How much more can be said about how the 2023-24 season has played out for the Charlotte Hornets? This was a team that needed everything, major emphasis on the word everything, to go right in order to flirt with making qualifying for some form of postseason play, whether that be the Play-In Tournament or the actual playoffs.
This is a Hornets team that is currently without their best player in LaMelo Ball and is currently seeing the little depth this roster has be tested beyond their means. The additional loss of second-year big man Mark Williams is not helping matters as Charlotte's big men who usually reside as part of their bench unit, are overpowered on a nightly basis.
While there are a few bright spots on this current version of the Hornets, mainly Brandon Miller, it is simply not enough to expect anything of substance at this current moment in time. Charlotte has a lot of issues that are only being magnified during the absences of two of their best young players, and that does not bode well for their future.
The time at which this team needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror and realize that this season will not result in anything of consequence has long since passed. In fact, that moment may have in fact been when Ball went down with the ankle injury that is going to keep him out of action for a not insignificant amount of time.
There is very little time, if any, for Charlotte to find a way to not be a complete afterthought this season. This team is going to have to play absolutely perfectly if they are going to avoid an absolute disaster, and that may be too much of an ask, given the current group of players available to them and their relative skillsets.