Charles Lee Teases More Three-Point Attempts Could Be Coming for Ryan Kalkbrenner

One of the biggest surprises this season for the Charlotte Hornets, and there are many, is rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner.

Because of the sensational season of Kon Knueppel and Moussa Diabaté’s stunning acceleration of his development, Kalkbrenner’s production often gets lost in the weeds.

It’s rare that you see a second-round pick stick in this league, but it’s even more rare that you see one begin the season as the starter and play a meaningful role on a team with postseason aspirations.

Through the first 54 games of his career, he is averaging eight points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. The other night against Portland, we saw him do something he had only done twice all year prior — attempt a three-point shot. Unfortunately, it didn’t fall, but it may not be the last we see this year from the 7-footer.

“Melo is telling me that I need to draw up more plays, I think to get him in catch-and-shoot threes, so I’m working on that right now,” Hornets head coach Charles Lee said before last night’s game in Sacramento. “I’m trying to diversify.”

Before Kalk put the shot up, he was searching for somewhere to pass the ball to, and you could see LaMelo standing in the corner on the bench doing the shooting motion over and over, trying to get him to pull it.

LaMelo Ball was signaling from the bench to Ryan Kalkbrenner to shoot the ball for 10 straight seconds lmaoo 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/x9AbmpmaZW
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) March 11, 2026

During his time at Creighton, Kalkbrenner did shoot it from range a little bit, going 46/148 (31%), so it's not completely foreign to his game.

Diabaté has been fantastic all year long, but really, over the last handful of games, Kalkbrenner has been the center who has stood out the most because of what he can do on both ends of the floor. Charles Lee talked about his development on Wednesday.

“The physicality. He is doing it and sustaining it for a long period, longer stretches right now. He’s put together a great stretch of games right now where you’re feeling his impact defensively. He’s blocking shots, he’s helping us on the boards. His communication level of coverages has been great, and we’ve been able to switch with him a little bit. His versatility is helping not only himself, but our team. And then offensively, he came up with some big offensive rebound put-backs (against Portland. I think our guys continue to trust him around the basket because he has such great hands and he’s making really good seam reads for some kick-out threes as well.”

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