Rob Dillingham will miss Hornets media day, and Jeff Peterson reportedly gave little indication that the newly acquired guard will remain in Charlotte long term.
Rob Dillingham will not be available to speak at Charlotte Hornets media day Monday, one day after the team announced it had acquired the guard from the Chicago Bulls, according to Matt Alquiza of Hornets On SI.
Alquiza also wrote that Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson did not make it seem as though Dillingham would be in Charlotte for long. His post did not include Peterson's remarks on Dillingham.
Chicago sent Dillingham to Charlotte for Buddy Hield and cash. The deal created a $9.6 million trade exception for the Hornets.
Dillingham Is Hornets' Latest Short-Term Acquisition
Hield spent less than a week with the Hornets. On Sept. 22, Charlotte acquired him, Ryan Nembhard, and cash from the Atlanta Hawks for Dorian Finney-Smith. The Hornets had landed Finney-Smith and three second-round picks from the Houston Rockets earlier in the offseason.
Hield, 33, averaged 7.6 points in 51 games for the Golden State Warriors and Hawks last season.
Charlotte is Dillingham's third NBA team. The San Antonio Spurs took him out of Kentucky with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves the same day. Minnesota dealt him to Chicago on Feb. 5 in the trade for Ayo Dosunmu.
Over 30 games with the Bulls, Dillingham averaged 9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 21.5 minutes. Through 114 career games, with one start, he has averaged 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 13.0 minutes.
In April, he had minor surgery to remove a ganglion cyst from his wrist.
Dillingham, 21, is a native of Hickory, North Carolina. He is owed $6.9 million this season on his rookie-scale contract. Charlotte has until Nov. 2 to decide on his $8.8 million team option for 2027-28.
Hornets Still Have Roster Decisions to Make
The Hornets have to get down to 15 players on standard contracts by the regular season. As of Monday, Charlotte has 17 players on standard contracts.
Charlotte re-signed Coby White this offseason to a three-year, $74 million contract. The Hornets also acquired Dennis Schröder from the Cleveland Cavaliers and drafted Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson Jr. with the 18th overall pick. Grayson Allen came over from the Phoenix Suns in the Miles Bridges trade.
White was expected to start at point guard after the Hornets traded LaMelo Ball to Minnesota.
Hornets Open Camp With Injury Questions
On Friday, the Hornets announced that Kon Knueppel had injured his left hamstring and Grant Williams his right hamstring during offseason on-court activity. Both will miss the preseason and be re-evaluated during the first week of the regular season.
Training camp opens Tuesday. Charlotte opens the preseason Oct. 6 against the Brooklyn Nets and starts the regular season Oct. 21 at Brooklyn.
