Coby White thinks the Charlotte Hornets will be really good next season.
During an interview with Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer, Coby White said he expects the new-look Charlotte Hornets to "surprise a lot of people" next season.
Charlotte was very busy this offseason. The front office traded LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, sent Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns for Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale, drafted Hannes Steinbach from Washington with the 14th overall pick and Texas Tech's Christian Anderson Jr. with the 18th overall pick in this year's draft, re-signed White and acquired Dorian-Finney Smith from the Houston Rockets.
“I think we’ve got a really, really good team,” White said. "We’ve got a lot of really, really good players. I think we got a lot of unselfish players, so that’ll make it easy in terms of coming together. A lot of us are already here now in Charlotte working out, so that’s a major step in — what is it, August?
“You don’t see that a lot in the NBA, so that already shows individually how bought in each player is. So for us, it’s just about doing it together, doing it as a collective, getting better each and every day on the court, off the court. Because I think we all value getting to that brotherhood off the court as well. It’s just as important as doing stuff on the court.”
“We’ve got a chance to be a really good team and surprise a lot of people, but we’ve got to put the work in. And what comes with the work is doing what we’re doing now.”
The Hornets acquired White from the Chicago Bulls in February. In 21 games with Charlotte, White played well. He averaged 15.6 points per game while shooting 46.1% from the field, 39.1% from beyond the arc and 83.9% from the foul line.
Charlotte beat the Miami Heat in the first play-in game but lost to the Orlando Magic in the second one. As a result, the Hornets missed the playoffs again.
White finished the 2025-26 season averaging 17.4 points per game with the Bulls and Hornets. Chicago drafted White with the seventh overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. White has career averages of 15.4 points per game. He will start at PG Charlotte next season.
“I think just letting the work show,” White said. “I think we don’t got to say too much on it. Everybody’s going to have an opinion and that’s just what comes with being in the NBA. I think it’s a great opportunity for us in terms of the East getting stronger, playing against obviously high-level competition every night. But the East getting stronger, I’m excited for it. I think our team is excited for it. It’s going to be a challenge for sure.
“Everybody’s bought in, and I think everybody can tell because we’re all here right now. So for us, it’s going to be an exciting challenge and I think we’re all excited for it.”
Charlotte is expected to start White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabaté next season.
That's a strong starting five on paper.
