Should Charlotte tank or push for the playoffs? Weighing the Hornets' future path

Matt Alquiza | 4 Hours Ago

Matt Marton-Imagn Images

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Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets are approaching a crossroads as the NBA season meanders on. As it stands, the team's 7-19 record is the fifth worst in the league, only .5 games ahead the Toronto Raptors for the league's fourth worst. A rash of injuries and late game woes in Charles Lee's first season have doomed the Hornets to their current standing. It's been a bit unavoidable.

On the other hand, Charlotte only sits 3.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons who currently hold the last Play-In Tournament spot as the Eastern Conference's number ten seed. When healthy, the Hornets employ the requisite talent to leap up the standings and make a play for that Play-In spot in the second half of the season.

The crossroads can be defined in a simple question: to tank, or not to tank? Let's discuss each side of the argument.

The pro-tanking argument for Charlotte

The pro-tanking argument is easy: the Charlotte Hornets still need to accrue talent.

When healthy, Charlotte's starting five is solid. LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Josh Green, Miles Bridges, and Mark Williams make up a competitive unit that fits together on paper. However, upgrades can still be made in that group, as well as on the Hornets' bench.

The 2025 NBA Draft is predicted to be loaded at the top. A star-studded list of prospects including Duke's Cooper Flagg, Rutgers' Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, and a host of other scoring guards and wings could prove the Hornets with the key that unlocks a future of competitive basketball in Charlotte. Any of the named players and even a few behind them would slide into Charles Lee's rotation almost immediately and give the Hornets a much-needed two-way boost.

This upcoming draft is Charlotte's best, and potentially last, shot at drafting a top-end prospect to round out their core. As Ball, Miller, Tidjane Salaün, and Williams continue to develop, the Hornets will inevitably win more games, knocking them out of contention for the draft's best talents. On the other hand, if one, two, or all of the aforementioned Hornets stall out, having another top-end hooper in the pipeline will help overcome any stagnation in their current core.

The pro-playoff push argument

The pro-playoff push argument is just as easy to make.

The Hornets core as assembled has never played in a meaningful late-season basketball game. The team's last playoff/play-in push came down the stretch of the 2021-2022 season and ended with a blowout loss in Atlanta. The only current Charlotteans who were on that team are LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, and Cody Martin.

Brandon Miller, Mark Williams, Tidjane Salaün, and most of Charlotte's rotational players outside of Josh Green have yet to play in a playoff type of atmosphere. A late season run into contention that ends in a playoff berth for the Hornets could do wonders for their development and hunger to reach the next step.

Additionally, the fanbase desperately needs to experience winning basketball.

Charlotte as a whole has been locked out of the NFL and NBA playoffs for seven years running, and the dreaded apathetic feeling has washed over the city. Both the Hornets and Panthers fanbases are terrified of dreaming about what can be and hoping for the future because whenever it seems like things are trending in the right direction, the football team gets blown out as favorites or the basketball team loses one of its stars to another injury.

The city is dying for a winner, and the Spectrum Center deserves a shot at cheering their team on in a game that matters. The building is on the precipice of mass-hysteria every time the Hornets are making one of their now patented fourth quarter comebacks, and imagining that atmosphere in a playoff game is an easy thought.

As stated, the team as currently assembled has the requisite talent to make that run, and they're nearing an inflection point if that run will ever materialize. With every loss and every injury the Hornets eke closer to the decision being made for them, but it's far from too late to make a playoff push.

Charlotte's upcoming schedule includes two dates with the Wizards, and matchups with the Sixers and Bulls within their next seven games. Winning four of those five will vault the Hornets up the standings and into the Play-In discussion. Anything less will hurtle them firmly into sell mode as the deadline approaches and into the top of the lottery.