Is now the time to spend? A look at how much cap space the Charlotte Hornets have

The Hornets are not truly equipped to make signings.

Oct 20, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; The Charlotte Hornets logo on the doors to the locker rooms prior to the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images | Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images

The season is over for the Charlotte Hornets, which means they're firmly in offseason mode. The lottery is next week, and the draft after that, but free agency looms over it all. For the most part, aside from LaMelo Ball, no one on the roster is particularly expensive. However, they do have a lot of players making decent money.

How much cap space does that leave them?

Per Spotrac, the Hornets are $26,835,486 over the cap this offseason. That ranks sixth among all NBA teams. They're behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic, and Detroit Pistons. Effectively, Charlotte can only sign players to exceptions, but it might not be wise to do that.

The Hornets also have $14,879,597 in dead cap, so they're not in good shape to make some splurge signings this offseason. Perhaps fortunately, it's not the free agent class to do that. It's top-heavy, as James Harden and LeBron James headline it, but it's not very deep.

The Hornets aren't able to and shouldn't be considering signing James, Harden, Khris Middleton, or Julius Randle, and those are arguably the best names available. The class is shallow after that, so there are some role players who could be good additions, but Charlotte must be wary of getting too deep over the cap without much success to show for it.

Jeff Peterson and the rest of the organization must be smart about this offseason, but they may be better served just being patient. They mostly have a full roster of younger players anyway, so they don't need to make a big move to add a depth piece. They can get creative with the cap to clear space, but it's not an ideal situation to be in.

The 2026 class, led by Trae Young, Luka Doncic, De'Aaron Fox, Jaren Jackson Jr., and others, is much deeper, so the Hornets can potentially work towards that by saving any money they can right now. They're not in a position to make big signings, so it might be wise to skip out on that portion of the offseason for the most part.

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