What grade did the Hornets receive for their offseason?

There are not a lot of people who are fans of how the Charlotte Hornets approached this past offseason. A controversial mix of retaining one player in particular and making an unexpected pick in this past draft has led to a less-than-stellar grade appearing on Sir Charles in Charge. Author Michael Saenz did not hold back when assessing the Hornets’ process.

"“The LaMelo Ball extension was probably necessary but I’m still not sold on him as a long-term star. But I get they kind of had to lock him up before new management stepped in. I also didn’t love the re-signing of Miles Bridges. I get that he’s a talented young player but that’s probably a situation they should’ve passed on. There’s no way the Hornets are that desperate, right?And then there was the selection of Brandon Miller over Scoot Henderson. Maybe this is a move that ends up paying off in the long run but I’m not a believer in it yet. In fairness, I was a Scoot fan ahead of the draft.”"

Taking all of this into consideration, it is not a surprise to see the Hornets receive a “C+” grade from Saenz. The criticisms coming in Charlotte’s direction are incredibly valid. LaMelo Ball is an exciting player, but whether he is a true superstar or simply a really good player is still a question that needs answering. The situation involving Miles Bridges is far from ideal. Bridges is a talented player but has some very notable off-the-court legal issues. There is a reason why Bridges returned to Charlotte on his current contract and it has very little to do with his ability on the court.

As far as selecting Brandon Miller over Scoot Henderson is concerned, nobody knows if they made the right decision yet. Saenz states that he was a fan of Henderson before the draft, which leads to a bit of bias in this area. Preferring one player over another is fine and mostly expected when evaluating draft prospects. But no one truly knows if they made a mistake by passing over Henderson in favor of Miller.

This upcoming season could go either way. There are plenty of unknowns up and down the roster. The level of variance with this team is incredibly large and could lead to the Hornets competing for some level of postseason play or being one of the worst teams in the league. Whether they live up to or fall well short of the internal expectations will be found out once the season starts.