Five Bold Predictions for the 2026 Charlotte Hornets Offseason

The Hornets spent the 2025-26 season growing as a team. What will they do to take the next step?

The Charlotte Hornets became a national media darling throughout this past NBA season. They were among the better teams by most metrics since the turn of the new year.

While there is still a lack of playoff experience, questions were still answered regarding the current core of players. LaMelo Ball returned to All-Star caliber form, Kon Knueppel looks like a budding star, and Brandon Miller showed shot-making flashes of excellence.

Still, there’s a ways to go before this Hornets team becomes a ‘contender’, and general manager Jeff Peterson has emphasized the team’s patience, mentioning the desire to not want to “skip steps” through the team-building process.

"We'll know when the time's right. We can't skip steps. I've seen it too many times and it ends up not going the way that you think it goes in terms of trying to speed things up… We've made a ton of progress this season internally and I'm excited because I know it's gonna continue to happen. We'll continue to be strategic. When the opportunity presents itself, I know we'll be ready because of the flexibility that we have."

- Peterson in his end-of-season media availability.

Still, if there’s an offseason in which a team can go from “fun” to “genuinely good”, it’s probably this Hornets offseason. There’s a massive surplus of picks, a lot of salary flexibility (expiring deals and young players), and projected growth from each of the team’s three biggest stars.

That has left many Hornets fans wondering: What will the team do next?

I have five bold predictions for this offseason rooted in realism and team tendencies.

Let’s get into it.