One statistic that will define the Charlotte Hornets' 2025-26 season

Why pace will be the name of the game in Charlotte this season.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers proved in the 2025 NBA playoffs that pace is critical to team success.

On their way to duking it out in a seven-game slugfest in the NBA Finals, Indiana and Oklahoma City ranked second and third in playoff pace behind only the Memphis Grizzlies. The common trope is that the game slows down come playoff time, but the league's two most successful franchises in the season's most pivotal moments ratcheted it up.

When taking a holistic look at Charles Lee's past coaching stops, the strength of the Charlotte Hornets' current star players, and the various moves Jeff Peterson made this offseason, it becomes abundantly clear that pace will be the name of the game in Buzz City come October.

Pace is the statistic that will define Charlotte's 2025-26 season

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NBA.com defines pace as 'the number of possessions per 48 minutes for a team or player.'

In 2024-25, Charles Lee's first season in charge, the Hornets finished the regular season 23rd in pace, averaging 98.22 possessions per 48 minutes. The reason that Charlotte played at a glacial pace for the majority of the season is simple: a lack of trust in the back court.

To play with pace, a five-man unit needs a leader to orchestrate its attack. With LaMelo Ball and Tre Mann unavailable for the majority of the season, Charlotte didn't have a swashbuckling maestro to push the ball in transition and make quick decisions in early-offense scenarios.

With the Hornets' improved back court depth that now includes a mix of wily veterans and intriguing young ball handlers, they should play quicker in 2025-26.

Ball, Mann, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Collin Sexton are all comfortable with the ball in their hands. And while Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, and Liam McNeeley won't spend much time leading the break, the trio of wings are heady play makers that can either splash early shot clock threes or make a sound decision to find a teammate in the right spot.

Defensive deficiencies should lead Charlotte to play faster

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Outside of the Thunder (who are a total outlier in this scenario), each of the top five teams in defensive rating played at a below-average pace in 2024-25.

On the flip side, again, outside of the Thunder who remain an outlier, four of the top five teams in offensive rating played at an above-average pace in 2024-25.

Due to Charlotte's current roster construction, which includes maybe one stout wing defender and a slew of question marks in the front court, they are going to give up a boatload of points this upcoming season. In order to overcome their weaknesses on that end, they'll have to play up tempo and score points at an increased rate.

The quicker tempo will lead to more variance in possessions, something that Lee embraced in 2024-25 with his three-point heavy offensive attack. While the variance may not lead to more wins, it will assuredly lead to an aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball, which will be a welcome sight to those that have struggled through the slog that has been the last decade of Hornets basketball.

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