Charles Lee Says Hornets 'Not a Finished Product' Heading Into Preseason Road Trip

The Charlotte Hornets finished the home portion of their preseason schedule Sunday by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 105-90. Their last two exhibitions are on the road, Wednesday at the Boston Celtics and Friday at the Memphis Grizzlies.

The regular season starts on the road too. Charlotte opens Oct. 21 at the Brooklyn Nets, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Hornets coach Charles Lee wants to see how his team handles road adversity before that opener.

"I think it's great for our team right now in this moment," Lee said. "We started training camp out in Charleston, which I think helped us kind of just forge some more relationships and be on the road and get that feel. And then now you've been home for two games. And so it'll be good as we go into the regular season to have two road games and see how we can battle some road adversity and your first regular season games on the road as well."

"So I think that this is going to really help prepare us for the regular season," Lee continued.

The Hornets were 23-18 on the road last season and 21-20 at home. They went 44-38 overall and finished ninth in the Eastern Conference before losing the play-in game at Orlando.

After Brooklyn, Charlotte comes home for the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 23, the Miami Heat on Oct. 24, and then the Washington Wizards two days after that.

Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale joined Charlotte on June 28, when the Hornets sent Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns. That came three days after Naz Reid arrived from the Minnesota Timberwolves in the deal that sent LaMelo Ball to Minnesota.

O'Neale is entering his 10th season, and Reid won Sixth Man of the Year with the Timberwolves in 2023-24.

Veterans understand the league and pick things up fast, in Lee's view, which has let the staff add layers quickly.

"I think that we've made great progress from game one to game two," Lee explained. "I think from day one of training camp to where we are now. We've added some layers. We've thrown some things in there pretty quickly because it's like a balance of we have a ton of returning guys, we have some new guys coming in, but some of those new guys are also veterans, and so they understand the league and can pick up things really fast. So I love where we are."

"I know that we are not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination, and I'm excited to kind of just see how we can keep growing throughout the rest of preseason," Lee added.

Game one was a 124-90 loss to Brooklyn on Oct. 6. Charlotte committed 25 turnovers that night.

Charlotte's 29 assists against Milwaukee came on 39 made baskets. The Hornets won the second quarter 31-19 and led by 20 after three quarters, and Tyler Herro scored 18 for the Bucks. Charlotte is 1-1 in the preseason, and Milwaukee is 1-2.

Brandon Miller missed the opener with a shin contusion and returned Sunday to score 18 points. Reid had 16.

Liam McNeeley, who led Charlotte in scoring in the opener but turned it over 6 times against the Nets, finished with 5 assists and no turnovers.

Moussa Diabaté, Tidjane Salaün, Sion James, and McNeeley all played for Charlotte last season. Kon Knueppel and Coby White are among the returning players who have not appeared in the preseason. Allen sat Sunday because of soreness in his right knee.

An ESPN piece named the lack of a pass-first organizer as the biggest gap on Charlotte's roster.

Wednesday's game at TD Garden tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Memphis game Friday starts at 8 p.m. ET at FedExForum.