Charles Lee gives evaluation of Hornets' preseason, biggest takeaway + more

Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee discusses the end of preseason play.

Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Thursday night, the Charlotte Hornets wrapped up preseason action with a disappointing 121-116 loss to the Indiana Pacers in overtime.

While it may not have been the result that head coach Charles Lee wanted, he has to be pleased with what he's seen from this group in five games, especially from some of the young guys who are not expected to have a big role right out of the gates such as first-round pick Tidjane Salaün.

Shortly following the game, Lee caught up with the Hornets media to give a brief summarization of his thoughts on the preseason in addition to the return of veteran Cody Martin who made his season debut after missing the first four games recovering from a wrist sprain and thumb laceration.

Here's what the first-year head coach had to say.

Evaluation of rookies in the preseason

“As a whole team, we had a great preseason. I think that we’ve been in so many different situations throughout the preseason playing physical teams, playing playoff caliber teams, playing against teams that play really fast in transition, and we’ve also got to play a lot of different lineups. Our rookies and our young guys have got to play a lot of minutes and this is valuable experience, valuable game minutes for them to get and I think they handled it really well.”

Any other takeaways from the preseason

The other thing that makes me excited is to watch the togetherness of the whole group. Like, even when the young guys are out there the rest of our bench is in timeouts talking to guys or over there cheering them on. I just loved the whole camaraderie and everything that happened for us during the preseason.”

Getting Cody Martin back

“My gosh. It’s like a breath of fresh air. We talk all the time about just competitors and being consistent competitors and as you saw, he brings another level of competition and winning plays to our team. All of his offensive rebounds, the defensive intensity that he plays with, and the knowledge of just the league in general. He understands tendencies and where to be. And offensively, I think he adds a lot of value too. It’s just so nice to have another solid basketball player out there.”

What's next?

The Hornets have returned to Charlotte and will begin preparation for the 2024-25 season opener which is next Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets, marking the official start of the Charles Lee era.

After dropping the preseason opener to Utah, the Rockets reeled off three straight wins to close out preseason play with victories over Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and San Antonio.

The Hornets and Rockets will throw the ball up in the air at 8 p.m. EST.

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