The Charlotte Hornets need to play with a quicker pace; there's no doubt about it. However, faster does not always mean better, as they still have to be mindful about looking for high shot quality. Charles Lee might have a solution for it, though, as he has preached to his players to release the inbounds pass more hurriedly, presumably to catch defenses off guard.
The Hornets coach talked about the matter with the media during a recent practice, emphasizing that he has loved the pace the team has been playing at and specifically discussing how they can execute quicker inbounds.
Matt Alquiza of Sports Illustrated shared an example of Charlotte advancing the ball rapidly during one offensive possession in its preseason opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder, resulting in a mismatch for Tre Mann at the other end of the floor.
Charles Lee was asked about pace again today practice (h/t @JeremyGrandiso1)
— Matt Alquiza (@malquiza8) October 8, 2025
He spoke specifically about quick inbounds and advancing the ball with the pass.
Here’s a great example of Charlotte getting up the floor quickly after a make allowing Tre Mann to attack a mismatch pic.twitter.com/18cdP1Xhck
It remains to be seen whether the Hornets can continue to push the ball consistently against stingier defenses once the regular season starts. They will have to if they want to improve in various offensive metrics, including average points and assists, where they placed 30th and 26th, respectively. It's worth noting that the squad also ranked last in both field-goal percentage and fastbreak scoring.
While the Hornets would probably not want to rely too much on running the break, the reality is that, given the roster construction, half-court sets might not be their bread and butter for the foreseeable future. They would need LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller to be more effective in initiating the offense and find another playmaker who can set teammates up for better scoring opportunities.
Numbers back up the need for Charlotte to play faster
Aside from the personnel limitation, there is logic behind Lee telling his crew to try for more transition points, or just get to their offense faster in general.
The Hornets' tracking stats from the 2024-25 season indicate they have higher field goal percentages when they don't use up too much of the shot clock. For instance, they shot nearly 50 percent on shots that were attempted very early in the shot clock (18 seconds or more). The team's efficiency significantly dipped (42.5 percent) on field-goal tries that came within the 18-second to 15-second range.
Interestingly, nearly half of Charlotte's field-goal attempts transpired with 15 to seven seconds left on the shot clock, although it converted just 42.3 percent of those shots. Its shooting percentage even worsened when it had to take up shots much later in the possession.
Hopefully, the Hornets understand the importance of heeding Lee's message. Otherwise, they would continue to make it tougher for themselves to score and improve on last season's abysmal offense.