Charlotte Hornets Mailbag: Draft, Free Agency, LaMelo Ball Deal, and Plenty More

It has been a long last two weeks in the NBA. From Giannis Antetokounmpo being dealt, to the NBA Draft, to LaMelo Ball being dealt, to Free Agency, to Kawhi Leonard and Jaylen Brown being traded... it's been a long few weeks.

It's time to take a step back, and take a breather. Today, I will be answering the questions that you all submitted to me on my Twitter/X. I looked forward to see the questions you all would ask, and I will answer them the best I can!

What do you think the big rotation looks like between Moose/Kalk/Hannes?

It's likely that we see Hannes used as the backup power forward for this season. With Naz Reid seemingly going to be the team's starting four this season, I would be under the impression that the team will use Steinbach in more of a backup four role next to Ryan Kalkbrenner at the five.

When do we make our next trade and who do we sign in free agency?

It's unclear what the team's next move is, but if they do sign a free agent it likely will not be someone that will come in and receive high quality minutes. As is, the team has around ten players already that will need to receive minutes, and Tidjane Salaün/Liam McNeeley will also need to receive minutes this season.

It feels likely that the next move the Hornets make would be a decision on Tre Mann. Mann is due $16 million over the next two seasons, and that is a high amount of money for a player who's production is valued around the league minimum. With 16 players currently rostered, he feels like the one who would go to cut the roster down.

After moving LaMelo, is it time to push the chips in and make a big move for a superstar?

No, and I would argue that right now it makes even less sense to acquire a superstar than it has been in recent years. The Hornets are in a situation right now where it appears that they are the first of likely many teams in the coming years to attempt to be good enough to be in the mix so the young talent can develop, but being bad enough where they have a shot at landing the number one pick in this new lottery system.

I would believe that if they were to make a big move, it will come seemingly two offseasons from now. The next two seasons will most likely be development years, where the Hornets focus on internal growth while also trying to get the first overall pick through being a Play-In team.

I do think a big move will come eventually, though.

What would you need to see in summer league from Steinbach and Anderson to think that they could be legitimate winning pieces and contributors day 1?

It's extremely difficult to get a read on young players in the Summer League. The numbers they put up do not matter nearly as much as how they end up processing the game.

I would look for whether or not they make quick decisions, if they defend with consistent effort, if they can understand their role, and show some skills that will likely translate against the NBA comptetition. If Anderson and Steinbach are able to do the little things, that would make me much more optimistic about them contributing.

Would you prefer the Hornets to use their TPE to big name hunt or just facilitate cap dumps and get more capital?

For right now, I would prefer Charlotte to facilitate a cap dump. There are plenty of solid players on the market right now that, while they make a high amount of money, can come in and give good enough production to float around the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference.

If they attempt to make a move like that, one name that interests me is Dejounte Murray. Murray is due a little over $65 million over the next two seasons, but it is unclear as to what the direction that the Pelicans will be taking.

With the Trey Murphy and Herb Jones trade rumors, it feels like they should be aiming to have a hard reset, though, the league's new lottery rules make it extremely difficult to actually go through with that reset. Murray gives them an excellent chance to try and hover around the ninth seed, so the odds are high that they end up keeping him around to try and end up there.

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