The Charlotte Hornets made Kon Knueppel the fourth overall selection in the 2025 NBA Draft on June 25, 2025. Their official watch party was held at The Casey by Beau Monde in Charlotte. By Alex Zietlow
Immersed in his second offseason in charge of reshaping the Charlotte Hornets’ roster, Jeff Peterson described how he anticipated the Hornets’ free agency approach playing out.
Following the NBA Draft, the Hornets president of basketball operations suggested the franchise with the longest current playoff drought in the NBA — nine years and counting — has little intention of doing anything drastic to shake things up.
“I don’t think so,” Peterson said. “As we stand here right now, no. But again, I’ve always got to be strategic and look at everything. So, if something comes my way I’ve got to take a look at it.”
Free agency tips off at 6 p.m. Monday, officially giving the Hornets the green light to continue retooling things after already adding rookies Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner. But things began in earnest on Sunday, when the Hornets traded Jusuf Nurkić to the Utah Jazz for guard Collin Sexton and a 2030 second-round pick.
The Hornets have three free agents in Tre Mann, Seth Curry and Taj Gibson, and roster space is at a premium, leaving the latter two veterans looking in from the outside at the moment. Mann, who missed the majority of 2024-25 with disc irritation in his back, will be a restricted free agent if the Hornets extend the qualifying offer of $6.9 million. That way, any pact Mann signs on the open market can be matched by the Hornets.
There’s also the possibility the Hornets elect not to extend the qualifying offer to Mann because it would give them additional cap space to utilize. They could still work hard to come to agreement on a pact since there aren’t many teams besides the Detroit Pistons that possess the cash to play with under the cap.
“Bringing Tre back is a priority for us,” Peterson said after the first round of the draft. “I’m having conversations with Tre and his representation. So, I don’t see any reason why he’s not back.”
Nov 6, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann (23) handles the ball against the Detroit Pistons during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Jim Dedmon USA TODAY NETWORK
As things stand heading into free agency, the Hornets don’t have a whole lot of practical space below the projected cap of $154.6 million, which is why several transactions are required once the new league year kicks in on Monday. There will likely be additional moves to iron out before they can get their cap sheet for 2025-26 set.
The Hornets can still offer either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $14.1 million per season or the bi-annual of $5.6 million, providing them with another avenue to mine the free agent market.
Really, though, if Charlotte makes any significant changes it would likely be another trade similar to Sunday’s with Utah and the draft-day move sending Mark Williams to Phoenix. And it could involve trading the team’s most durable player from a season ago: Miles Bridges.
Bridges has two seasons remaining on his three-year, $75 million deal and holds the highest value of anyone on their roster this side of star guard LaMelo Ball and rising star Brandon Miller. Bridges would bring the best return of assets for Peterson & Co., and it’s why one league source suggested he could be on the Hornets’ same list of candidates to be traded that included Williams.
Plenty of activity has already occurred in the Southeast Division, with Atlanta and Orlando making moves over the past few weeks, acquiring talent that could keep Hawks and Magic along with the Miami Heat far ahead of the Hornets in the divisional pecking order.
But that apparently still isn’t going to alter Peterson’s methodical plan.
“I respect Atlanta and Orlando and what they’re doing, but at the end of the day, though, we’ve got to worry about the Charlotte Hornets and what’s best for us,” Peterson said. “Again, from the onset of me interviewing and being aligned with ownership and (coach) Charles Lee, of course, in terms of we are not going to skip steps, the goal is to have a sustainable contender.
“I‘ve said it before: Just no interest in getting to the playoffs one year and playing one year and then we are back out. So, in order to do that we’ve got to lay the foundation and continue to be disciplined, see what we’ve got and continue to move forward from that standpoint.”