The Hornets Have Too Many Contracts and Must Make More Moves

The Charlotte Hornets have added a lot of players this offseason. They brought in Christian Anderson Jr., Hannes Steinbach, Royce O'Neale, Grayson Allen, Naz Reid, and Dorian Finney-Smith. They only lost Miles Bridges, Josh Green, and LaMelo Ball.

NBA insider Sam Vecenie pointed out that the Hornets have 16 guaranteed contracts, which is above the NBA's limit. They need to get rid of, for lack of a better term, three players.

Vecenie said, "I would imagine that this roster isn't done yet. I would bet there's some sort of deal that Jeff Peterson comes up with at some point just to even out the roster."

🎙️ @Sam_Vecenie: "Charlotte is another team with 16 guaranteed contracts... I would imagine that this roster isn't done yet. I would bet there's some sort of deal that Jeff Peterson comes up with at some point just to even out the roster." 🤔

"Can you move a Royce O'Neale for a… pic.twitter.com/eAYx1TpNfT
— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) July 20, 2026

Whatever Peterson does, he has to do something. In fact, he has to do multiple somethings. The simplest path forward is to simply waive players, but that's not Peterson's style. He's been able to extract value from unexpected places so far as Hornets GM.

We expect nothing less this time around. While three trades to clean up the roster are unlikely, we do think that three moves could be in order.

Buyout Dorian Finney-Smith

Dorian Finney-Smith has just one year of guaranteed money, so he could be bought out and the Hornets could just eat the money. It's not ideal, but his salary is not exactly easy to expend. The Houston Rockets paid three second-round picks just to get off of it.

Finney-Smith's defense could be valuable, and he could rebuild his value as a shooter in Charles Lee's system, but the Hornets just don't have the luxury of waiting for that to happen. They have to make moves now, and this one makes the most sense.

Trade Tre Mann

Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann (23) during pregame warm ups against the New Orleans Pelicans | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Tre Mann's contract isn't an albatross, and he's still young. Some team out there might be willing to give him a shot for a very cheap trade return. The Hornets could flip Mann for some future second-round picks, perhaps including some of their own as well.

Ultimately, this would be addition by subtraction. Mann was borderline unplayable last year, so almost anyone would be more deserving of the minutes. It would give those minutes to someone who needs them and clear a roster spot to get closer to compliance.

Flip Royce O'Neale

Vecenie mentioned flipping Grayson Allen if the Hornets believe Liam McNeeley can fill his role, which he probably can. But I believe the Hornets love Allen's shooting and do not want to lose it, and having both him and McNeeley could be good.

That makes O'Neale the likeliest flip candidate. He can shoot as well, but not on Allen's level. O'Neale might also have a little more value since he costs almost $8 million less than Allen. It would be easier to move his contract, and it might bring back a little more in return, too.

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