How Did Last Year’s Hornets Departures Perform With Their New Teams This Season?

When the Charlotte Hornets stumbled through the 2024-25 season with a 19-63 record, there was a lot of uncertainty. LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller combined for just 68 appearances because of injuries, and there were fiery discussions on who should be selected with the 4th pick in the upcoming draft.

But one thing seemed certain early on: The roster needed a major overhaul. And so the front office went to work, traded certain players, and did not resign some others once free agency came knocking.

In the end, ten players who were on full-time contracts with that 2024-25 team didn't return the next year. Here's what happened to them:

Seth Curry

The name Curry is synonymous with three-point shooting in the NBA, and Seth fortified that by leading the NBA in three-point percentage (45.6%) during his one season with the Hornets.

As Jeff Peterson opted for a more youthful approach when constructing the roster the following summer, the soon-to-be 35-year-old Seth headed to play with his brother Steph in San Francisco.

Seth was never primed to play a huge role on the Warriors this year, but nagging injuries kept him from even suiting up for months. He did appear in eleven games towards the end of the season, shooting 48.0% from deep, before Golden State lost in the play-ins to the Phoenix Suns.

Taj Gibson

Good 'ol Taj! Gibson spent his 16th NBA season with the Hornets, mostly to provide a veteran presence and hopefully pass down some tips and tricks to the still relatively inexperienced Mark Williams.

Afterwards, he hit free agency, and for a while it seemed like he might retire. But the Memphis Grizzlies, in a similar spot like the Hornets found themselves in a year prior, picked him up in February.

Taj ended up playing ten games this season, for a Memphis team that was already pretty much eliminated from postseason contention when he arrived.

DaQuan Jeffries

DaQuan Jeffries only ever ended up in Charlotte as an under-the-radar part of the Karl Anthony Towns and Julius Randle trade. With Ball and Miller missing a ton of time, Jeffries ended up actually seeing the court quite a bit for the Hornets.

His effort and tenacity always impressed, but his efficiency and on-off numbers did not. He was waived in September of 2025 and has spent most of his time since with the Stockton Kings, Sacramento's G-League affiliate.

Led by 21.2 points per game from Jeffries, Stockton made the G-League Finals but ultimately lost to the Greensboro Swarm.

Cody Martin

Few players were more emblematic of the Hornets' misery in the early 2020s than Cody Martin. The North Carolina-born swingman had major injury issues, but always showed flashes just bright enough to keep believing in him.

But the ailments kept mounting for Martin, and he played just 35 games for the Hornets from 2022 to 2024, before being shipped to Phoenix midway through the 2024/25 season.

He didn't stick around in Arizona either. Since being waived in the summer of 2025, he's mostly been with the Indiana Pacers G-League affiliate, apart from a short ten-day contract stint in the association.

Vasilije Micic

A former EuroLeague MVP and champion, Micic was already past his prime when he hit the NBA landscape. He stuck around for a year in Charlotte after being acquired in the Gordon Hayward trade from OKC.

The Serbs' time with the Hornets came to an end when he left to play for Phoenix alongside Cody Martin. But just like Martin, he only stayed there until the offseason. After some salary shuffling, Micic ended up on the Bucks and was subsequently waived.

That cleared the way for his overseas comeback, where he was still a hot commodity and became one of the EuroLeague's top earners for Hapoel Tel Aviv. He has been a good, if a bit inconsistent, contributor.

Jusuf Nurkic

At this point in the article, you might ask yourself what the Hornets got in return for Micic and Martin. Well, here's your answer!

Charlotte took Nurkic on with the understanding that they weren't playing for anything anymore in 2025 and could use his salary to move him for a more favorable asset in the summer, which is exactly what happened.

Nurkic netted the Hornets, Collin Sexton, and a second-round pick swap from Utah. For a Jazz team that admittedly tanked this season, Nurkic was pretty good when he got the chance to suit up. He averaged a double-double with points and rebounds, and at one point had three consecutive triple-doubles.

Josh Okogie

Okogie is the first player on this list who managed to make the playoffs with his new team, the Houston Rockets. That experience was obviously short-lived as Houston went down in six games against the Los Angeles Lakers.

For Okogie, the series was like his season as a whole. He averaged a nice 17.4 minutes per game and had a positive net rating, without his numbers ever jumping off the stat sheet.

It'll be interesting to see where the 27-year-old lands next, as he's set to hit free agency again after his one-year contract with Houston has expired.

Nick Richards

The first Jamaican NBA player ever, Nick Richards, turned himself from the 42nd pick into a serviceable backup big. So much so that the Hornets were able to exchange him for Josh Okogie and three second-round picks from - you guessed it - the Phoenix Suns.

In what has become a trend throughout this article, Big Nick didn't find a permanent home in Phoenix. He didn't play consistently, and eventually his career path led him to Chicago via another trade.

You could certainly make the case that his Bulls stint is similar to his final season in Charlotte. The stakes are very, very low. Richards is putting up fine counting stats but not making a major impact in any way.

Nick Smith Jr.

From a prospect that exceeded expectations to one that certainly subverted them. The Nick Smith Jr. experience in Charlotte was mostly unspectacular and all in all disappointing.

There wasn't much reason to keep him around following the expiration of his rookie contract in 2025, so the Hornets didn't. Still only 22 years old, Smith Jr. was picked up on a two-way deal by the Los Angeles Lakers.

He dabbled between the G-League affiliate and the NBA roster. As top-heavy as the Lakers roster was this year, he actually got some spot minutes and showcased his three-point shooting, if not much else.

Mark Williams

He was THE prototypical early 2020s Hornets player: Often injured, rarely great when healthy, but on a random Tuesday, he'd look like a bona fide star and pull you back in. And of course, he was eventually traded to the Phoenix Suns.

Unlike the other players on this list, Williams is still with the Suns. The ailments haven't fully abandoned him, yet he was at least able to play a career-high 60 games this season, averaging 11.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and just under one block per game.

The intel on the former Blue Devil is still the same: He has huge nights here and there, will always work his butt off, but doesn't make a consistent enough impact defensively to be considered a really good starting center.

The verdict

Well, this won't come as much of a surprise if you've read everything up to this point, but the Hornets were better off letting most of these guys go. The only players I'd be willing to make a case for would be Okogie and Richards.

They were traded for each other so the Hornets never had the option to keep both, but I believe having either Okogie's defensive intensity on the perimeter or just another playable backup big in Richards would have helped in certain situations.

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