One of the biggest what-ifs of the Charlotte Hornets' 2024-25 campaign is Tre Mann. The electric scoring guard was on his way to becoming a staple on the team's rotation, a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, and being handsomely paid in the summer as a restricted free agent.
Unfortunately, he sustained a mysterious back injury that was supposed to sideline him just a few weeks back in November. However, the weeks turned into months without the organization being able to fully explain the reason behind his absence. The injury report eventually showed that Mann had a herniated disc, and the combo guard effectively had a season-ending injury after playing just 13 games.
Only time will tell if he has already played his last contest in a Hornets uniform. It will depend on whether he accepts the team's qualifying offer to forgo restricted free agency this summer and become an unrestricted FA next year. Of course, he can also choose to be a restricted free agent, which would give Charlotte the right to match any offer he would receive and sign.
Nets have the resources to take Tre Mann from Hornets
The potential problem for Buzz City is that another team can swoop in and steal Mann with a hefty contract offer that Charlotte wouldn't be able to afford to match due to its non-existent cap space. The franchise has a lot of money tied up to LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Jusuf Nurkic, Josh Green, and Grant Williams next season, and it's worth noting that the front office should already be preparing the contract extensions for Mark Williams, if it doesn't trade him, and Brandon Miller in the next couple of years.
So, another club with enough cap space, particularly the Brooklyn Nets, could decide to mess up Charlotte's plan. For now, it's unclear how the Nets view Mann. However, their lack of shot-creators could push them to pursue the Hornets reserve, who registered 21.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per match on 47.0 percent shooting in the first five contests of the regular season.
The 24-year-old guard appears intent on running it back with the Hive, even predicting that a playoff appearance is coming soon for the squad.
But if Brooklyn or another team makes it financially implausible for the Hornets to bring Mann back, the fans might have no choice but to bid him farewell.
In that case, maybe Nick Smith Jr. could develop his game enough to permanently take over the role that had been Mann's to start the 2024-25 campaign. The Hornets draftee has a lot of work to do, though, because his efficiency from the field was significantly worse than his teammate's.