Josh Green of the Charlotte Hornets watches his shot in the first half against the Atlanta Hawks during their game at Spectrum Center. Jacob Kupferman Getty Images
Away from noise emanating from the thud of bouncing basketballs and a Bluetooth speaker pumping music into the Madison Square Garden bowl, Charles Lee takes a brief moment to chat about a familiar subject.
Injuries.
As usual, the Charlotte Hornets coach is dealing with a fair share of them up and down the roster, and a traffic cop is almost necessary to navigate the constant comings and goings. But there’s finally good news about one individual who’s been sidelined since the summer.
Josh Green is making significant progress, which led to the Hornets assigning him to the Greensboro Swarm for practice back in North Carolina on Tuesday while the Hornets are in between action on their three-game road trip. Green had surgery in June to stabilize his left shoulder and the Hornets have brought him along slowly over the last six months, preferring to err on the side of caution. Getting Green on the floor in scrimmage action is a positive step in his progression.
“I was really glad to hear Josh was able to get a practice in with the Swarm,” Lee said Wednesday prior to the Hornets’ game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. “After the session, I got to talk to him and I told him it was good to see him in some different situations. I thought that he did a great job of trying to fight through some fatigue, and he mentioned definitely trying to find his legs underneath him.
“But he enjoyed being back out on the court trying to get a feel for things. He feels really good and we’ll see how he responds after an intense day (Tuesday) with the Swarm.”
So, what’s the next step for Green? While there’s still no definitive timetable for his activation on the main roster and when he’ll truly be available again, it sounds like Green’s return isn’t all that far away. It will mostly depend on conditioning and how his body responds.
“Kind of like with all of our guys, it’ll be a daily evaluation,” Lee said. “There’s a plan in place, but we’ll see how he shows up (Wednesday) from a more intense five-on-five setting than he’s been in in a really long time. And we’ll see if he can kind of keep progressing and probably try to get in another rep of an intense practice. And then, again, we will evaluate and then see where he is.
“But I think that he’s making really good progress.”
As he’s slowly ramped up his activity levels, Green has participated in non-contact portions of practice, and is also present and accounted for during game reviews, where the staff points out the good and bad of the Hornets’ most recent encounter.
Reintegration won’t be difficult because Green’s constant presence should smooth the transition, allowing him to fit seamlessly into Lee’s rotation.
“Josh and all of our injured guys, I think No. 1, it’s their personality. They want to stay around the team, they want to be engaged. They’re in all the film sessions, they’re at all the practices. Our performance staff does a great job of scheduling their days around the fact that they can be there and be listening to what’s going on.
“So, those moments help him. I think that the light court work that he has done with the team has been helpful as well when he hops into some of our non-contact drills and stuff. So I think that all those things together are helping him kind of hit the ground running as he comes back from the center.”
In his initial season with the Hornets, Green was inconsistent and his offensive production waned, leading to him averaging 7.4 points per game. Known more for his defense, the Hornets want Green to be more balanced in 2025-26.
Lee is eager to have Green on the bench in uniform soon, ready for him to add his flavor to a roster that can benefit from some of the intangibles he brings.
“His competitive spirit is unmatched by a lot of people in the NBA,” Lee said. “There’s a reason why he was a rotation player in the Finals. I think that he understands what it takes to win and what his role is. And when he comes back, I can’t wait to have him guarding at a really high level.
“And then also offensively, I think he does a great job of staying within himself while also still being able to knock down some threes and kind of playmake for other guys.”
Grant Williams
Besides speaking at media day in September and an in-game interview with FanDuel Southeast’s Eric Collins and Dell Curry during the Hornets’ NBA Cup game loss to Chicago on Friday, there has been little information about Grant Williams’ rehabilitation process.
Williams is more than a year removed from a torn right ACL along with tearing the meniscus in his right knee. He’s been cleared to do individual work, but has yet to reach Green’s status level and isn’t scrimmaging, meaning his return likely should still be measured in weeks and still not quite in days.
But a screenshot of Williams in uniform taken from a team video of the Hornets’ shootaround in Manhattan on Monday that made the rounds on social media piqued some people’s interest, thinking Williams is going to be available to help sooner than later.
Lee quashed that theory, though.
“Grant and I are probably doing the same amount of work during shootaround,” Lee said. “So, if that gives you an idea of how light it is. … But it is good to have him integrating with the team again. He’s been in a ton of our film sessions during the game. We all get to see him there during the games, and he’s talking to the staff, he’s talking to the players. And so all those moments, I think, help his relationship with his teammates, but it also just keeps them in a good mental space of what’s expected from them on the offensive and defensive end.
“So, he’s making good progress and he’s doing light court work right now and trying to integrate at the right moments with our team during practices and shootaround.”
Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, left, guard LaMelo Ball, guard Brandon Miller and Grant Williams sit on the team's bench during action against the New York Knicks at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Brandon Miller and Tre Mann
As for Brandon Miller and Tre Mann, they were both held out again, sitting on the bench in street clothes versus the Knicks just as they did in Brooklyn.
Akin to Monday, the duo participated in the team’s morning shootaround, so they’re not completely banged up as they recover from their respective injuries. In fact, Miller was among the last two players on the floor, joined on the opposite end of the Garden court by Mason Plumlee.
Miller, who missed 13 games nursing a left shoulder subluxation suffered in Game 2 of the Hornets’ 2025-26 campaign, played in three straight games before the training staff held him out Monday. Mann is still working through a left ankle impingement.
“Yeah, I would say both guys are being evaluated every day,” Lee said. “Their symptoms are improving every day, they have been able to do some stuff on court, and I think that whatever they can tolerate, we will continue to progress them. But, again, it’s just always with the mindset of how are we going to be able to maximize their availability going forward.”