Three Reasons Why the Charlotte Hornets Have a Bright Future

Sooner than later, the Charlotte Hornets are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference.

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I understand why no one is talking much about the Charlotte Hornets' potential in 2024-25, but why not the years ahead? There are several reasons why the Hornets are on track to become a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference in the near future, but I went into detail about the main three.

Extremely Talented Core

We can sit here and talk about health all day, but we're not going to do that. Yes, it's a major factor for whether or not this team will ever take that next step, but the health concern is implied when talking about this bunch. LaMelo Ball is a unique talent and one that every NBA team would love to have. A 6'7" guard who can handle it, shoot it, and is unselfish to the nth degree. Combine that with a high-level scorer in Brandon Miller, who looks to be a special player in his own right and all of a sudden you have something cooking. Miles Bridges is often the forgotten piece in all of this, but he's still relatively young too. He's going to average around 20 points and seven boards a night which is really solid production for an undersized power forward. And the final piece, Mark Williams, has shown some flashes of being a future two-way star in the league. We won't even get into the conversation about Tidjane Salaün because it's so early in his career and there's a lot of unknowns there, but if he hits, watch out.

The Right Coach

I liked Steve Clifford a lot. He's a really good dude, knows his basketball, and was highly respected around the league. That being said, everyone knew that his return to Charlotte was just a band-aid or a bridge to the long-term solution at head coach. This time around, the Hornets went with a young, defensive-minded coach in Charles Lee who already has two championship rings to his resume. From the day he was introduced as the next head coach, it was evident that he had the players' trust and respect. Actually, it even predates the initial presser. A few members of the team went to the final game of the NBA Finals to cheer on and eventually congratulate their future leader. I normally don't give out glowing reviews for first-time head coaches, but this is a home run hire.

Competitive Owners

This isn't to say Michael Jordan didn't want to win, but Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin are fully committed to making this a premier NBA franchise. It's been a repeated goal of their since the day the first spoke to the media in Charlotte and they wasted very little time putting their money where their mouth is. Spectrum Center is undergoing massive renovations over the course of a two-year span, and a state-of-the-art practice facility is next on their to-do list. They are very passionate about turning this organization around and are willing to do whatever it takes while not stepping on the toes of Jeff Peterson, Charles Lee, and other key members of the Hornets' front office.

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