All Hornets

Will the Charlotte Hornets be buyers or sellers at next season's trade deadline?

An early prediction on what Jeff Peterson will do at the deadline.

Schuyler Callihan

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
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The expectation is that the Charlotte Hornets will be vying for a spot in the postseason in 2024-25. It's unlikely that they make the jump all the way into the top six, avoiding the play-in tournament, but landing somewhere between the seven and ten seed of the Eastern Conference feels attainable.

If the Hornets are hovering somewhere around the bottom of the play-in, say the nine or ten seed but could easily fall out, it will certainly impact Jeff Peterson's decision-making at the trade deadline, as will any situation.

As I've stated before, I don't believe the Hornets are all that motivated to make a push for the playoffs. If they land outside of the top 14 picks for the 2025 draft, their first-round selection will be sent to the San Antonio Spurs. If it does land in the lottery, they'll send a couple of second rounders to San Antonio instead.

Even in a world where the Hornets stay healthy and perhaps surprise everyone with how good they can be at full strength, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to pursuit a big-time addition at the deadline. Mitch Kupchak made some minor deals at the deadline when he was in the Hornets' main chair that improved the team but didn't take on a lot of salary, nor did he part with any big assets. Think of Montrezl Harrell, for example.

So for this week's fan poll, we asked those on X what they predict the Hornets will do at the trade deadline. Will they be buyers? Sellers? Or a little bit of both?

38.9% of the voters said sellers, 35.2% sided with buyers, and 25.9% say buyers and sellers.

This past season, the Hornets did a little of both. They sent out veterans Gordon Hayward, PJ Washington, and Terry Rozier but brought in some intriguing pieces such as Seth Curry, Grant Williams, Tre Mann, Vasilije Micic, and more.

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

schuylercallihan(at)gmail.com  Twitter:@Callihan_ Schuyler Callihan is the lead publisher of Mountaineers Now, All Panthers, and All Hornets on FanNation/Sports Illustrated. He took over publishing duties of All Panthers in 2020 and wanted to expand his professional coverage in the Queen City by running the operations at All Hornets. Schuyler attended Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia before finishing up his schooling at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina. The Wheeling, West Virginia native made the move to North Carolina in 2015 and has been in Charlotte since 2021.

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