LaMelo Ball (No. 3 in 2020) and Brandon Miller (No. 2 in 2023) welcome another top-4 draft pick in Kon Knueppel (No. 4 in 2025) to the Hornets as they look to rise in the Eastern Conference. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
Get Caught Up
2024-25 Record: 19-63 (14th in East, missed playoffs)
The Hornets’ win total dropped for the fourth consecutive season as injuries ravaged the roster – including season-ending ailments for young stars LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller – and sent Charlotte back to the Draft Lottery and extended the league’s longest active playoff drought to nine years.
With its young core healthy and the addition of key veterans to balance the roster under second-year coach Charles Lee, the Hornets will seek growth during the 2025-26 season as they solidify a foundation for future success.
Offseason
- Re-signing: Tre Mann
- Additions: Pat Connaughton (trade), Spencer Dinwiddie (free agent), Mason Plumlee (free agent), Collin Sexton (trade)
- Draft: Kon Knueppel (4th pick), Liam McNeeley (29th pick, acquired via trade), Sion James (33rd pick), Ryan Kalkbrenner (34th pick)
- Departures: DaQuan Jefferies (waived), Vasilije Micić (trade), Jusuf Nurkić (trade), Josh Okogie (waived), Mark Williams (trade)
- Unsigned Free Agents: Seth Curry, Taj Gibson
With the No. 4 pick in the Draft, Charlotte added Duke sharpshooter Kon Knueppel, who should help boost the Hornets’ 3-point percentage, which has ranked 29th, 21st and 28th in each of the past three seasons, respectively. The Hornets also drafted Ryan Kalkbrenner, Liam McNeeley and Sion James – who were all part of Charlotte’s NBA 2K26 Summer League championship squad.
In addition to re-signing Tre Mann, the Hornets added some established veterans – Collin Sexton and Pat Connaughton via trades as well as free agents Spencer Dinwiddie and Mason Plumlee – to complement the young core built around Ball and Miller.
Rookie Kon Knueppel was named NBA 2K26 Summer League Finals MVP as the Charlotte Hornets earned the trophy in Las Vegas.
X-factor
LaMelo Ball. He is a dazzling playmaker and scorer to witness every time he takes the court. The key for the Hornets this season will be how often he is on the court. Ball was one of just six players to average 25-plus points and 7-plus assists last season – joining Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Brunson and Devin Booker. But Ball was the only player on that list to appear in fewer than 50 games.
Brandon Miller’s continued development will also be fascinating to watch. He showed flashes last season but was limited to only 27 games due to a wrist injury. Miller’s ability to attack the basket on drives, paired with Knueppel’s 3-point shooting to help spread the floor, should make the Hornets’ offense more dynamic with Ball at the controls.
> Watch LaMelo Ball on NBA League Pass
One key question
Will good health and the veteran additions help the Hornets climb into Play-In contention?
While growing and developing the young core will be a key theme to Charlotte’s 2025-26 season, the addition of players like Sexton, Dinwiddie, Connaughton and Plumlee should raise Charlotte’s floor.
Over the past three seasons, the team that earned the final SoFi Play-In Tournament berth finished with 37, 36 and 40 wins, respectively. That’s an average of 38 wins, which would require Charlotte to double its win total from a season ago. The Hornets need to look toward last year’s Pistons – who tripled their win total from the previous season – as a model of the improvement that is possible.
Fantasy Outlook from RotoWire
The team at RotoWire broke down the top fantasy options for each team in the East. Here’s how they broke down some of the best options from the Hornets:
“If LaMelo Ball can play over 50 games for the first time since the 2021-22 season, the Hornets could make an incremental leap, considering the rest of the first unit consists of 2023 No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller, rookie fourth overall selection Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges and the returning Mason Plumlee. Then, the additions of Collin Sexton and Spencer Dinwiddie give the Hornets the luxury of starting-quality backcourt depth that could prove especially valuable.”
Key dates
- Preseason Opener: Oct. 5 vs. Thunder (5 ET, League Pass)
- Regular Season/Home Opener: Oct. 22 vs. Nets (7 ET, League Pass)
- Emirates NBA Cup East Group C Play: Nov. 7 at Heat (8 ET, League Pass), Nov. 14 at Bucks (8 ET, League Pass), Nov. 26 vs. Knicks (7 ET, League Pass), Nov. 28 vs. Bulls (7:30 ET, League Pass)
- Rivals Week: Jan. 21 vs. Cavaliers (7 ET, ESPN)
What they’re saying
David Aldridge, The Athletic: “The Hornets are making sure they don’t have to solely depend any more on Ball — who’s played in just 105 of 246 games the last three seasons — by adding Sexton and Dinwiddie to the mix. Good strategy. And when Ball is on the floor, he should be able to play with either of them, or Knueppel. Any of them will be an upgrade in the backcourt, where Green averaged just 7.4 points per game in 67 starts at the two last season. If Ball and Miller return without setbacks, Charlotte’s rotation is poised to make a big jump offensively from its anemic production last year (29th in offensive rating). Diversifying the attack is critical for second-year coach Charles Lee.” (Read More)
