Who's to Blame for Mismanaging LaMelo Ball Hornets Era?

In the 2020 NBA draft, the Charlotte Hornets had some rare lottery luck. One could argue that moving up five spots to the third overall pick and getting LaMelo Ball is the single greatest stroke of lottery luck this oft-cursed team has experienced.

It could be argued that the Hornets should've taken Tyrese Haliburton or Tyrese Maxey instead of Ball, but for the most part, he was the absolute home run selection. The Hornets had lucked into a franchise player.

The next six years did not remotely go to plan, though, and despite turning things around in a big way at the end of that sixth season, the Hornets decided to pull the plug on the Ball era. How did it all go so wrong? Who's to blame?

The Hornets are absolutely to blame, mostly. They were, pre-Jeff Peterson, a horribly run basketball team. Michael Jordan, Mitch Kupchak, and company did not do a good job managing the Ball era. The Hornets had a superstar and just couldn't really help him.

After picking Ball, here are the subsequent first-round draft picks:

2021: James Bouknight
2021: Kai Jones (via New York Knicks)
2022: Mark Williams (traded Jalen Duren two picks prior)
2023: Brandon Miller
2023: Nick Smith Jr.
2024: Tidjane Salaün
2025: Kon Knueppel
2025: Liam McNeeley

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) is helped up off the floor by teammates | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That's not exactly a who's who of basketball players, and there are mistakes littered throughout. In 2021, the Hornets could've had Alperen Sengun, Trey Murphy, Jalen Johnson, or Day'Ron Sharpe.

Mark Williams was a decent player, but in 2022, the Hornets passed on Walker Kessler, Christian Braun, and Peyton Watson. Also, trading Duren (in essence) for Williams has aged like milk.

In 2023, the Hornets made the right choice picking Brandon Miller over Scoot Henderson, but selecting Nick Smith Jr. was a poor move. Brice Sensabaugh and Toumani Camara would've been better, but it is hard to nitpick the 27th overall pick.

The 2024 draft blunder has been beaten to death, but the Hornets took Tidjane Salaün over Donovan Clingan, Zach Edey, Matas Buzelis, Kel'el Ware, Jared McCain, and Ajay Mitchell. Salaün may be good eventually; he's still young. But that didn't help the then-current era of the Hornets.

In 2025, they drafted really well and Ball had his best season. Curious. The Hornets also didn't do well in free agency during the Ball era. The Gordon Hayward deal was a disaster. There weren't many other splashes to help out.

Ball bears some blame for this because of his poor health, but it's hard to blame a player for injuries when, by their very nature, they're not natural. An injury is a freak thing almost every single time. Repeated injuries, though, must prompt some effort to change, and Ball maybe didn't do as much as he could've.

However, competent management, which is Charles Lee and his staff, figured out how to maximize Ball's health and keep him on the floor for 72 games. The coaching during Ball's tenure was not great.

James Borrego did a great job making Ball and those Hornets more competitive, but the Hornets thought he had reached his ceiling. Maybe they were right, and Kenny Atkinson was a fantastic hire.

But when he backed out, everything went downhill. The second Steve Clifford era was not good, and never should've happened. Once the Hornets got Lee involved, things began to turn around. That's no coincidence.

So, Ball certainly had his struggles staying healthy, but the Hornets mismanaged every single other aspect of his tenure. They missed more often than not in the draft, didn't utilize free agency well, and didn't provide him with the right (or good) coaches. And now it's over.

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