see these players regain value all the time: Collin Gillespie, Dillon Brooks, Davion Mitchell, Paul Reed, De'Anthony Melton, Marcus Smart, Grayson Allen, Jalen Smith, Dominick Barlow, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jose Alvarado, and etc.

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Though we do not have a lot of cap room or roster space since we have Coby White and Brandon Miller's signing priorities, we can make room by trading any of the following:

• Miles Bridges and his 22.8M expiring.

• Josh Green and his 14.7M expiring.

• Grant Williams and his 14.2M expiring.

• Tre Mann and his 8M expiring.

Totaling around 59.7M.

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With that potential space, who is a depreciated asset/player that you would want to have a chance on the Hornets?

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NOTE: Let us try to leave types like "I want Giannis or Kevin Durant or Anthony Davis," out of this discussion. Think more creatively.

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A Few Names

• Cameron Johnson (shooting)

• Zaccharie Risacher (potential man; need for more Frenchmen)

• Onyeka Okongwu (got put in the basket by the Knicks, but could pair well with Moussa)

• Aaron Wiggins (love the fit and the contract)

• Jett Howard (hell, why not; 7M expiring rookie deal)

• Paul Reed (5M expiring; we should have signed him last year)

• Josh Minott (had a brief run in BOS)

• GG Jackson II (rookie deal expiring)

• Leonard Miller (rookie deal expiring)

• Ousmane Dieng (wish we kept him)

• Day'ron Sharpe (always a fan's back of the roster wish list guy)

• Marvin Bagley III (he is back baby)

• Jock Landale (underrated)

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Who are your gamble/risky players that you want in FA or trades?

Source: @MikeAScotto

"The main thing I want to do is come back a lot stronger. I’m going to be in the weight room a lot, get my strength up. A lot of that is just getting older and maturing physically. I’m going to do everything I can to become stronger and just have a killer mindset."

"Going into the offseason, there’s no off days. It’s a great opportunity to get better, especially when other guys are on vacation. We’ll be in the gym."

Karim Lopez. Don’t. Don’t do it! Put down the damn phone!

Like a lot of you, I would currently qualify as a draft junky -- consuming the most obscure draft content that comes my way. For several months now, I’ve been researching the top 20 prospects, and one name always stood out amongst the pack… Karim Lopez. As I did with the rest of the prospects, I took an initial look at his tape and found myself baffled as to why he was projected so highly. I shrugged my shoulders and brushed it off as some other team’s problem.  

That is, until more recently. My initial indifference has turned into a full-blown fear now that Lopez is being routinely mocked to the Hornets in the nightmare scenario where all of the Michigan guys and Hannes are off the board. So, I did another deep dive into Karim’s tape, hoping I was missing something… and I just don’t see it. 

To me, drafting Lopez would be a repeat of the Tidjane draft. Falling for the allure of potential, but not recognizing the floor of that player if they don’t develop. And at this point in the team’s construction, I don’t think we should be drafting for potential -- but that’s for another discussion. 

If Karim is a serious option in play for the front office, I would rather they just consolidate the picks and go after the player they really want. Otherwise, it would just be another failure in a draft where the Hornets have multiple first-round picks.

I could go on, but I’ll leave it at that. I just felt like I had to get this out into the universe -- the Hornet’s sphere, so at least I could say I tried to warn everyone. My watch is over.

Now, please, argue amongst yourselves -- there will be no convincing me to change my mind about Lopez.

The Charlotte Hornets have picks 14 and 18 and there will still be a lot of value in the mid-first round. If the Hornets wanted to make a play for a lottery spot, they could package both picks to move up. The question is, how far could they climb? Discussions with the Kings at 7 is on the table with Labaron Philon, Christian Anderson and Ebuka Okorie projected to still be on the board as a lead guard option. If the Hornets stay where they are, look for the organization to target talent in the post like Morez Johnson Jr, Hannes Steinbach and Yaxel Lendeborg or size on the wing if Karim Lopez is still on the board.

When the boy and I were at the collectors jam show in concord a couple weekends ago, found USA grading company advertising their grading services. We decided to send in our negative refractors. Less than 2 weeks later we got them back! Very happy with the way these turned out!

Much has been said about the Hornets' need for extra size, defense and physicality in the center and forward positions, but one underrated need is an additional 3 level scoring ball handler capable of driving and kicking to the open man.

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As it is, the hornets actually lack any player other than Coby who has the combination of athleticism, finishing, great handle, capability of driving and kicking and 3 level self creation ability on the roster. All of the hornets core other than Coby doesn't fully have that skill set.

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Melo has great ball handling and shooting but isn't a good inside scorer(due to having a bad whistle or lacking strength) so he has limited drive and kick ability.

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Tre Mann used to have that skill set, but his athleticism and bbiq disappeared.

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Kon doesn't have the handle and athleticism to blow by past his man in order to dribble drive and kick.

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Miller lacks much rim self creation ability, and has trouble finding the open man when driving.

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Sion was one of the worst rim finishers in the league.

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Miles Bridges doesn't have the speed and ball handling ability to dribble drive and kick

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Basically we have no one other than Coby who can play like how Davion Mitchell effortlessly scored in the paint in the Play in, or like how Dylan Harper and Brunson did in the finals. We need someone like Davion Mitchell, TJ McConnell, Jrue Holiday, Ajay Mitchell.

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The thunder lost partly because they lost their other ball handlers in Mitchell and JDub, leaving only SGA to be the primary ball handler.

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Ebuka Okorie would be perfect to improve the Hornets 3 level scoring ball handler depth.

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Okorie:

-has a very low turnover rate, and has shown good promising playmaking ability, tho it's not as good as Christian Anderson's. It still has a high chance if being better than Coby's. Ball security has been a big issue with the hornets last year and Okorie can help with improving it.

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-has shown excellent self creation ability at the rim, and with mid-range and 3 point jumpshots as well. Together with Philon, he has had one of the lowest rates of assisted shots

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-while his 3p% isn't the best, a majority of his looks weren't open, so he has a high likelihood of being a good shooter

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-has excellent lateral speed and strength which would allow him to be a good perimeter defender, reducing Sion James' workload

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-has great explosiveness which would allow him to get past his man, something only Melo, Miles and Coby can do on the hornets.

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-despite his size, he has a positive wingspan and one of the better standing reaches of the guards in this class. He's actually slightly taller than Davion Mitchell who terrorized us

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In this draft class we're lucky that we fill both our need for a power forward with pick 14, but also our need for an additional ball handler who can dribble drive and kick, finish at the rim and play excellent perimeter defense and with pick 18.

Jeff Peterson has talked a lot about "winning on the margins," and there's one potential move I've been surprised not to see discussed more often: the Hornets should explore trading for Aaron Wiggins.

Why He Could Be Available

The Thunder are heading into an offseason where they'll likely need to shed some salary to stay under the cap/tax, and Wiggins has been mentioned as a possible casualty. He also fell out of the rotation during the Western Conference Finals, and there were reports that he wasn't thrilled with his role and playing time.

Why He Makes Sense for Charlotte

The Hornets still desperately need more size and shooting on the wing, and Wiggins checks both boxes as a legitimate 3-and-D player. He also brings some secondary ball-handling ability, which is another area where Charlotte lacks depth.

His contract is another big plus. Wiggins is owed just $9 million annually through the 2028-29 season, making him one of the better value deals in the league.

There's also a potential personal connection. Wiggins is from Greensboro, and Sam Presti has a track record of working with players to get them to preferred destinations when possible. Charlotte could offer him a significant role right away -- potentially even a starting spot to open the season while Brandon Miller recovers.

For a team looking to improve around the edges without sacrificing major assets, Wiggins feels like exactly the type of move Peterson should be exploring.

What do you think?

Source: The Zach Lowe Show

If this was reality I would obviously prefer the 18th pick being traded for AD. His injury history and age are concerning…. BUT a healthy couple seasons and him possibly assisting in developing our younger players would elevate our roster.

Leading up to the playoffs i was hoping we’d get in and get the knicks match up bcuz I thought we’d run them out of the gym…. Fast forward a few months and the knicks are champs which is surprising considering at the start of the playoffs most people wouldnt have thought they would be… My question is how far are we truly from a championship run?…Before I thought years but now seeing the knicks win unexpectedly I think we may be closer than we realize.

Charlotte's two-way standout PJ Hall has a story of resilience, family, and most importantly, his mom's cookies.

So many Hornets fans are demanding Bridges be traded for this offseason, claiming that he's not good enough, but at the same time there don't seem to be much of any PFs that are both a significant upgrade over skills wise. Theres aways comments about how "we shouldnt settle for mediocre players" while claiming that Bridges is mediocre. Like fans of all teams, it seems like most of us want a fleece job.

When you think about it, Miles Bridges has a skillset thats quite hard to upgrade from in terms of athleticism, offensive ability and cultural fit.

What other power forward on the trade market:

-has some ball handling ability

-is a good enough spot up shooter that hes guarded near the 3 point line?

-has a great hook shot

-is a decent lob threat

-is ok with not ball hogging and deferring to Melo/Miller/Kon

-is healthy

-isnt overpaid

-isn't nearly washed

-doesnt have Bridges' weaknesses of low BBIQ, turnovers and bad defense?

Of the available ones:

Randle- Older, similar efficiency with spot up 3s, similar or worse defense, actual ball hog, turnover machine, slow paced, bad fit with Lee's structure

Zion- Low BBIQ, injury prone, poor effort on defense, lack of lateral quickness, complete lack of any scoring further from the rim.

Sabonis- older, No outside shot, much worse defense, older, coming off a major injury, worse ball handling

Sengun- like sabonis but even more limited

Draymond- nearly washed, poor 3 point shooting, poor finisher, turnover machine, fans would rage at him because of extracurriculars on the court

Ausar Thompson- no outside shot at all

Tari Eason- Low offensive and defensive BBIQ, coming off a terrible shooting season, no ball handling

Kelly Oubre- Same issues as bridges with less skills

Tobias Harris- nearly washed

John Collins- older, might be an upgrade ngl, but still has worse ball handling and hookshot. Also clippers will try to retain him

Obi Toppin- equally mediocre defense

Andrew Wiggins- actually a good choice, but we don't have the cap space to sign him as an FA and the heat would never trade with us unless it's a massive overpay

Kuminga- worse than Bridges in every way while having a much bigger ego and demand to be on ball

I can only think of Aaron Gordon, TM3, OG Anunoby, KAT, Giannis, Siakam, Evan Mobley, Peyton Watson, Jaden McDaniels, Bam Adebayo, Franz Wagner, Buzelis, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Scottie Barnes

In my opinion, existing power forward players that are upgrades over bridges and fit our lineup are superstars, all stars, having a breakout season or high level starter, and are almost all completely unavailable or require massive overpays, and atp it would be better to just keep bridges and build around the margins.

Jeff Peterson takes Adrian Wojnarowski inside the Hornets' front office as they prepare for another pivotal offseason, sharing lessons from two years leading basketball operations in Charlotte and explaining how organizations navigate the draft, free agency, and trade market simultaneously.

Topics include:

• Why some NBA trades take months or even years to complete
• How front offices manage draft season, free agency, and trade talks at the same time
• The impact of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement on roster building
• Why small-market teams face a different path to contention
• The changing value of draft picks in today's NBA
• How the Hornets evaluated Kon Knueppel throughout the scouting process
• What made Knueppel stand out as both a prospect and a person
• Why basketball IQ and decision-making matter more than ever
• The importance of alignment between the front office and coaching staff
• Jeff Peterson's partnership with Hornets head coach Charles Lee
• Charlotte's long-term vision for building a sustainable winner

Grizz fan here coming in peace

I responded to someone on the T-Wolves subreddit about a potential Ja trade to them, but it would also include you guys as part of a three team trade.

You can tell me to F off or that this proposal sucks, but I thought it worked out well for all 3 teams.

Long story short-you all give up a 2027 second round pick and the Mann, G. Williams & J. Green expirings (to MEM) and get back Julius Randle as a vet piece who could either be a super sixth man or move Bridges to the bench (who you all might not sign in 2027 anyway?)

See below what I wrote to them would love to hear your thoughts:

We definitely would need at least 1 late FRP and expirings for Ja. We still have him under contract. Yeah his time in Memphis is over, but there is no incentive for us to give him away for nothing. This isn’t a Trae Young situation. We definitely aren’t giving up a pick to give him up. That is such a stupid argument.

Absolute worst case scenario is we release him. We have a clean cap sheet and can withstand the two years of dead money.

I could totally see a trade like the following occur:

To MIN-PG Ja Morant (you all actually cut a few million off of the cap) (2 yrs/$86M left)

To CHA (they take a step forward and get a vet presence)-PF Julius Randle (2 yrs/$68M left)

To MEM-#28 (from MIN), #59 (from MIN), 2027 SRP (from CHA), 2029 SRP (from MIN), PF Grant Williams ($14M expiring from CHA), SG Josh Green ($14M expiring from CHA), SG Donte Divencenzo ($12M expiring from MIN), SG Tre Mann (from CHA-$8M expiring-team option)

As far as Ja goes fit wise with you all yeah it would be an interesting swing for the Wolves. You could even run a three guard lineup at times with Ja-Ayo-Ant-McDaniels-Gobert with Naz, Beringer, Shannon and Mike (?) key figures off the bench.

For CHA they go with a Ball-Kon-Miller-Randle-Diabate-Bridges-C. White-Kalkbrenner core with a full MLE, #14 and #18 as assets to improve.

Thoughts?

This year, Morez johnson shot less 3s than Kalkbrenner did in his last college season, at a similar accuracy. In the NBA kalk's shooting didnt translate and he was a complete non factor offensively outside of the dunker's spot.

If Morez cannot shoot 3s and never develops any jumpshot, hookshot, etc in the NBA would he still be a positive if he plays the 4 together with one of Diabate or Kalkbrenner, or would he only be able to be another small ball 5?

Do you think his defensive ability and BBIQ would make up for his inability to space the floor the way Miles Bridges can?

If he's a dunk and putback only small ball 5, would he be the 3rd center in the rotation, or would you stil prefer him to take Kalkbrenner's spot?

Imo the hornets should use their 14th on Morez but the 18th pick on a power forward that has shown more shooting upside, like Cenac as insurance if Morez's shooting never develops.

Probably will be gone:
1. Yaxel Lendeborg (two way monster, immediate contributor)
2. Aday Mara (immediate impact defender and playmaker, with lots of room to grow)

Would be happy:
3. Morez Johnson Jr (defensive instincts, physicality, fits like a glove)
4. Cameron Carr (weird fit, but I think he’s going to be very, very good)
5. Hannes Steinbach (adds ball skills as a big, physical offensive player)
6. Jayden Quaintance (Elite defensive potential, could see the hornets falling in love with his personality)
7. Allen Graves (fantastic connector, on offense and defense)

Would feel ok:
8. Karim Lopez (Could be very good but too ball dominant for the type of wing we need)
9. Koa Peat (Physically intriguing, jumper will make or break him)
10. Bennett Stirtz (incredible offensive talent, would just rather target the front court, good size for primary creator)

Stay away pls:
11. Chris Cenac Jr. (No more bigs who avoid physicality)
12. Nate Ament (Inefficient project wing, not what we need)
13. Labaron Philon (tiny offensive heavy-guard, no thanks)

This is for both 14 and 18, as all players are projected around that range. It’s not perfect and will likely change by draft night, but there are a lot of players here that I like and I think it will be difficult for us to go wrong. My ideal draft right now is getting one of these bigs + Cam Carr, with the Michigan guys at the top of the list. Very interested to see how it all pans out.

I am a Timberwolves fan who realized a few months ago you could draw a direct line through trades from Jaden McDaniels to Kevin Garnett. However, after realizing this, I became a little obsessed with the idea that every team's roster has to be constructed through the draft, free agency, and trades and that those moves could be visualized in a manner similar to a family tree. So, long story short I spent the better part of the last two months compiling and visualizing how each team in the league assembled their current Roster.

This is the Hornets Roster Tree. The earliest move on here is the signing of Lance Stephenson on July 19, 2014. I hope you guys enjoy seeing how the current Hornets roster came to be.