Last season, there were minutes Hornets fans all dreaded. Those minutes you ask? The “Point Sion” minutes where the offense cratered. I come from Spectrum with good news, you don’t have to be afraid anymore. Because dare I say it, Sion has leveled up.

11 points, five rebounds and four assists and tied for a game high (with Royce O’Neale) +19 in 20 minutes with most of those minutes largely coming as the backup PG. There are some who will read this and say “it’s preseason”, to which, you have a case. But I dare you to look at what Sion is doing.

The handle is clearly crisper, teams are pressing him and he hasn’t coughed up the ball or really let it affect the rhythm of the offense. Which is a stark difference from what this looked like four months ago.

“As our point guard now, we trust him,” said Brandon Miller. “He does more than that, he’s a great full court defender. But not only that, he’s a young leader. That goes a long way in the NBA.”

The tangible growth is there. It’s time to acknowledge that and the fact that he’s clearly in the rotation for this team when it’s time for the regular season.

(Let me just issue a caveat to everything tonight: The Milwaukee Bucks are a bad basketball team that give off all the vibes of a team headed for the relegation zone. Tyler Herro looked like he didn’t want to be there. Myles Turner fouled out of the game in the 3rd quarter and Kyle Kuzma had a five-second inbounds violation. I get that it’s preseason, but man the vibes are HORRIFIC. Bang the under on that Bucks win total, NOW.)

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Brandon Miller looks ready for the regular season: I get that 18 points on 15 shots isn’t ideal, but much like Sion’s game, you have to look beyond the efficiency numbers and appreciate what the team looks like when there’s a guy who’s clearly at the top of the scouting report playing.
  
  With all respect to Grayson Allen (who didn’t play) it’s a little different when there’s a 6’9 swingman who can get downhill and finish. And more importantly, it appears that he can take a bump or two.
  
  Initially, I was resistant to any MIP or All-star conversation with Brandon, but if he and Naz can get a decent two-man game going, there’s a really good chance that he gets there.
  
  Also, mothball Brandon until Brooklyn. His services aren’t needed until the games start mattering.

• Naz is Like: 16 points, two rebounds but +11 on the night. Naz looked far better when he was slotted closer to where he should be as the 2nd or 3rd option rather than being the primary option vs. Brooklyn.
  
  What I find more fascinating about Naz (and I’m not sure this is a preseason thing or something they’re planning on taking into the season), is the Hornets offense when he’s on the floor being “Naz Reid punishes the mismatch on the switch.”
  
  And if Naz doesn’t have the right matchup on the switch, the ball will find the right cross-matchup and that player will likely go to work. Naz being this diet Sheed-like player that’s going to expose the flaws in your defense IF they switch is going to be one of the more fascinating aspects of the Hornets offense going forward and players like Coby White, Grayson Allen and Kon Knueppel should be some of the biggest benefactors of those mismatches.

• Are we sure Tidjane Salaun isn’t the defacto backup 4 until Grant Williams is healthy? : I only ask this because while the offensive process isn’t the best at this point AND he’s not hitting shots, he’s been good on defense so far to start the preseason. Oh, and just judging from the substitution patterns thus far, I’m not certain Lee and co. view Royce O’Neale as a small ball 4.
  
  Also, I’m not sure they’ve given up on him yet. It’s funny, Matt Alquiza of SI and Buzz Beat made this point to me during the game. We’ve seen what it looks like when teams have given up on players in this class (Rob Dillingham, Zaccharie Risacher and Cody Williams). The fact that the organization is still trotting Tidjane out there and giving him every opportunity to succeed or fail is a testament to them believing that he can unlock his gifts here.
  
  I also wouldn’t be shocked if they picked up the option on his deal, it makes more sense to pick it up and if he’s bad again, they just deal him in July as a $10 million dollar expiring.

Onto Boston

The Charlotte Hornets traded their two longest-tenured Hornets players this offseason in Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball. General Manager Jeff Peterson has maneuvered with flexibility and asset power at top of mind.

The team is completely in the image of the coach and front office at this point. That begs the question: What are the Charlotte Hornets actually betting on happening this season?

The message from the team has been a consistent one: mindset, consistency, and work ethic. Those appear to be key pillars of “Hornets DNA”.

But I want to dive deeper: the specific players, developments, and trends the team is betting on this season. Not necessarily goals quantifiable by wins or playoff aspirations, but the steps taken by individuals to help the conglomerate reach those goals.

Let’s dive in.

Read more

I’m happy to finally share and release I project that I’ve spent the past several months creating: The Charlotte Hornets Roster Rundown.

It’s exclusive to SportCLT Paid Subscribers, and within it you’ll find comprehensive information on every single player: strengths and weaknesses, goals for the upcoming season, quantified value, contract information, projected stats, and so much more.

Additionally - and this is the feature I’m most excited to see you all use - you’re able to build your own rotation with Hornets players and simulate the season.

• You can prioritize youth and see your players develop more as a result, or you can prioritize winning and let the veterans run the show.

• If you make the play-in or playoffs, you can simulate each individual result.

I truly believe this is the best team-specific guide ever created for a Charlotte sports team, and I’m excited for you all to view and interact with it.

As the dawn of a new campaign for the Charlotte Hornets starts, I have just one question for all of the Hornets faithful — aren’t you glad they got that one out of the way?

Make no mistake, the preseason opener between the Nets and the Hornets was a messy, wet sloppy slog (mainly in the 2nd half). The slogginess (if that’s a word) only exacerbated by the fact that Kon Knueppel, Coby White, Grant Williams, Christian Anderson and Brandon Miller weren’t playing. Plus, it’s preseason basketball where you might see 50% effort by most vets during these games as everyone’s trying not to get hurt.

That said, the fact that the Charlotte Hornets are dealing with this many injuries within two weeks of camps opening is another kick in the nuts to a fanbase that might be tired of getting hit below the belt. Whether or not this is the basketball gods toying with the Hornets on these injuries, this fanbase can only take so much after management removed the offensive engine that made a 44-win team go.

Which is why it was imperative that the Hornets at least show some sort of concept of a plan tonight. Unfortunately that was not the case. What fans will likely remember (if they were still watching) is a second half that quickly went off the rails and reminded fans of the all-too-real growing pains that this team is going to have to face.

Hopefully, Sunday’s game vs. Milwaukee might be a better glimpse into what the plan might be.

• Despite the slog that was the 2nd half, the 1st half showed promise: Grayson Allen spraying 3’s, Naz Reid punishing switches, Royce O’Neal having a great floor game. Point Sion (sort of) working. The Hornets, when there was proper adult supervision, were a watchable bunch that if you squint, you might begin to see the vision with this team.

• Liam McNeely, rotation player: The 1st half was a mixed bag for me, for one, Liam had a hard time not fouling. Where I struggle with Liam’s performance is that you can CLEARLY see an NBA rotation player in there at minimum, but there are some things he clearly needs to clean up (largely his handle). His 14 points in the 3rd quarter is truly the only reason to watch this game again. Were they largely open threes and simple drives? Yes. But need I remind you that we’re not all that far removed from DaQuan Jeffries donning a Hornets jersey and playing crucial minutes for this squad down the stretch. There’s a part of me that hopes Charles Lee and the coaching staff locks Liam in a room and has him watch nothing but Sam Hauser film. Because a properly developed Liam McNeely isn’t just an NBA rotation guy, but he could also be a guy on the podium after swinging a crucial playoff game (and series) with his shooting.

• Ryan Kalkbrenner, the invisible 7-footer: It’s rare when you can say that a 7-footer had a relatively non-descript game. But that’s kinda what Ryan Kalkbrenner did on Tuesday night. Outside of one challenge at the rim, what was even semi-memorable about his performance. What makes this worrisome is that Kalkbrenner came into the league slightly older and to this point through summer league and one preseason game, hasn’t shown that he’s added much to his game so far.
  
  If this team is to take another step, they’re going to need Kalkbrenner not only to change more shots at the rim in this upcoming campaign, but also add some scoring punch of the non-dunk variety as well. If we’re talking about the Hornet that probably concerned me the most in that Nets game, it’s Kalk. Which leads me to …

• The clock is ticking on Tidjane: Long time readers of Dispatches know I’m a Day 1 Tidjane guy, but it’s year 3 and there’s negligible growth between Rookie Tidjane and Year 3 Tidjane (so far). The annoying part is that if you take a look at the 1st half performance, when all he does is defend, shoot the open jumper and not try to do to much, he’s fine. The problem is that when left to his own devices (like in the 2nd half), the kid tries to experiment, try to dribble into the paint and end up firing up a fadeway layup that at 6’10 he’s just too damn big to be doing at this stage of his career.
  If I’m honest, there’s a part of me that’s accepted that if Tidjane turns into an NBA player that it won’t be in Charlotte. But at the same time, those that want to tell me that the italicized if in my statement is doing yeoman’s work, you’re right.

The NBA offseason has come and gone, and I think it’s more present than ever that the Charlotte Hornets placed an emphasis on analytics.

Throughout the past few months we got numerous quotes from Hornets GM Jeff Peterson about analytics and the role it plays within the organization.

While I wouldn’t classify Charlotte as a team enslaved by numbers, it certainly appears to be a guiding principle of how the front office wants to go about building a team.

That’s why I wrote an article in early May predicting who the Hornets would be higher on in the 2026 NBA Draft based on an analytical equation based upon what I consider to be traits the franchise values most.

Here’s how I did in my predictions.

Read more

The Charlotte Hornets completed a trade on Friday that brought Cavaliers guard Dennis Schroder to Charlotte in exchange for Tre Mann.

Schroder, who will turn 33 in September, has previous ties to each of Charles Lee and Jeff Peterson, and projects to be the Hornets’ backup point guard this coming season.

But what does he bring? And what are the long-term implications of this trade?

I dove into all of that, and more.

Read more

The Hornets had quite the offseason, trading their star player away, adding two first-round rookies, and making a plethora of more moves.

I wanted to go back and sequentially grade everything that went down.

While it’s impossible to grade the ‘results’ of this offseason, it is possible to grade the process of Hornets GM Jeff Peterson and how each of these moves could work towards building their stated goal of a sustained winner.

Let’s dive in.

Read more

It was an eventful weekend throughout the NBA, with LeBron James signing with the Philadelphia 76ers over the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and more.

Despite being the home of Bojangles, one of James’ favorite restaurants, Charlotte was unable to secure his services.

More seriously, I wanted to dive into how the James/76ers pairing affects the Hornets, along with breaking down a rumor from this past weekend regarding Warriors owner Joe Lacob wanting to build the Warriors around the post-Steph Curry era, and whether Charlotte could get in on a potential Curry sweepstakes.

All of that, and more, below.

Read more

The NBA offseason is coming to a close (minus the LeBron decision), and I wanted to give some thoughts on what I think the Hornets’ rotation this season will look like, who’s the odd man looking out from Charlotte’s roster crunch, and more.

It doesn’t feel as though the Hornets’ offseason is complete. It still seems as though there’s one more missing piece of the puzzle.

Let’s sort through it all.

Read more

The NBA’s annual Las Vegas Summer League concludes this weekend after a week’s worth of games, and the Hornets officially wrapped up their slate of games after their final contest against the Sacramento Kings on Friday.

I dove into each notable player that the Charlotte Hornets had at Summer League, and graded their performance over the five-game sample.

Read more

Hannes Steinbach had one of the more memorable performances in recent Hornets Summer League history, finishing Wednesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks with 27 points, 15 rebounds, and three assists.

He was excellent offensively, finishing plays, showing unique touch around the rim, and, of course, rebounding the ball at an elite level.

I haven’t really seen a satisfying deep dive on Steinbach’s game and what he could become at the NBA level, so I wrote many of my thoughts down here.

The Charlotte Hornets have had quite an eventful offseason. They traded their star point guard, drafted two players in the top-20, and have a fairly significant roster difference as compared to just a few months ago.

While the dust has mostly settled around the NBA (with the exception of LeBron James’ pending free agency decision), there are still a few questions remaining for this offseason.

I took a look at Charlotte’s roster crunch, Liam McNeeley and his pathway to minutes, the backup point guard slot, and Brandon Miller’s looming extension.

Read more

Today I launched my latest interactive game - this one being about Hornets Trivia!

It is intentionally difficult, featuring a Hornets-based connections game, a timeline game, and Sporcle style naming trivia.

I’ve got some incentive for you to try it, as well.

If you get every question correct, there’s an exclusive offer link the game will provide for a free month of a SportCLT paid subscription!

How To Play

Just click here to access Hornets Trivia

The Charlotte Hornets dropped their second Summer League game to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday after an uninspiring second half.

I dove into some takeaways from that game, Jeff Peterson’s press conference post-LaMelo Ball trade, and some thoughts (as well as an intel nugget) on where I think this Hornets offseason goes from here.

Read more

The Charlotte Hornets took on the Orlando Magic in the Vegas Summer League, winning in fairly convincing fashion, 86-74.

After a 13-point first quarter, Charlotte battled back for a double-digit win.

I’ve got PLENTY of thoughts on this one.

We’ll start with Liam McNeeley.

The Hornets’ best player on Thursday night was by far Liam McNeeley. He was, for my money, a league above everyone else on the court. He looked in control, was very fluid in his handle, and obviously was hitting shots at a level no one else on the floor could compete with.

McNeeley finished with 28 points on 7-8 from three, along with two rebounds and four assists.

I went into Summer League anticipating McNeeley the most of the non-rookies. He impressed in Vegas last summer and we didn’t see much of him in Charlotte last season.

But McNeeley really did look “too good” for Summer League. I can’t rule out McNeeley getting real minutes this year.

The Sion James point guard minutes were… not great.

So I understand the desire to have Sion James grow as a ball-handler. He probably needs at least somewhat of a handle if he wants to be a playoff-level rotational piece.

But man, it was SO BAD in game one of Summer League. James’ handle wasn’t tight, he made poor reads consistently, and he dribbled himself into bad situations often.

I’m not saying it’s something he shouldn’t work on, but I fear that having James run the offense as much as he did in the remainder of Summer League ultimately takes away from the reps other players could be getting - not just as a ball-hander but as play finishers.

James’ performance probably looks better if he hit a few more shots (he was 2-10 from the field), but the offense was in a significantly worse place when James was the initiator.

We’ll see if this is just a blip, but there was a clear discomfort visible to me. It’s a little bit surprising after Mueller talked up James’ ball-handling.

Ryan Kalkbrenner was pretty up-and-down.

The other day, when I saw that Ryan Kalkbrenner had apparently gained 20 pounds, I honestly wasn’t sure if it was the great thing everyone seemed to think it was.

Kalkbrenner is already fairly immobile as a center, so I was kind of concerned more weight would take away from the little athleticism he did have.

And in the first half, Kalkbrenner looked uncomfortable. He’d missed multiple close-range shots, had gotten bullied on a post-up by Magic forward Noah Penda, and was taken advantage of defensively on multiple occasions.

Not exactly the kind of start you want to see from a center that was getting real rotational minutes for the Hornets last season.

He got it together quickly though. The second half was significantly better. He was more active defensively, went up with more confidence on his finishes, and overall looked much more in control.

Let’s talk about the rookies.

I want to start this with Christian Anderson, who had a decent game overall. He shot only 2-11 from the field, but I think there was much more to his game than that.

My biggest point of contention with the Anderson pick in the moment he was drafted is that I wasn’t sure he’d work defensively in the NBA. After one (1) game in the Summer League, I came away more impressed than expected on that end. He leverages his 6-foot-6 wingspan well, forced multiple pickups from perimeter players, and fought over screens with a high success rate.

I actually came away with a few more questions offensively, though. Anderson never quite looked as in control as I was hoping he would. When faced with pressure, I thought he made some fairly questionable decisions. He struggled when facing the full-court press, and I don’t think he ever really created the separation I was hoping as a ball-handler. It just felt like the margins for him to win on offense were very slim.

(It was also very funny to me that Stan van Gundy, the color commentator for the game, thought he wasn’t a point guard.)

Hannes Steinbach, on the other hand, I thought was really good. He did all the little things - rebounded very well, attacked closeouts, had some really nice playmaking flashes out of the post.

Early on, I thought Steinbach struggled to adjust to the physicality of Summer League, but he settled in really well.

I still want to see Steinbach try at shoot it at some point this Summer, but I came away very encouraged with how much it looked like Steinbach belonged on the court. I thought he was by far Charlotte’s most impactful big man, and my favorite play was his pick-and-roll rep with Christian Anderson which he used his length to create separation for an inside bucket.

Steinbach finished with a fairly quiet 15 points and 11 rebounds, and I’m super excited to see how he grows with the next few games. He was probably the brightest spot for me tonight - outside of McNeeley.

Subscribe now

Coby White has re-signed with the Charlotte Hornets on a three-year deal worth $74 million. He will go into the 2026 season as the team’s starter at point guard after LaMelo Ball was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a package that included Naz Reid.

White was incredibly impressive in his limited minutes for the Hornets last season. In just 19 minutes per game, he averaged 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists on 46% shooting from the field and 39% from three.

White is obviously a good player, but I can’t say many expected him to go into the season as Charlotte’s starting point guard. I don’t know that he’s been properly evaluated in that light yet, despite getting a contract figure ($24M AAV) that certainly indicates his value as such.

I wanted to dive into White’s game, just how good he is (and can become), and pose a simple question: Is Charlotte’s ceiling at point guard capped with White locked into the starting spot?

Read more

Watch us live as Owen Watterson and Dylan Jackson watch the 2001-02 Charlotte Hornets take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the newest iteration of “Hornets Rewind!”

The series hosted by the Hornets Historian himself, Owen Watterson, where he takes us back to the 90s to check out full-length retro Hornets games.

This series is exclusive to SportCLT, and you can’t find these games anywhere else on the internet.

“Hornets Rewind” will take place a few times per month, and each game is hand-picked by Owen from his archive of full-length 80s/90s Hornets games. Today’s stream will be showing the what many consider the “final great game” of the old Hornets franchise prior to their move to New Orleans.

The live stream will take place today, July 7th, at 8 PM ET. Please read below for the full details on how to watch.

How to Watch

The “Watch-a-Long” series is normally exclusive to SportCLT’s paid subscribers, but in this one-time-only iteration, we’re making it free for everyone to watch live. It will be streamed on SportCLT’s Twitter (@sportCLT) and website (sportclt.com, which is where you’re reading this).

FLASH SALE: We’re offering 50% off of our annual subscription to celebrate Hornets Rewind’s only free, public episode. Hit subscribe above and become a paid subscriber, your annual subscription will have the discount applied.

Getting access to full games from that era isn’t free, so consider becoming a paid subscriber for future Hornets Rewind streams. The “Hornets Rewind” watch-a-longs take place AFTER today will happen on the SportCLT discord server, “ClubCLT”.

To get access to ClubCLT, become a paid subscriber to SportCLT, and the invitation link will be sent to your email.

Own a Charlotte-area business and interested in sponsoring SportCLT content (posts, podcasts, or interactive guides/games)? Become a partner today by filling out our form, linked here.

The Charlotte Hornets are going to go into Summer League looking to defend their 2025 championship. It’s a much different roster this time around, mainly in that there is no 4th overall pick Kon Knueppel to shoulder the offensive load.

But there is still a ton of talent on the team, including two top-20 picks in Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson.

I dove into every single player on the Hornets Summer League roster, what to expect from them, and what their roster outlook looks to be moving forward.

Thoughts On Every Hornets’ Summer League Player

The Guys You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Every year, there are players on each team’s Summer League roster that don’t get a ton of recognition. Most of the eyes are pointed towards first- and second-round picks (and rightfully so).

But I wanted to give a quick breakdown on each of the players on the Hornets SL team you probably haven’t heard of.

Terrell Brown Jr.

28 years old | Guard | 6-3, 180 | Washington

Terrell Brown has spent the past three seasons in Greensboro with the Swarm. He’s the oldest player on the Summer League team by at least three years, but I have to imagine the reason he’s in Vegas with the Hornets is because he’s a veteran playmaker.

This past season, Brown averaged more than six assists per game in 36 appearances for the Swarm. We’ve seen what it looks like when a Summer League team doesn’t have a table-setting point guard, so Brown’s presence is probably a preventative measure.

Josiah Allick

25 years old | Big | 6-8, 240 | Nebraska

Josiah Allick is another name representing the Greensboro Swarm. This past season he averaged seven points and six rebounds playing center. More interestingly with Allick is his three-point shooting ability (or, at least, the possibility of it).

We know that bigs that can shoot intrigue the Hornets front office (look at Kalkbrenner, Naz Reid, and Hannes Steinbach), and Allick has been unafraid to shoot it from deep throughout his college and G-League career.

Cameron Matthews

24 years old | Forward | 6-7, 235 | MS State

Cameron Matthews spent five years at Mississippi State before playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G-League this past season. He’s got a pro-ready frame and is a willing shooter, despite the efficiency never quite being there.

More interestingly with Matthews is his defense, though. His ability to be a rugged, point-of-attack defender is what garnered him draft consideration in 2025, and that is likely to be his role on this SL team.

Latrell Wrightsell Jr.

24 years old | Guard | 6-3, 195 | Alabama

Latrell Wrightsell played (checks notes) SIX seasons of college basketball before making the professional jump this year. The first three of those were at Cal State Fullerton, the final three were at Alabama.

This past year for the Crimson Tide, Wrightsell averaged 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists per game, and is a career 38-percent 3-point shooter.

Wrightsell’s archetype is a difficult one to place into the NBA: he’s mostly a volume scorer without a ton of playmaking or defensive juice. He could definitely be a contributor for this Hornets G-League team as a depth scorer.

Max Mackinnon

22 years old | Guard | 6-6, 195 | LSU/Australia

Mackinnon is by far the most interesting players in this section, to me. He’s younger, has a bit more size than the other guards/wings here, and can really shoot the ball at a high clip.

Over his final two years in college, Mackinnon averaged more than 15 points per game on 44/39/88 splits. Those are elite shooting metrics. He’s also capable of driving at times, but for the most part will be a fairly stationary player.

He’s also just really far behind the crowd from an athletic standpoint, which results in him getting picked on defensively.

Wyatt Fricks

23 years old | Forward | 6-9, 215 | Marshall

Wyatt Fricks is another guy with length and previous productivity, though he was a late-breakout at Marshall this past season. He averaged 16 points and six rebounds per game this past year on a whopping 55% from the field and 35% from three.

Fricks’ biggest obstacle towards earning an NBA contract is the lack of physicality and how it affects his ability to defend front court players. His frame is mostly filled out at 215 pounds, so I question whether this is an aspect where he can grow.

The 2-Way Guys

The Hornets agreed to two-way contracts with each of Michael Ajayi and Kylan Boswell following the 2026 NBA Draft. They join PJ Hall as two-way players. Hall, per Owen Watterson, will travel with the team to Vegas but won’t play in any games due to injury.

But due to the nature of being on a two-way deal, each of Ajayi and Boswell do have some expectations in the Vegas Summer League.

Michael Ajayi

23 years old | Forward | 6-7, 228 | Butler

The biggest thing that stands out with Michael Ajayi’s game is his processing. He’s a lightning-quick decision-maker and someone that is constantly making the correct play. He’s an elite rebounder for his size and consistently gives effort on the defensive end.

There are two main questions with his game, though:

1. Can he shoot the ball? Ajayi almost certainly will have to improve his 3-point efficiency if he wants to earn a real NBA contract.

2. Is he big enough to play the role he did at Butler? Ajayi was more of a big than a forward at Butler this past season. You can get away with that at his size in the Big East, but he struggled most in games against bigger teams like UConn.

Still, I really like the bet. I’m always willing to take a chance on players that have forward size and high-feel.

Kylan Boswell

21 years old | Guard | 6-1, 226 | Illinois

Kylan Boswell was a three-year starter at Illinois, and his best attribute is by far his on-ball and point-of-attack defense. The first thing that pops of the screen with Boswell is his 6-1, thickly-built 226 pound frame.

Boswell wasn’t a primary initiator for Illinois this past season (thanks to the emergence of Keaton Wagler), but he’s certainly a capable playmaker. My biggest concern with Boswell, though, is if he’s ever going to be capable enough as a 3-point shooter to become a real NBA contributor. He showed good enough touch at the college level, but shot 27% from three over his final two seasons.

With defense as his calling card, I also think Boswell might struggle athletically matching up with quicker point guards.

I think it will be interesting to see how he performs against Summer League competition, and I don’t hate the bet taken here.

The Returners

Ryan Kalkbrenner & Sion James

Kalkbrenner: 24 years old | Big | 7-1, 256 | Creighton

James: 23 years old | Guard | 6-5, 220 | Duke

I’m grouping Kalkbrenner and James together here because frankly, I don’t know how much run they’re actually going to get in Summer League. It would surprise me if they appeared in more than one game, honestly.

Both James and Kalkbrenner have proven themselves as NBA contributors, but I think having them in Vegas could help with the professionalism side of things for the newer, younger players.

If James and Kalkbrenner do play, the things I’d watch for is James getting lead ball-handling reps, and if they allow Kalkbrenner to actually shoot the ball from deep.

Tidjane Salaun

20 years old | Forward | 6-10, 207 | France

We’re entering year three for Tidjane Salaun, and he’s still only 20 years old. I don’t think there’s a bigger mystery on the Hornets’ roster than Salaun, who I still hold some stock in.

This past year, Salaun appeared in 37 games for the Hornets, but also moonlighted for the Swarm in their playoff run to a G-League championship. In five playoff games for the Swarm, Salaun averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds.

I think Salaun is likely to be one of the players plays in each Summer League game, and I’m interested to see the progress on how consistent his jump shot form is, as well as if he seems to be more in control of his athleticism.

Even in his appearances for the Hornets this past season, Salaun seemed very, very raw (which is okay for a 20-year old), but if he does not show much progress in the Summer League, there will be questions about whether the Hornets opt to exercise his 4th-year option.

Liam McNeeley

20 years old | Forward | 6-7, 210 | Connecticut

Liam McNeeley the most interesting non-rookie to watch at the Summer League, to me. I think there’s an outside chance he could play his way into the rotation, and I think Charlotte will be interested to see what they have in Liam in regular season NBA minutes.

This past year for the Swarm (18 games), McNeeley averaged 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists per game on shooting splits of 46/33/79. In the G-League playoffs, McNeeley’s 3-point efficiency rose to 38% on seven attempts per game.

I’m penciling McNeeley in as an every-game starter for this Summer League team, I think he’s the player you want to see the most from.

One of the traits McNeeley was able to show a bit of at UConn and this past year for the Swarm was his on-ball creation. At 6-foot-7, 210 pounds, if he genuinely is able to use that skill at the NBA level (in combination with his shooting ability), I think that makes him a very valuable role player moving forward.

McNeeley impressed in the Vegas setting last summer, so I’m expecting more of the same (hopefully even better).

The First-Round Picks

The moment you’ve been waiting for…. How will the two top-20 picks perform in Vegas Summer League?

Hannes Steinbach

20 years old | Big | 6-10, 248 | Washington/Germany

I think Hannes Steinbach will really flash in the Summer League. His game was built on the ability to score inside and rebound at an elite clip. He was able to fill the stat sheet consistently at Washington this past year without much help, and he’ll have a lot more playmaking help (particularly from Anderson) in Vegas this summer.

Steinbach is also a high-end athlete, the type that is usually able to get some flashy blocks in the Vegas setting.

If the Hornets want to win another Summer League championship (let’s be honest, we REALLY want it), Steinbach will have to be a primary reason why - especially if you anticipate Ryan Kalkbrenner only playing a game or two (I am looking forward to some limited Kalkbrenner/Steinbach minutes, if we get them).

Christian Anderson

20 years old | Guard | 6-1, 180 | Texas Tech/Germany

There are going to be many, many more eyes on Christian Anderson than originally anticipated following the Hornets’ trade of LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Right now he’s slotted to be the team’s backup point guard, and there honestly aren’t any other options that get you excited. Sion James got some minutes there last year, but the playmaking reps were ROUGH, and I think the Tre Mann ship has sailed, at this point.

Anderson’s game, like Steinbach’s, is one that I think should translate well to the Summer League setting. He’s a pick-and-roll maestro and elite shooter. If you see a simplified offense (be honest, you will) rolled out, Anderson’s skill set should work well even with limited practice and game reps.

Additionally, you have the pre-build chemistry from Anderson and Steinbach from when the two played with Germany at the U19 World Cup last summer. Both players averaged over 17 points per game, and Anderson had 6.6 assists per game in addition to the scoring.

They were Germany’s best players on the way to a 2nd place finish (only behind Team USA which rostered AJ Dybantsa, Mikel Brown, Koa Peat, Morez Johnson, Tyran Stokes, and Jordan Smith).

All of that is to say this: I think Anderson and Steinbach will impress in Summer League. There’s proof of concept, prior chemistry, and a bunch of players on the SL roster that should be able to support their respective skill sets.

The Charlotte Hornets are going to be giving Brandon Miller an extension… at some point. He’s currently extension-eligible coming off of this third NBA season.

Miller looks the part of a franchise cornerstone. 6-foot-8 wings that score 20 point per game do not grow on trees, and while he’s certainly a valuable player, he also has yet to make an All-Star game or get All-NBA consideration.

That makes projecting his contract extension much more difficult.

Most project Miller to make between $35-39M annually on his contract extension.

However, there’s a situation developing in the NBA that I think the Hornets are going to look at as the playbook for how they will (eventually) handle Miller’s extension.

Let’s dive into it.

Exclusive limited-time offer: As a token of appreciation for SportCLT hitting 600 subscribers, we’re running a free agency promotion. Our annual paid subscription plan is 50% off for the next two days. All you have to do is use this subscription link.

Read more

The Charlotte Hornets have remained quiet since the beginning of the NBA’s free agency moratorium period started on June 30th at 6 PM ET.

It’s been more than three days since then, with the wider NBA discussion more-so fixed around the trades of Walker Kessler, Jaylen Brown, and Kawhi Leonard.

The Charlotte Hornets have had an active offseason despite the lack of free agency moves. They already have a full roster (with 16 players) plus a few already signed to two-way deals.

I still don’t think Charlotte is done this offseason. Let’s dive into the direction I think they go, plus an intel nugget or two.

Exclusive limited-time offer: As a token of appreciation for SportCLT hitting 600 subscribers, we’re running a free agency promotion. Our annual paid subscription plan is 50% off for the next week. All you have to do is use this subscription link.

Read more