Hornets' "Championship-Caliber" Front Court Versatility Draws Rave Reviews at Media Day

Versatility is the name of the game for the Charlotte Hornets' front court.

Grant Williams, Tidjane Salaun, Naz Reid, Hannes Steinbach, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Moussa Diabate make up a deep group of power forward and center options that all impact the game in different ways.

"We have championship-caliber versatility (in the front court)," said Grant Williams in an exclusive interview with Charlotte Hornets on SI. "I think that's what is valuable. When you have a front court as moldable as we are, you can go super big, you can go super small, you can put two very, very good screeners with no emphasis on shooting out there. You can put two very very great shooters out there."

"We have a lot ways that we can attack groups and teams...It's a very, very talented group that's going to be very, very difficult to scheme against.

Williams' sentiment was shared by a number of his teammates at media day. Ryan Kalkbrenner, the second-year center who is looking to build upon a successful rookie season, has relished the challenge of practicing against Charlotte's deep stable of big men.

"I think it's really good for all of us (to practice against one another). One game I have to guard Moussa, and he plays a totally different way than Hannes, and then I play the next game against Hannes and I have to change what I'm thinking about on the court. Or I might have to guard Naz for a short stretch, so it's really good for me and my development that I see all of these different looks which is what's going to happen during the year."

The Hornets are going to take a committee-based approach to replicate their success in 2025-26, and the front court will play a major role in that plan. All eyes will be on Charlotte's LaMelo Ball-less back court, but in this author's opinion, it's the big men that will drive results in the Queen City.

Just look at how the team won last year.

Yes, Charlotte attempted the second-highest percentage of their field goal attempts from three-point range in the league and connected on the third-highest percentage of those shots in the league, but what happened on the misses was just as important to their success.

Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner both finished with above-average offensive rebound rates for their position. Hannes Steinbach was lauded as the best rebounder in his draft class. Naz Reid has been a "good" offensive rebounder according to Charles Lee, and the team plans to push him to be even better in that area going forward.

Outside of LaMelo Ball's individual shot creation brilliance, the Hornets' ability to create second-chance opportunities was arguably the biggest driver of the team's winning ways last season.

And they doubled and tripled down on that strength this summer by adding Steinbach and Reid.

The Hornets' front court doesn't boast an a proven All-NBA or All-Star talent, but it does boast a number of talented, complimentary players that should have an advantage over opposing teams over the course of a 48 minute game on most nights.

Will the totality of those 48 minutes outweigh the short spurts when an MVP-caliber talent like Nikola Jokic or Victor Wembanyama completely change a game? That's the question that will define Charlotte's approach to team-building. The Hornets don't have the game-breaking player like some championship contenders do, but they're banking on the sum of their parts being good enough to compete at a high-level.

With early-season matchups against the playoff-hopeful Hawks, Wizards, and Heat, the Hornets' front court depth will get tested. If you let the people inside the building predict the results of that test, they'd tell you to expect to pass it with flying colors.

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