Charlotte Hornets’ Outlook for the Upcoming NBA Season
t’s been a rough decade to be a fan of the Charlotte Hornets
The team has the longest active playoff drought in the entire NBA, last making the postseason during the 2016 season.
The Hornets have added plenty of promising young talent in that time — drafting LaMelo Ball with the third overall pick in the 2020 Draft before selecting embattled forward Brandon Miller second overall this past season — but it hasn’t been enough for them to stop the bleeding.
Chicago Bulls legend and North Carolina native Michael Jordan bought the Hornets in 2010, overseeing just three playoff appearances in parts of 14 seasons as it became apparent that his skill as an executive paled in comparison to his formidable ability on the court.
New Ownership For A New Era?
Jordan sold most of his stake in the team during the offseason, retaining a minority share as he handed the reins off to Rick Schnall, former minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks, and Gabe Plotkin, who has been part of the Hornets’ ownership group since 2019.
We haven’t really had a chance to see Schnall and Plotkin’s vision for the team in action yet, as they only took over in August — after the draft had taken place and the bulk of free agent contracts had already been signed. Things have been ugly for the Hornets so far, as they’ve struggled to a 7-13 record that is the third-worst in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the pitiful Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons.
Worth to mention, as of now, North Carolina Sportsbooks are set to launch in early 2024, offering an exciting opportunity for fans of the Hornets to engage in betting activities. Presently, the Hornets are being given +10000 odds to win the Southeast Division this season, marking some of the least favorable division odds within the NBA. Witnessing a team struggle throughout a season is disheartening for any fan.
However, it’s important to acknowledge that the new ownership group requires time to implement their strategic vision for the franchise. Achieving significant improvements won’t happen overnight, echoing the saying that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Despite the team’s young talent, it’s evident that the Hornets have considerable ground to cover before reclaiming a respectable position in the league. Nonetheless, the upcoming availability of North Carolina Sportsbooks in early 2024 will offer Hornets fans an exciting avenue to engage with their team’s games and potentially explore betting opportunities.
Steve Clifford Back in Action
The Hornets brought head coach Steve Clifford, who led the team from 2013 to 2018, back into the mix in June 2022. It’s sort of a strange move for the franchise: Clifford did a good enough job during his time in Charlotte, overseeing a pair of playoff teams, but he never managed to make it out of the first round.
He’s an excellent defensive mind who can help raise a team’s floor with disciplined fundamental play, but his teams have always struggled on the other side of the court. After seeing his philosophy run stagnant during his previous tenure, it’s weird that the Hornets would want him back. With the youth movement in full force with Ball and Miller, Clifford is the type of coach who can help them find their feet in the NBA… but he’s probably not going to raise their ceiling to championship level unless everything goes right for him.
It also doesn’t help that Ball twisted his ankle in a game against the Orlando Magic in late November, having missed more than two weeks because of it. When there isn’t much talent to go around to begin with, the loss of one star player can create a massive skid… and the Hornets have gone 1-5 since he got hurt.
Bad, But Not Bad Enough
Something that has plagued the Hornets for the past few years is a lack of premium talent outside of the top picks. They’ve been a consistently bad team, but not bad enough to pick high in the draft and secure the type of talent that can change their fortunes for the better in a hurry. Miller, for instance, is a talented young player, but he pales in comparison to Victor Wembanyama, the man selected a pick ahead of him. Not all of that is their fault, as they’re at the mercy of the ping pong balls in the NBA Draft Lottery to secure their picks.
The Hornets can’t tank to secure a top pick like the Philadelphia 76ers did in the 2010s, and it’s hard for teams to turn their fortunes around when there isn’t much talent available to help them. The NBA has always been a league of haves and have-nots, with a handful of top players banding together to form superteams and the rest of the players left to fight for scraps. Anti-tanking measures like the draft lottery were designed to fix that talent disparity by giving teams something to play for, but it also makes it tougher to dig oneself out of the gutter.