The Charlotte Hornets have one of the best shooters in the NBA in Grayson Allen.
The Charlotte Hornets acquired Grayson Allen from the Phoenix Suns in the Miles Bridges trade this summer.
While Allen isn't a star in the NBA, he's one of the best shooters in the league.
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, only three NBA players -- Stephen Curry, Desmond Bane and Allen -- have totaled 800-plus 3s while shooting at least 40.0% from beyond the arc.
For the Suns last season, Allen averaged 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 40.3% from the field, 34.9% from beyond the arc and 85.7% from the free-throw line. He projects to be a bench scorer and shooter for the Hornets next season.
Allen has been in the NBA since 2018. He has played for the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks and Suns. The Duke product enters next season with career averages of 11.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in the regular season and 8.0 points per game in the playoffs.
It has been a busy offseason for Charlotte. The front office traded LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid and sent Bridges to the Suns for Allen and Royce O'Neale.
In the 2026 draft, the Hornets took Hannes Steinbach from Washington with the 14th overall pick and Texas Tech's Christian Anderson Jr. with the 18th overall pick. Charlotte also re-signed Coby White in free agency and acquired Dorian-Finney Smith from the Houston Rockets.
The Hornets are widely expected to start White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabaté next season. That's a strong starting five on paper.
Charlotte missed the playoffs last season by one game. The franchise hasn't made the playoffs since 2016, but the future of the team looks bright with White, Miller, Knueppel, Reid and Diabaté leading the way.
Knueppel and Miller are the new franchise players in Charlotte with Ball gone. Even though Knueppel didn't win the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year Award, he still had a special season for the Hornets. The swingman averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and shot 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from 3 and 86.3% from the free-throw line. He led the NBA in 3s.
Meanwhile, Miller appeared in 65 games for the Hornets last season. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from the field, 38.3% from beyond the arc and 89.2% from the free-throw line.
The Hornets never made the playoffs in the Ball era. Ball played in 303 games with Charlotte. He averaged 20.8 points and 7.3 assists per game and made one All-Star team (2022). It was time to move on and start a new era.
