Thus far, the Charlotte Hornets’ offseason has gone well. To begin with, LaMelo Ball is ready for the 2024–25 season and has finally put on ankle braces. Additionally, they still have several excellent players who can have a significant impact on winning, such Seth Curry, Grant Williams, and Brandon Miller. Naturally, Hornets supporters are expecting great things from the upcoming season.
Stephen A. Smith, though, doesn’t believe Charlotte will be able to significantly improve on their record from the previous season the following year.
All of this was revealed to a Hornets supporter during a call-in episode on The Stephen A. Smith Show, when Smith also acknowledged that he had great expectations for his team this season. Charlotte was completely dismissed by the ESPN analyst for the forthcoming campaign. He acknowledged the franchise’s promising future, but he also openly said they had little chance of even being significant in the upcoming campaign.
“You [Hornets] got no chance to be relevant this upcoming season. I hope the future is bright. You got a new coach, still got LaMelo Ball… I hope the future is bright for you, but I don’t think you got a chance to make a leap this year. I don’t think you have that.”
🎙️ @stephenasmith: “You got no chance to be relevant this upcoming season. I hope the future is bright. You got a new coach, still got LaMelo Ball… I hope the future is bright for you, but I don’t think you got a chance to make a leap this year.” 🤔pic.twitter.com/Tc9TBULlMA
— /r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) August 27, 2024
Is Stephen A. Smith being too harsh on Hornets ?
Smith then went on to groups that he thought had a chance to succeed. He cited the Houston Rockets and the New Orleans Pelicans as two excellent recommendations from his producers. But he also mentioned the Sacramento Kings as his selection, stating:
“This brother, De’Aaron Fox… I’m of the mindset, Sacramento [Kings]! I’m just thinking along those lines. I could be wrong. But I’m thinking Sacramento.”
A great choice to take a step forward are the Sacramento Kings. After all, in addition to having huge names like Domantas Sabonis and Fox, they have also been able to hold onto key players like Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, and Harrison Barnes. Naturally, they also added DeMar DeRozan to their roster this offseason.
Thus it’s difficult to discount his choice. His assessment of the Charlotte Hornets, though, could be a little harsh. As was already noted, there are a lot of extremely encouraging signals about the guys on the team. In addition, they have appointed Charles Lee, a former assistant coach of Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics, as head coach.
Based on the film from the offseason thus far, it appears that the Charlotte Hornets have already taken on a tough defensive persona.
