HC Charles Lee Gets Honest on Hornets' Offseason Moves

The Charlotte Hornets have been one of the most active teams this offseason, making multiple trades and landing Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr. in the first round of the draft. While Charlotte moved on from All-Star guard LaMelo Ball and starting forward Miles Bridges, they still have a talented roster with a ton of young players. "I'm with Coby (White). We'll shock some people. We'll be better than people realize," Hornets head coach Charles Lee said. "We were busy this offseason. I think the Hornets got better, and obviously change is gonna be tough for some people, but overall the mindset is how do we just keep moving this thing in the right direction? The Carolinas deserve a really good basketball product, and we wanna have something that's sustainable. I think that we can year after year be competing in the playoffs for a championship, and so that's the road that we're going down." Charlotte has a great foundation to build on with Rookie of the Year runner-up Kon Knueppel and forward Brandon Miller. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Knueppel established himself as a star in his rookie season, averaging 18.5 points per game along with 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists. The 21-year-old wing shot an efficient 47.5 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from three. Miller is also a core piece, as he averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a steal per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the floor and 38.3 percent from behind the arc. With Knueppel and Miller as the leaders, plus a ton of other young talent on the roster, the Hornets could make a Play-In appearance for the second straight season despite moving on from Ball. Although the young core is in place, Charlotte also added a veteran in a trade on Friday, acquiring 32-year-old guard Dennis Schroder. Schroder could be a quality backup point guard behind Coby White.  He is coming off a season in which he appeared in 70 games, averaging 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game, shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from distance. While the Hornets aren't considered a contender, they have the talent on the roster to be a competitive team and make it back to the Play-In Tournament.