2026 NBA Draft Lottery Preview: Charlotte Hornets
Nick and Rowan discuss the potential options for the Charlotte Hornets with the #14 pick to kick off the No Ceilings Draft Lottery Preview series for the 2026 NBA Draft.
Nick: The Charlotte Hornets have a case for having been the most pleasantly surprising team of the 2025-26 NBA season. After a 4-14 start that had many believing that this would be another lost season in Charlotte, the Hornets were one of the best teams in the NBA. They put together a 33-16 record in 2026, with Rookie of the Year runner-up Kon Knueppel leading the league in three-pointers. LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller both put together fantastic seasons as well, and inserting Moussa Diabate into the starting lineup turned the Hornets into an offensive juggernaut with an above-average defense to match. Furthermore, Knueppel was far from the only standout rookie for the Hornets, as Sion James played all 82 games as a key two-way piece and Ryan Kalkbrenner started a number of games while knocking down nearly every shot he took (shooting 76.6% from two-point range and 75.3% overall). Charlotte’s season ended on a sour note with their blowout loss to the Orlando Magic in the play-in, but it would be hard to see this season as anything short of an unmitigated success for one of the longest-struggling teams in the NBA.
The Hornets are the jumping-off point for our Lottery Preview series, as their stellar season resulted in them closing out the lottery with the 14th pick. After an incredibly successful haul in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Hornets are looking to keep the party going with this selection.
Rowan, what players would be on the top of your mind for the Hornets here?
Rowan: As you mentioned above, the Hornets ended the year on the type of upswing that teams dream of having. Almost every piece of the puzzle fit together down the stretch for the team, just to the point that they almost avoided the play-in tournament altogether. It boggled me in the best way possible to discover that the Hornets were 8th in net rating last season, with the fifth-ranked Offensive Rating and 11th-ranked Defensive Rating. If not for their stinker stretch to start, this team may have had as meteoric a finish as last year’s upstart Indiana Pacers. Maybe that’s dramatic, but I’m caught up in the hoopla around the Hornets just as much as it sounds like you are.
That’s what makes it a tougher case to consider for what I would add to their team. As you mentioned, they have a ton of players who just proved they can power winning basketball. LaMelo Ball just missed out on an All-NBA selection, while Knueppel was the presumptive favorite for his own award for a good portion of the season. It’s also worth noting that, alongside the other key Hornets you mentioned, trading for Coby White also gave them a major shot in the arm. Thus, it’s hard to parse what this team will target, as they have a good problem: they don’t need anyone in the way they had in past seasons.
I’d start with looking for a more dynamic replacement for Miles Bridges at the power forward position. Bridges was once a volume scorer who brought enough value from his defense to justify his shot-chucking, but as his athleticism has slightly waned and his defense has tailed, he’s lost utility for a winning team on both ends. It also doesn’t help that he shot just 33.3% on 5.8 attempts from deep this year. For a team that ranked second in three-point attempts per game and third in three-point percentage, that number simply isn’t good enough to keep their offense flowing.
I’m not sure he’ll fall there, but Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg would be a major coup of a selection for the Hornets. He fills every need they have on both ends of the floor while also being polished enough to get up to speed quickly. His age is just about the only reason I could see him ending up at the end of the lottery, as he is a bit on the older side, but that’s my dream fit for Charlotte. Outside of Lendeborg, either his teammate Morez Johnson Jr. or Santa Clara’s Allen Graves is worth considering, too. Johnson Jr. brings just about everything but the shooting, although he did hit 34.3% of his threes with a tiny sample size this season. Graves has a much more robust case as a shooter and brings the desired defensive chops, but there are some concerns about how he will scale his game to the NBA level.
Outside of power forwards, I think the Hornets could still look at guards and centers at this spot. White is a free agent after playing the perfect role for Charlotte. If they don’t bring him back, they’ll once again need a sparkplug guard to get their offense going. A player like Labaron Philon or Bennett Stirtz could fit that role if they fall to the end of the lottery. Either of them packs enough of an offensive punch to approach what White did for the Hornets this past season. From the center perspective, while Diabate and Kalkbrenner were a good combination last season, it would be great if the two could pull a Wonder Twins and fuse to form a dominant two-way center. I’m not saying that either Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance or Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr. will be that right away, but both have the type of raw athleticism and ceiling to eclipse either center that Charlotte played this year.
I’ve thrown a lot at the wall when it comes to Charlotte’s draft targets. Nick, in your view, what sticks best? Did I miss any forwards who you think would balance out the team on both ends? And are there any centers or guards who you think could be great fits for their squad?
Nick: I’m totally with you on the Lendeborg front; he would be a picture-perfect fit for them at power forward, and the Hornets showed last year (with James and Kalkbrenner) that they’re willing to draft older players as long as they fit with the team’s vision. Lendeborg would check nearly every box for Charlotte; if concerns about his age lead to him being available at #14, I would imagine that the Hornets would sprint to the podium to bring him on board. Morez Johnson Jr. also makes a lot of sense to me; although I am a bit concerned about him being able to space the floor at the NBA level, given the tiny sample size from beyond the arc that you mentioned, he would provide a huge boost defensively while also contributing offensively inside the arc. Graves could certainly also be an option for them, though I’m not sure I personally would be willing to pass up on some of the other prospects who will be available at #14 to take him.
Given his potential plug-and-play fit at a position of need for them, I would also strongly consider Karim Lopez for Charlotte. He had another strong season for the New Zealand Breakers this past season, and his high feel for the game and shooting potential would make him a great option to grow along with the rest of the young core for the Hornets. I would also consider reaching a bit on someone else who could be a fantastic fit for them in Joshua Jefferson; Jefferson’s sensational passing ability and strong two-way play could also slot in right along with the rest of the starting unit for the Hornets, and as an older prospect, he will probably be more NBA-ready next season than Lopez.
I think that between guard options and center options, I would lean more toward guards for Charlotte–especially given the quality of the guards who are likely to slip in this draft class, given the exceptional positional depth there. Philon is higher on my board than everyone else we’ve mentioned so far; his growth as a shooter and at-rim finisher this season was nothing short of sensational, and I fully believe in him turning into a vicious defender at the NBA level (just as he was during his first season at Alabama) with a reduction in the offensive burden being placed on his shoulders. Stirtz would also be an awesome pickup for them as a boost of offensive firepower, regardless of whether or not Coby White is a Charlotte Hornet next season.
The pick at #14 isn’t the only one that Charlotte has in the chamber, though; they also will be on the board at #18. With that second pick in mind, I think that it might make sense for the Hornets to snag one of the guards who might fall into their lap at #14 (assuming that Lendeborg is off the board) and then go for a forward option at #18 if they take a guard earlier on in the draft.
What are your thoughts there, Rowan? Are there any other players we should mention for the Hornets with one of those two picks?
Rowan: Lopez and Jefferson are both great thoughts for the Hornets at that position as well. While Graves and Jefferson might be considered reaches by the way most boards look right now, either could be the guy that Charlotte thinks can finish their rebuild. Given Lopez’s shooting potential and positive indicators, he may be worth that selection there as well. So many players who could work, but aren’t perfect fits, represent a sort of inflection point for the draft at this point when it comes to forwards. There are a ton of quality players who can be taken, but it may come down to the fit for Charlotte’s specific needs.
I agree with your stance on drafting a guard over a center, too, as the Hornets have players like Ball and Knueppel who can raise the ceilings of both Diabate and Kalkbrenner. It may not pack the size or defensive versatility that other bench backcourts would have, but a Philon-White pair off the bench for Charlotte would keep up their high-octane offense for the full 48 minutes.
For pick #18, it does make sense to target whatever they don’t take with their late lottery pick. I’m truly the last person who would ever know intel, but the Hornets could even try to package their two picks in the teens to go up to get a player in a higher tier. More likely than not, however, they’ll stick with these picks and add a player who could help right now with one slot and another who could be more of a developmental pick. If the Hornets go with a guard, maybe Nate Ament makes sense as a high-upside swing for the team. Charlotte may also wonder if they can play Aday Mara as their pivot if he slides to #14, before targeting a guard like Stirtz or Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie with their second pick.
Whichever way you slice it, Charlotte is in a good position heading into the 2026 draft. That’s a far cry from how the team was considered even a year ago today, when it was much more difficult to see the direction for the team. While there are certainly other teams that will also push for the playoffs, the Hornets have earned their respect as one of the most exciting young teams in the NBA who could add the last piece to their rotation with a savvy draft.