The Charlotte Hornets have signaled a massive shift toward postseason contention by acquiring dynamic scorer Coby White from the Chicago Bulls. In exchange, the Hornets sent fan-favorite Collin Sexton to Chicago. The Hornets are betting on the North Carolina native as they aim to end a decade-long playoff absence. By DIAMOND VENCES| ROD BOONE
To fully understand the Charlotte Hornets’ recent success and just what kind of run they’re on, look no further than the birthdate of prized rookie Kon Knueppel.
He wasn’t even a gleam in his mother’s eye the last time the Hornets won nine straight games, which is now the case after Saturday night’s 126-119 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.
“It’s awesome,” Knueppel said. “It’s awesome to win. Now we’re playing meaningful basketball, meaningful games. And so every game, it’s going to be kind of looking at the standings and all that, and we’re battling for playoff position as we hit the home stretch of the season after the All-Star break.”
Which in itself is a mild upset.
Just a few weeks ago, it didn’t appear as if the Hornets (25-28) were going to have much of a chance of ending the NBA’s longest current postseason drought. They were chasing the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and Hawks, among others, in the lower echelon of the Eastern Conference playing tournament.
But with this recent stretch, paired with the teams around them getting weaker by unloading talent at the trade deadline, the Hornets are in prime position to play well into April for the first time in the better part of a decade. In emerging victorious for nine consecutive outings, they’ve gone to a place the franchise hasn’t been since 1998-99 with the likes of David Wesley and Eddie Jones.
“Those are playoff teams,” Miles Bridges said. “They won in the playoffs, and we’re trying to get to that level. So, we just don’t want to get complacent and just keep it going. The longest win streak is 10.”
To reach that, they’ll have to get through Detroit on Monday at Spectrum Center. And the Pistons have had the Hornets’ number for a while now.
“That’s against the best team in the East,” Bridges said. “So, if we want to win in that fashion, that’s going to be bittersweet. But we just got to stay focused and continue to focus on us.”
Here are four other things we learned during Charlotte’s mini trip:
LaMelo’s making most of minutes
LaMelo Ball seems to be more available in crunch time than ever and the Hornets are in a better position because of it.
Ball is maxing out at roughly 31 minutes per game, which is right where he was against the Hawks. He logged 10 of those in the fourth quarter, which tied him with Knueppel for the second-most behind Miles Bridges.
LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets brings the ball up court. Jacob Kupferman Getty Images
“Credit our performance staff, credit Melo for making that adjustment because he wants to play obviously every minute and every game,” coach Charles Lee said. “And this was a great decision. I think it puts him in the best position to be available and him being available is helping our team play really well.
“Overall, just energy and effort level has improved or increased. Knowing that the stints are going to be maybe a little bit shorter, he’s not trying to manage himself as some guys do when they know that they’re going to play heavy minutes or long stretches.”
In turn, that is helping his decision making and everyone is benefiting.
“His teammates, they’re not putting him in those positions where he’s got to make every play by himself,” Lee said. “I think our screening is improving and our ball movement.”
Miles Bridges of the Charlotte Hornets reacts. Jacob Kupferman Getty Images
Josh Green has been efficient
Quietly, Josh Green is producing.
Pegged as one of the Hornets’ top reserves after starting all but one of the 68 games he appeared in a season ago, Green has been extremely effective since joining the rotation in December.
Through 29 games, he’s averaging 4.5 points while shooting 45.3% from the field. He’s been extremely effective from 3-point range — and really deadly in the corners — thanks to knocking down 42% of his attempts.
“I feel good,” Green said. “I’m just trying to bring what I can bring, shoot the open shots, and I just try to bring as much energy as I can and momentum for the team. Just do whatever I can.”
And he’s really enjoying coming off the bench as a super sub.
“Yeah, I think it’s fun,” Green said. “And I think another thing is being able to build off the energy of the starters. I think I’ve seen over the last couple months, it’s a huge progression. Our starters are coming with so much energy. So, to be able to come in and go off that, that helps out a lot.”
Coby White fitting in
It hasn’t taken long for Coby White to get acclimated to his new surroundings.
Although he’s not going to make his debut until after the All-Star break as he nurses a left calf strain, White is getting comfortable with things behind the scenes as he settles in with the Hornets. He was among the final players individually working out with coaching staffers after morning shootaround at the arena, putting up jumpers with assistant Josh Longstaff.
The North Carolina native is quickly leaving a good impression.
“Spend a minute with him,” Lee said, “you can already feel a sense of maturity, a sense of eagerness to want to play and build relationships, a competitiveness to him already. He’s super engaged in everything we do. A great human being. He’s so polite.
“I’ve gotten texts from people that are just, ‘Hey, picked him up from the airport or ran into him in the hallway, and he was really polite,’ so I think that he’s already trying to put his fingerprint or put his stamp on our environment and on our culture.”
Because of White’s injury, the Hornets and Chicago Bulls amended the trade, league sources confirmed to The Observer. Instead of sending the Bulls three second-round picks, the Hornets are only giving them two.
There’s no concern about White’s strain lingering, though.
“He sat down with our performance team, and they will carve out a perfect plan to get him back to play,” Lee said. “But he’ll be [compliant] and he’s excited to get to work.”
Roster roulette
There was a lot of shuffling on the back end of the roster.
KJ Simpson got released on Friday prior to the team flying to Georgia to complete the mini trip, a move that came on the heels of waiving Pat Connaughton and Mike Conley. Malaki Branham was also acquired via trade from Washington via a three-team trade, and they also picked up Xaiver Tillman from Boston in exchange for cash considerations and a top-55 protected 2030 second-round pick.
Throw in filling the two-way slot vacated by Simpson’s release by signing Tosan Evbuomwan and there were more than just a few transactions.
“It’s one of those things where it’s, you know, bittersweet or whatever,” Lee said. “You feel two sides of the coin where you’re sad to see some of the guys go. But those guys did such a great job and I think they helped elevate a lot of the things that we do here from a team day-to-day process, and culture and even their performance on the court. They came in and they made the place better than it was when they got here.
And now we look forward to some new guys coming in and doing the same thing, helping to elevate our culture, help to elevate the product on the court.”
Lee seemed really excited about the addition of Tillman, who played with Bridges at Michigan State. In six seasons, Tillman has averaged 5.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 15.6 minutes per game in 274 appearances, 21 of which were starts.
“I think bringing in a guy like Xavier, he’s been around a championship organization,” Lee said. “Even in his time in Memphis, they were a playoff team. So, he just brings a lot of experience and knowledge of the game. His competitive spirit, and his ability to be versatile defensively and offensively, too, is really intriguing.”