Last Updated on May 26, 2025 2:58 pm by Mike Passador | Published: May 26, 2025

The Hornets’ biggest move heading into 2024-25 came behind the bench, with Celtics assistant Charles Lee hired to energize and update a team that was starting to feel stale despite plenty of youth on the roster. The hope was that a new, fresh voice coupled with better health for LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams could create some progress. Brandon Miller was set for a larger role and Charlotte re-signed Miles Bridges to more or less get the band back together.

How’d It Go?

Well, you are reading about the Hornets as the third entry in the Season Wrap series, so…

The Hornets were 6-14 by the end of November and the low quality of the Eastern Conference was really the only thing keeping faint hopes alive. Charlotte proceeded to go 1-9 in December, and the tank was back on in full force from there. We don’t know how things would’ve unfolded had the Hornets had all their rotation available with time to grasp Lee’s system, however, as injuries once again made a mess of the campaign in Charlotte.

Mark Williams, after a disastrous 2023-24 season, missed the first 20 games of the year with left foot problems. Brandon Miller appeared ready for a step forward in his sophomore year but ended up tearing a right wrist ligament and missed the final 45 games of the year. LaMelo Ball was able to suit up in 47 games after playing in just 22 and 36 the two seasons prior, but still missed nearly half the season and underwent “minor procedures” on his ankle and wrist late in the year. Even secondary players were not spared; Grant Williams was off to a nice start but tore his right ACL in November. The Hornets had just four players appear in more than 60 games: Miles Bridges, Josh Green, Moussa Diabate and Seth Curry.

With such a revolving door, it was hard for the Hornets to generate any real momentum throughout the season. They were able to add some futures at the deadline while taking on the contract of Jusuf Nurkic, but the big midseason storyline was a rescinded trade that would’ve sent Mark Williams to the Lakers. The Lakers’ doctors failed Williams’ physical, however, leading to a bit of an awkward return to Charlotte for a young player who has looked like part of the potential solution (when healthy).

The injury to Miller was a major blow as Ball was relatively healthy and Williams looked good after a ramp-up; the Hornets got almost no reps with their expected core guys all together for basically the third year running. Not every losing season is a meaningless one, but this one comes close. Hopefully the groundwork that Lee laid will establish a new culture to get the Hornets back on the map, even if the main characters weren’t around to soak it all in.

Coaching

Charles Lee should be around for the long haul, so we’re not going to take wins and losses too seriously especially given the many injuries afflicting the Hornets (yet again) this season. Lee got strong reviews from his players for his attitude and positivity — no small feat in another season that was over early — and he did well to modernize the team’s style of play.

There was some defensive improvement, as Charlotte went from a 119.2 defensive rating in 2023-24 to a 115.7 mark this year — still 25th, but a marked gain. The team slipped in terms of offensive rating but some of that can be chalked up to injuries and inconsistent lineups, and they still improved their offensive rating overall. Given that Lee’s previous stop was Boston, it should come as no surprise that Charlotte went from 34.0 to 38.3 3-point attempts per game. It’ll take time to instill a new philosophy and we might not be able to draw any serious conclusions until the Hornets actually have a healthy roster for an extended stretch of time, but you can see Lee’s fingerprints on the squad.

The Players

LaMelo Ball

PG, Charlotte Hornets

ADP: 21.9/28.0 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 94/139 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 27/59 (8/9-cat)

If you want to find out if your leaguemates are optimists or pessimists, ask them about LaMelo Ball’s season. He was an early-round guy in 8-cat scoring with career-highs in points and triples! But he saw declines in assists and steals, his two most important categories. But he was also around; Ball played games in March! But he still only played 47. That’s the most he’s played since 2021-22! It’s still 47 games. His longest absence was 10 games, and that came at the very end of the season! But it was still 47 games, and he left early because he needed surgery on his ankle and wrist.

You can be as kind or as frustrated with Ball as you’d like. There was some good and there was some bad, as you get with most players, but the Hornets were still atrocious and Ball battled inefficiency problems (and shot-selection issues) while attempting to carry the team on his back. Overall, while the improved availability was an important step, it still wasn’t good enough, and Ball isn’t helped out by the fact that his play cratered after the All-Star break. In his last 24 games of the season, Ball posted top-65/120 value in 8/9-cat, way off the mark for a guy who has been treated as a top-20 player in the past. Grinding out 20.1 points on .371 shooting from the field will do that to you.

How much of Ball’s statistical drawbacks resulted from the Hornets’ depleted roster, especially late in the season? That’s the kind of question that can only be answered definitively with hindsight. As for 2024-25, you’d be hard-pressed to find a manager that was satisfied with this return for a second- or third-round pick. If he was around for 10 more games it’d be easier to make a case, but it didn’t happen.

Mark Williams

C, Charlotte Hornets

ADP: 99.8/116.1 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 137/120 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 56/40 (8/9-cat)

Well, on the court Williams was mostly good. He set career-bests in all the standard fantasy categories aside from steals and FG% and, like many of his teammates, benefited from more time alongside LaMelo Ball. Williams was a lot more involved offensively than we had seen in the past; entering this year he had three career games of 20-plus points and this season he had eight such games and two of 30-plus for good measure. Despite the improvement and solid fantasy success, the story of Williams’ season was once again injuries.

He missed the first 20 games of the year with a left foot injury and took about three weeks to get back up to speed thereafter, needing seven games back in the lineup before hitting the 20-minute mark. He missed some time in late January for injury management of the same issue and then was all set to be traded to the Lakers. It was a great development from multiple angles — the Lakers got the missing piece for their roster, Williams was going to play a key role with LeBron James and Luka Doncic sending him lobs, and he wasn’t going to get shut down. Until the Lakers couldn’t pass his physical, rescinding the trade. It made for an awkward return to the Hornets but to Williams’ credit, he went right back to work. He managed to post top-40 value after the All-Star break and actually averaged more playing time than prior to the trade fiasco. Maybe the Hornets were looking to prove a point about his health. Whatever the case, fantasy GMs will take it.

That the Hornets entertained trading Williams at all could make for an uncomfortable work environment going forward but the big man was able to offer a glimpse at his fantasy ceiling, and it looked darn good.

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Mike Passador

Mike graduated from Boston University’s Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.

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