Charlotte Hornets: 3 reasons why team will go to the playoffs next season

Incoming Free Agency Talent

Besides the draft, free agency will play a huge role in the Hornets’ success heading into next season. What’s new this year is that the team will finally be clearing a couple of unnecessarily high contracts.

Assuming that Nicolas Batum accepts his $25 million dollar player-option (it would be shocking if he doesn’t), the team should be looking at having over $30 million in cap space. In recent years, the Hornets have not had a lot of cap space to work with in free agency.

When free agency starts, the Hornets will have the option to go after a decent player. However, the team may not be looking to break the bank, so a player will really have to stand out if they want to be offered a contract by the Hornets.

Free agency could also be improved for the Hornets due to Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance” documentary. This documentary really moved many people, and it could motivate free agents to come to Charlotte to play for Jordan.

Even though Mitch Kupchak told the media that the team would not be building through free agency, I suspect that he will still look at targeting quality players.

Heading into next season, I expect the Charlotte Hornets to be an even better team. The team proved a lot toward the end of the season, and I think their small amount of success will carry over into next season.