The Charlotte Hornets Cannot Afford to be Losing Coby White This Summer

When taking a look at the Charlotte Hornets' roster at the end of the 2025-26 season, there are around just five players who should not be wearing another team's colors next season.

Four of the five starters make that cut.

LaMelo Ball put together arguably the best season of his young career, cementing him as the franchise star. Kon Knueppel was just a few votes shy of winning the Rookie of the Year award after putting together the greatest three-point shooting rookie season ever. After a shoulder injury that derailed the beginning of his season, Brandon Miller looked like an All-Star in the second half of the season, and showed promise to a two-way star. Moussa Diabaté was everything the team asked for at the center position, eventually winning the NBA's Hustle Award.

The fifth player was not even a member of the Hornets to begin the season.

On the day of the NBA Trade Deadline, it was apparent that Charlotte would be making moves to acquire a backup guard for LaMelo Ball. As talented as Collin Sexton was, the team's offense seemingly always struggled with Ball off the floor, and someone was needed to come in and keep the offense afloat during those minutes.

President of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson acted swiftly, sending Sexton to the Chicago Bulls for Coby White. White was everything the Hornets asked for and more, as the team was not only 7.3 points/per 100 possessions better than their opponent with him on the floor versus off, but the offense was 10.3 points/per 100 better than their opponent with him on and Ball off.

In fact, the offense was better with Coby White on and LaMelo Ball off than it was with LaMelo Ball ever on. He was that much of a ceiling raiser for the Hornets.

In 21 games for the Hornets, Coby averaged 15.6 points, 3.0 assists, and shot 39.1% from three. He played a pivotal role in securing the Hornets' first postseason victory in a decade, where White hit multiple clutch shots in a 127-126 victory.

The former UNC guard is now slated for free agency, where he will be on the market for the first time in his young career.

Although the Hornets will likely retain White, Mike Scotto of HoopsHype dropped an interesting quote in an article released on Wednesday.

With Charlotte considering a starting-caliber center upgrade, other centers besides Sabonis are on their radar, including Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton, league sources told HoopsHype. In addition, it’s worth noting that the Nets have expressed interest in Hornets free agent guard Coby White in the past when he was on the Chicago Bulls, sources said.

While the Nets have the necessary cap space to pursue White and other players outright, could both teams discuss a sign-and-trade deal involving the two players if Brooklyn uses its cap space on other players?

While it's not shocking that the Hornets have interest in upgrading at the center position, it seems unlikely that the team would sacrifice a key bench piece for someone like Claxton. The Hornets' bench already has it's struggles, and removing a player of White's caliber would further hurt it.

Charlotte's interest in upgrading at the center position is understandable, but moving White in a sign-and-trade for Claxton causes more problems than it solves. Coby has proved that he has the ability to stabilize the offense when Ball sits, a role that the Hornets have had struggles in filling for years. With Charlotte's lack of proven scoring depth, as well as White's impact after arriving, retaining him should remain a higher priority than pursuing a center who would overalap with Moussa and Ryan Kalkbrenner.

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