The Charlotte Hornets were one win away from making the playoffs this season.
The Charlotte Hornets almost made the playoffs this season for the first time since 2016. They were the hottest team in the NBA after the All-Star break and have a bright future with LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel leading the way.
Hornets general manager Jeff Peterson is proud of the progress his team made, but the exec won't take shortcuts to push his team into the playoffs next season.
"We can’t skip steps," Peterson said on Monday during his exit interview. "Again, 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. Look, we’ve made a ton of progress this season internally, and I’m excited because I know that’s going to continue to happen. But we’ll continue to be strategic and when the opportunity presents itself, I know we’ll be ready because of the flexibility that we have."
Charlotte has two picks in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft. After selecting four rotation players a year ago, the Hornets have another opportunity to deepen their roster this year.
"I’m very excited about this draft," Peterson said. "It’s if not the deepest, one of the deepest that I’ve ever been a part of. A lot of good players all over the draft, of course. But again, where we are from an asset standpoint, it’s going to allow us to be flexible. So whether that means we bring two players in, consolidate, we’ll have different options that we’ll continue to explore and look at.
"But I’m excited for whoever we bring in because I know that it’s going to be someone who is a Hornet, and about what we’re about and at some point will contribute to what we are building here."
Ball, Miller and Knueppel are under contract for next season, while Coby White becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Don't be surprised if Charlotte re-signs White and makes the playoffs next season for the first time since 2016.
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