2023-24 Charlotte Hornets Season Preview
Wednesday night marks the start of the 35th season of Charlotte Hornets basketball as they welcome the Atlanta Hawks to Spectrum Center to get the season underway.
There have been a lot of distractions surrounding this team in the offseason from a change in ownership to Kai Jones posting bizarre things on social media leading to his eventual release and Miles Bridges turning himself in earlier this month for violating a protection order. Bridges is already set to miss the first ten games of the season to complete his suspension handed down from the NBA this past summer but there is no clarity on what his recent situation means for Bridges and his future with the Hornets.
As for the on-court product, the Hornets are expected to make significant strides with a healthy roster. Last season, the Hornets saw LaMelo Ball go down multiple times, Gordon Hayward missed 32 games, Cody Martin was sidelined for essentially the entire year, and Kelly Oubre missed a good chunk of time as well. With all the injuries, Charlotte never had a chance to remain competitive.
With Cody Martin (knee) and Frank Ntilikina being the only significant injuries at the moment, the expectation is that this team makes the playoffs.
"They're young but they're not all young," Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak said on Hornets Hivecat with Sam Farber. "Gordon (Hayward) and Terry (Rozier) and Cody Martin, believe it or not, has been around for a bunch of years now, so we liked the group during the offseason and we didn't see a need to make major moves. Knock on wood we stay healthy. We still got a couple guys that get injured, but I think we like the group we have. We won 43 games two years ago. I think we're a better team now than we were two years ago. Now, I don't know about the rest of the Eastern Conference, but I'd like to think we'd be in the hunt for something. I think we're a better team, at least on paper."
He's not wrong. LaMelo Ball and P.J. Washington are a little older now, they have the athletic two-way center that they didn't have two years ago, and second-overall pick Brandon Miller gives them a scoring punch off the bench.
Head coach Steve Clifford went as far as saying that this is the most talented team he's been a head coach of, including the Hornets team that won 48 games and made the playoffs in 2015.
"This is 20-something years for me in the NBA, but it's my tenth year as a head coach. If you go down through the teams that I've coached, I've coached a lot of teams that were pretty good. I don't think I've coached a team that was picked to finish pretty high or anything like that. We're young, but to me, this is the most talented team I've ever coached as a head coach. The last time the Hornets played in a playoff series, we lost to Miami in seven games and that team won 48 and we were tied for third. And just pure talent, we have more talent now than we did on that team. To start the season, we may not be as good as those guys were but if we're working and we have the right attitude and we can handle tough times and all that and we get Miles back and can integrate him, we have a ton of talent."
PROJECTED STARTING FIVE
LaMelo Ball
Terry Rozier
Gordon Hayward
P.J. Washington
Mark Williams
PROJECTED BENCH
G Frank Ntilikina; G Cody Martin; G Ish Smith; G Theo Maledon; G Nick Smith Jr.; G James Bouknight; G/F Bryce McGowens; F Brandon Miller; F JT THor; C Nick Richards
INJURIES/SUSPENSIONS
Theo Maledon (shoulder); James Bouknight (knee); Bryce McGowens (ankle); Frank Ntilikina (tibia); Miles Bridges (suspended).
ADDITIONS
Brandon Miller (1st round pick); Nick Smith Jr (2nd round pick); Amari Bailey (2nd round pick); Frank Ntilikina (free agency); Ish Smith (free agency); Leaky Black (undrafted free agent).
SUBTRACTIONS
Kelly Oubre Jr (signed with 76ers); Dennis Smith Jr. (signed with Nets); Svi Mykhailiuk (signed with Celtics); Kai Jones (released).
2023-24 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
10/25 Atlanta Hawks, 7 p.m.
10/27 Detroit Pistons, 7 p.m.
10/30 Brooklyn Nets, 7 p.m.
11/1 @ Houston Rockets, 8 p.m.
11/4 @ Indiana Pacers, 7 p.m.
11/5 @ Dallas Mavericks, 7:30 p.m.
11/8 Washington Wizards, 7 p.m.
11/10 @ Washington Wizards, 7 p.m.
11/12 @ New York Knicks, 12 p.m.
11/14 Miami Heat (in-season tournament), 7 p.m.
11/17 Milwaukee Bucks (in-season tournament), 7 p.m.
11/18 New York Knicks, 6 p.m.
11/20 Boston Celtics, 7 p.m.
11/22 Washington Wizards, 7 p.m.
11/26 @ Orlando Magic, 6 p.m.
11/28 @ New York Knicks (in-season tournament), 7:30 p.m.
11/30 @ Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m.
12/2 Minnesota Timberwolves, 5 p.m.
12/11 Miami Heat, 7 p.m.
12/13 @ Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m.
12/15 New Orleans Pelicans, 7 p.m.
12/16 Philadelphia 76ers, 7 p.m.
12/18 @ Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m.
12/20 @ Indiana Pacers, 7 p.m.
12/23 Denver Nuggets, 7 p.m.
12/26 @ L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.
12/28 @ L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m.
12/29 @ Phoenix Suns, 9 p.m.
1/1 @ Denver Nuggets, 9 p.m.
1/2 @ Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m.
1/5 @ Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m.
1/8 Chicago Bulls, 7 p.m.
1/10 Sacramento Kings, 7 p.m.
1/12 @ San Antonio Spurs, 10 p.m. (ESPN)
1/14 @ Miami Heat, 6 p.m.
1/17 @ New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m.
1/19 San Antonio Spurs, 7 p.m.
1/20 Philadelphia 76ers, 7 p.m.
1/22 @ Minnesota Timberwolves, 8 p.m.
1/24 @ Detroit Pistons, 7 p.m.
1/26 Houston Rockets, 7 p.m.
1/27 Utah Jazz, 7 p.m.
1/29 New York Knicks, 7 p.m.
1/31 Chicago Bulls, 7 p.m.
2/2 @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m.
2/4 Indiana Pacers, 6 p.m.
2/5 L.A. Lakers, 7 p.m.
2/7 Toronto Raptors, 7 p.m.
2/9 @ Milwaukee Bucks, 8 p.m.
2/10 Memphis Grizzlies, 7 p.m.
2/12 Indiana Pacers, 7 p.m.
2/14 Atlanta Hawks, 7 p.m.
2/22 @ Utah Jazz, 9 p.m.
2/23 @ Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m.
2/25 @ Portland Trail Blazers, 9 p.m.
2/27 @ Milwaukee Bucks, 8 p.m.
2/29 Milwaukee Bucks, 7 p.m.
3/1 @ Philadelphia 76ers, 7 p.m.
3/3 @ Toronto Raptors, 6 p.m.
3/5 Orlando Magic, 7 p.m.
3/8 @ Washington Wizards, 7 p.m.
3/9 Brooklyn Nets, 7 p.m.
3/11 @ Detroit Pistons, 7 p.m.
3/13 @ Memphis Grizzlies, 8 p.m.
3/15 Phoenix Suns, 7 p.m.
3/16 @ Philadelphia 76ers, 7 p.m.
3/19 @ Orlando Magic, 7 p.m.
3/23 @ Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m.
3/25 @ Cleveland Cavaliers, 7 p.m.
3/27 Cleveland Cavaliers, 7 p.m.
3/29 Golden State Warriors, 7 p.m.
3/31 L.A. Clippers, 6 p.m.
4/1 Boston Celtics, 7 p.m.
4/3 Portland Trail Blazers, 7 p.m.
4/5 Orlando Magic, 7 p.m.
4/7 Oklahoma City Thunder, 6 p.m.
4/9 Dallas Mavericks, 7 p.m.
4/10 @ Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m.
4/12 @ Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m.
4/14 @ Cleveland Cavaliers, 1 p.m.
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