Charlotte reshape after LaMelo Ball
The Hornets won 44 games before missing the playoffs. Without LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, Charles Lee must bring together Coby White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and his new signings within a new structure.
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Charlotte edged closer to the playoffs without getting in. Ninth in the East with 44 wins and 38 defeats in 2025–2026, the Hornets cleared the first hurdle of the play-in before losing the second. The progress is real, but the final step is still to be climbed.
Charles Lee must now reach the playoffs with a heavily remodelled team. LaMelo Ball has joined Minnesota and Miles Bridges Phoenix. Two players who held important roles in the attack have left the group, so this pre-season is not a case of adding a few reinforcements to an unchanged collective.
44-38 regular-season record
points scored per 100 possessions
points conceded per 100 possessions
point margin per 100 possessions
per game: 12.8 offensive, 33.3 defensive
per game, at 37.8% shooting
Rankings out of 30 teams, 2025–2026 regular season.
One step cleared, the last one missed
Score margin, game by game
After beating Miami, Charlotte lost the game for the 8th seed. The Hornets missed the playoffs for a tenth consecutive season, the longest active streak in the NBA.
Reid and the new guards change the options
Naz Reid arrives from Minnesota, while Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale come from Phoenix. Dennis Schröder gives another option at point guard. Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson are among the young additions. Around them, Charlotte keep Coby White, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel, among others.
- →Naz ReidMinnesota · big man who can shoot from deep
- →
- →Dennis SchröderAnother option at point guard
- →
- ←LaMelo BallMinnesota · 20.1 points, 7.1 assists in 2025–2026
- ←Miles BridgesPhoenix · 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds
- ←Dorian Finney-SmithAtlanta · against Buddy Hield and Ryan Nembhard (22 September)
- ←Buddy HieldChicago · against Rob Dillingham (27 September)
Reid can stretch the floor with his outside shooting. For the guards, that means more chances to attack the basket when an opposing big man has to step out to defend. Allen adds a threat from long range, O’Neale an option on the wings and Schröder a solution to run the offence. These additions do not yet settle Lee’s rotation.
Trades continued in September: Dorian Finney-Smith joined Atlanta in exchange for Buddy Hield and Ryan Nembhard. Hield was then moved on to Chicago in the deal that brought in Rob Dillingham. These successive moves need to be kept separate from the current preparation list.
The points Ball and Bridges leave behind
Points per game, 2025–2026 regular season. Ball and Bridges combined for 37.2 points per game.
Brandon Miller, top scorer at 23
Ball’s departure changes the question facing the main perimeter players. Miller and Knueppel cannot simply wait for a playmaker to set up a shot for them. They must also help the team create chances, read what the defence gives them and find the better-placed teammate.
17 % of the team's points
12 % of the team's assists
Shares calculated by SNA from per-game averages (Miller: 65 games). Order of magnitude, not an official statistic. Age according to the SNA profile.
Who will create the shots?
The playmakers of 2025–2026
Assists per game, 2025–2026 regular season. No one on the current roster came close to Ball's 7.1 assists.
The three-point shot, player by player
Red line: Charlotte average, 37.8%. Attempts per game. Allen, O’Neale and Reid: 2025–2026 season with their former team.
Miller and Knueppel must take on more responsibility
White and Schröder give two options to start the attacks. Alongside them, Sion James and Pat Connaughton complete the perimeter choices. On the wings, Lee also has Grant Williams, Tidjane Salaün and Liam McNeeley. Competition is stiff, particularly for the young players: each will have to find a role that serves the collective.
Ball handling
Perimeter
On the wings
Inside
- Ryan Kalkbrenner (or Diabaté depending on pairings)
- Hannes Steinbach (profile to develop)
Doubtful as of 14 October
Our reading of the group, not an official starting five. Each player opens his SNA profile.
Inside, Reid does not replace every function of his teammates. Moussa Diabaté and Ryan Kalkbrenner provide other anchors near the rim and on the boards. Steinbach adds a profile to develop. The pecking order one can envisage puts White, Knueppel and Miller at the heart of the perimeter game, Reid among the main big men, with Diabaté or Kalkbrenner depending on the pairings. That is our reading of the group, not an official starting five.
The group: 21 players
The official list contains 21 players. It describes the preparation group, with positions taken from the official list and versatile profiles, without any guarantee that all will be kept or that they will get the same playing time.
| Player | Status | Pts | Reb | Ast | 3PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guards | |||||
| Coby White | Doubtful | 15.6 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 39.1 % |
| Sion James | 5.4 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 35.2 % | |
| Christian Anderson | Young reinforcement | – | – | – | – |
| Kon Knueppel | Doubtful | 18.5 | 5.3 | 3.4 | 42.5 % |
| Grayson Allen | New signing · Phoenix | 16.5 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 34.9 % |
| Dennis Schröder | New signing | 10.8 | 2.7 | 4.9 | 32.9 % |
| Pat Connaughton | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 40.4 % | |
| Kylan Boswell | – | – | – | – | |
| Jarkel Joiner | – | – | – | – | |
| Forwards | |||||
| Royce O’Neale | Rookie · Phoenix | 9.8 | 4.8 | 2.7 | 40.8 % |
| Grant Williams | 7.0 | 3.9 | 1.6 | 38.8 % | |
| Moussa Diabaté | 7.9 | 8.7 | 1.9 | – | |
| Hannes Steinbach | Young addition | – | – | – | – |
| Brandon Miller | Top scorer | 20.2 | 4.9 | 3.3 | 38.3 % |
| Tidjane Salaün | 6.0 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 43.4 % | |
| Liam McNeeley | 4.3 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 40.0 % | |
| Wyatt Fricks | – | – | – | – | |
| Centres and bigs | |||||
| Ryan Kalkbrenner | 7.6 | 5.5 | 0.8 | – | |
| Naz Reid | Rookie · Minnesota | 13.6 | 6.2 | 2.2 | 36.2 % |
| PJ Hall | 6.1 | 5.5 | 0.7 | – | |
2025–26 regular-season averages, with Charlotte unless stated. Allen and O’Neale: Phoenix; Reid: Minnesota; Schröder: Sacramento then Cleveland (70 games); White: 21 games with Charlotte. The list also includes Michael Ajayi among the guards: he completes the 20 players in the table above, but does not yet have an SNA profile. White and Knueppel are listed as doubtful on their SNA profiles as of 14 October. “–”: no NBA game in 2025–26, sample too small or data not verified. Each name opens the player's SNA profile.
Keep the rebounding, rebuild the creation
Charlotte have an asset to protect: their 46.1 rebounds per game ranked them fifth in the NBA in 2025–2026. An offensive rebound gives a second chance to score; a defensive rebound ends the opposition’s possession. For a team searching for new bearings, those boards can prevent a reliance on outside shooting alone.
The rebounders
Rebounds per game, 2025–26 regular season. Diabaté remains the cornerstone of the rebounding; Reid makes up for some of what Bridges and Ball took.
The risk lies elsewhere: having several players able to score does not guarantee a well-organised attack. Without Ball, responsibilities must be clear enough for everyone to know when to create and when to let a teammate take over. Availability also remains to be checked: White and Knueppel are listed as doubtful on the SNA profile page checked on 14 October.
The strengths
- Rebounding: 46.1 per game, 5th in the NBA, with Diabaté (8.7) at the heart of it.
- An attack that is already efficient: 5th offensive rating in the league in 2025–26.
- Shooters: Knueppel (42.5%), O’Neale, White, and Reid, who stretches the floor.
- Several options to get the attack going: White and Schröder.
The work to do
- Replacing Ball's creation (7.1 assists per game).
- Clear enough roles to know who creates and who passes the baton.
- Making room for the young players in a crowded rotation.
- Availability: White and Knueppel doubtful as of 14 October.
For SNA, the logical ambition is to get back to the play-in and, this time, go all the way to the playoffs.
Having several players who can score does not guarantee a well-organised attack. Without Ball, everyone must know when to create and when to let a team-mate take over.
Thursday 22 October 2026 at 00:30, Brazzaville time · match centre
- The team’s live schedule appears here.
Countdown to tip-off.