The Charlotte Hornets have found their new coach, hiring Boston Celtics assistant Charles Lee, the team announced Thursday.

Lee has been an NBA assistant coach for the past 10 years and joined the Celtics’ coaching staff for this season. Before that, he was an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks (2018-23) and Atlanta Hawks (2014-18), serving with former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer in both Milwaukee and Atlanta. He has no previous experience leading his own team and, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Lee’s deal is for four years.

The Hornets said Lee will be introduced at a news conference after the Celtics playoff run.

“We are excited to welcome Charles Lee as the head coach of Charlotte Hornets,” Hornets executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson said in a statement. “His high character and his ability to connect with players while also instilling a culture of accountability will serve us well as we construct a competitive team built for long-term success.

“Charles possesses a championship pedigree with a wide range of basketball knowledge and NBA experience, has a tremendous work ethic and is a great communicator. He shares our vision for this organization, and I look forward to partnering with him in building something special here in the Carolinas.”

In four of the last six seasons, teams Lee was a part of have finished with the best record in the NBA.

“The opportunity to be the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets is a dream come true,” Lee said in a statement. “The Hornets have a talented young core of players and I’m excited about our future and what we can build here. There are few places as passionate about basketball as the Carolinas, and I look forward to coming to Charlotte and getting to work.”

Hornets’ outlook: Charlotte has been looking for a new coach since early April when Steve Clifford announced 2023-24 would be his final season. He left the Hornets as the winningest coach in franchise history, coaching a team-record 577 games and amassing 244 wins. He expects to remain with the franchise as an advisor as the team looks to improve upon its recent difficulties.

In Charlotte, Lee will inherit a team that hasn’t won a playoff series in 22 years, a stretch that included more than a decade with NBA great Michael Jordan as the owner. Jordan sold the Hornets to Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin last year. The co-owners have been busy since, replacing general manager Mitch Kupchak — who also stepped down — with Peterson.

The Hornets were 21-61 in 2023-24 and were 27-55 the season before that and have not finished above .500 since the 2015-16 season (which was also Charlotte’s last playoff appearance). The Hornets were without star guard LaMelo Ball for most of last season as ankle issues limited him to 22 games. He has played in just 58 games over the last two seasons and said at season’s end he is contemplating wearing ankle braces to prevent further injury in the future.

The Hornets believe if they can keep Ball on the court and pair him with three-time NBA Rookie of the Month Brandon Miller they can turn things around.

“He makes our team go,” Hornets center Nick Richards said. “It’s really important for us to have him on the court.”

Ball wasn’t the only injury for the Hornets as starting center Mark Williams and guard Cody Martin were others who missed significant time. Last season, Charlotte traded Gordon Hayward to Oklahoma City, Terry Rozier to Miami and P.J. Washington to Dallas before the deadline in moves that brought Tre Mann, Vasa Micic, Grant Williams, Seth Curry and Davis Bertans to town.

Charlotte never found its footing in 2023-24, amassing two separate losing streaks of at least 10 games as it never won more than four games in a row. They allowed 4.5 more points per 100 possessions than they did in 2022-23, which was the second-biggest jump in the NBA.

Ball, Miller and Williams played 153 minutes (over 12 games) together this season. Charlotte should feel good about taking Miller (21.8 points per game on an effective field goal percentage of 58% over the season’s final two weeks) with the second pick last year. If Ball can get healthy and a little more serious, they have two talented, 6-foot-7 perimeter players under 23.

The NBA Draft Lottery is Sunday and the Hornets have a 13.3% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick.

Information from NBA.com’s John Schuhmann and The Associated Press were used in this report.

Charlotte continue to fill out their revamped front office

Another one ticked off the list, that's what Jeff Peterson will be thinking after the Hornets appointed Patrick Harrel as Vice President of Basketball Insights and Analysis. Since being appointed VP of Basketball Operations, Peterson has overhauled the Hornets basketball operations department, with the newly created VP of Basketball Insights and Analysis being the latest position filled.

Harrel joins the Hornets from the NBA League Office where he was the Senior Director of Basketball Strategy and Analytics. In his role he primarily focused on reducing travel for NBA teams and improving player rest. However, his role took a sharp turn during the COVID pandemic when he became one of the key league personnel behind creating the "NBA Bubble".

With Harrel's background in focusing on player welfare and recovery, it seems logical for him to review Charlotte's training staff's procedures after two injury plagued seasons. After graduating with an Economics degree from Princeton where he was also president of Princeton Sports Analytics, he could also fill the role as Charlotte's salary cap expert. Previously, it was rumored that Knicks VP of Basketball Planning Brock Aller was the Hornets target. Sources tell All Hornets that Aller turned down the role instead deciding to remain with the Knicks.

The Charlotte Hornets are believed to still be searching for a General Manager to sit below Jeff Peterson and above recently recruited Assistant GM Dotun Akinwale. Minnesota's VP of Basketball Operations Matt Lloyd was previously a candidate but it appears has chosen to stay in Minnesota.

Steve Clifford is stepping down as the Charlotte Hornets' coach at the end of the season and is expected to move into a front office role with the franchise.

The Hornets announced that Clifford will coach their final seven games, beginning Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. Clifford informed his assistants and players of the news Wednesday morning, sources said.

Charlotte's new executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson and co-owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin were open to bringing him back as coach next season, but Clifford, 62, decided he wasn't prepared to commit to the year-round grind of head coaching for the 2024-2025 season, sources said.

Clifford didn't want to hinder the franchise's ability to compete for the top coaches available in the marketplace, and it allows the Hornets to begin an immediate search for his successor, sources said.

"This is the appropriate time for me to step down," Clifford said in a statement released by the team. "I believe this is best for me and the organization. I'm excited about the future of the Hornets -- our young core of players, Jeff's leadership of our basketball operations and Rick and Gabe's vision for the organization. I want to thank all the Hornets players and staff for their work the past two seasons and our Hornets fans for their continued support of our team."

The Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards -- who both have interim head coaches -- are expected to join the Hornets in coaching searches in the offseason.

Sources told ESPN that Boston's Charles Lee, Sacramento's Jordi Fernandez, Miami's Chris Quinn, Phoenix's Kevin Young and others are among the league's assistant coaching candidates expected to be considered in the Charlotte process.

The Hornets job becomes more appealing with the emergence of No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller as a future star in the league, and a core of young players and arsenal of future first-round picks to build out a roster.

The Hornets have been beset with injuries and absences in Clifford's return to Charlotte over the past two seasons. All-Star guard LaMelo Ball played only 22 games before being shut down for the season.

The Hornets (18-57) had the NBA's third-most missed games because of injuries this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Ball played only 58 games for Clifford in the past two seasons.

Peterson, who worked with Clifford in Brooklyn, and ownership are eager to create an adviser position that would allow Clifford to remain in Charlotte and impact all parts of the organization, sources said. Those details are expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, sources said.

"Dating back to our time together in Brooklyn, I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for Coach Cliff, and I understand his decision to step down," Peterson said in a statement. "His basketball knowledge, teaching ability and work ethic are well-respected throughout the NBA. He has had to endure some very difficult circumstances the past two years, and yet our players have continued to compete, work hard and develop. On behalf of the entire Hornets organization, I want to thank Steve for all his efforts, and we look forward to having him remain a part of the organization.

"While Steve will continue to coach the team for the remainder of the season, we will immediately begin the search process for our next head coach. We will look to hire someone that shares our values and vision in developing our young core and creating a culture and identity based on teamwork, accountability and competitiveness. We will conduct a thorough search process to select the best head coach for the Hornets moving forward."

In 10 seasons with Charlotte and Orlando as a head coach, Clifford is 337-457 with four trips to the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Charlotte Hornets are planning to hire Brooklyn Nets executive Jeff Peterson as the franchise's next head of basketball operations, and the sides expect to reach a contractual agreement soon, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

Peterson, 35, is completing a meteoric rise to oversee the Hornets' front office and become tasked with revitalizing one of the league's traditionally underperforming franchises. New owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin chose Peterson to replace Mitch Kupchak, who is moving from general manager into an advisory role with the Hornets.

Charlotte's ownership is convinced of Peterson's ability to be a long-term leader for the organization and deliver it the kind of player personnel acumen, relationships and deal-making ability with rival executives, player agents and players necessary to transform the Hornets into a formidable franchise.

Peterson -- one of a dozen candidates who sources said had interviews with the Hornets' ownership -- has history with Schnall, who served as a minority owner for the Hawks, where Peterson rose from an intern to an assistant GM within four years. Peterson built a good professional relationship with Hornets coach Steve Clifford during their time with the Nets, where Clifford served as a coaching consultant in the 2021-22 season.

The Hornets started to gather up assets ahead of the February trade deadline, acquiring future first-round draft picks from the Heat and Mavericks.

Peterson joined Nets GM Sean Marks as an assistant GM in 2019 and became a trusted No. 2 on a staff that attracted Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency and traded for James Harden.

He's the second assistant GM from Marks' front office to elevate into a GM-level role elsewhere. New Orleans GM Trajan Langdon left for a promotion with the Pelicans in 2019.

Peterson -- a native of Springfield, Missouri -- played college basketball in the Big Ten, SEC and ACC for Iowa, Arkansas and Florida State.

Schnall and Plotkin have started spearheading significant change and upgrades in the Hornets' infrastructure since purchasing a majority interest in the team from Michael Jordan for $3 billion in August.

The Hornets made several roster moves ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline to start gathering draft assets and young players, including two future first-round picks in trades that sent out Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington. Rookie forward Brandon Miller -- the No. 2 pick in last year's NBA draft -- has shown the promise of a future All-Star to go along with All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball.

The franchise has also embarked on a $275 million arena renovation and plans for a new $60 million practice facility. Before joining the Hornets in 2018, Kupchak had a decorated 30-year run in the Lakers' front office -- including 17 years as GM with four NBA championships and six Western Conference titles. Kupchak won seven titles as an executive, two as a Lakers player and one as a Washington player.

Full tweet:

The Charlotte Hornets are expected to sign F Aleksej Pokusevski, sources tell ESPN. The Oklahoma City Thunder waived him this week. Pokusevski was the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office dismissed four charges against Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges on Tuesday relating to two separate incidents, according to publicly available documents obtained by The Athletic.

The filings, made in Mecklenburg County District Court, show that the district attorney dropped three charges against Bridges stemming from an October incident involving him and the mother of his children, who is also his ex-girlfriend. A criminal summons issued for Bridges alleged misdemeanor child abuse, injury to personal property and that he had violated a domestic violence protective order. Those charges were dismissed Thursday due to insufficient evidence, the prosecutor’s office said in a court filing.

The prosecutors said that contradictory statements provided by the accuser led to the dismissal. The accuser had initially told police that a woman had caused damage to her car, where she and her children were present, then gave a statement several days later that Bridges had caused the damage. She then gave another statement to prosecutors recently ahead of the trial that she was “unsure” how the damage was caused.

“Given the lack of sufficient evidence necessary to overcome the inconsistency of these accounts, the state would not be successful at trial,” the filing said.

Prosecutors also dismissed a separate charge against Bridges that he had violated a domestic violence protective order. A warrant for his arrest relating to that allegation had been issued on Jan. 2, 2023.

A court filing said this charge was also dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

The prosecutor alleged that Bridges had contacted the woman on several social media platforms, which violated a no-contact order from the court. But the woman, the prosecutor wrote, doesn’t have those messages anymore and cannot remember the contacts or its content. The filing also said that although the woman’s interaction with police was recorded by body cameras, the contact and content were not.

“Given her lack of memory and no other corroboration of the violation, the state would not be successful at trial,” the prosecutor said in the filing with the court.

Bridges is also still serving three years of probation from a plea deal with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He pleaded no contest after a June 2022 domestic violence incident with his then-girlfriend. Bridges received no jail time through the plea deal. As part of the deal, Bridges agreed to a 10-year criminal protection order for the woman, weekly narcotics and marijuana testing and restitution, according to earlier court filings in this same case. The order is in place until Nov. 3, 2032.

The NBA suspended Bridges last April for 30 games for violating its domestic violence policy. He missed all of last season and tolled 20 of those games during that absence, and served the final 10 to begin this season after he re-signed with the Hornets over the summer.

Charlotte Hornets guard Kyle Lowry has agreed to a contract buyout, clearing the way for him to sign for the rest of the season with the Philadelphia 76ers, his representative, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports told ESPN on Saturday night.

Once Lowry clears waivers in the coming days, he'll sign a $2.8 million deal with the Sixers, Bartelstein told ESPN. The Hornets said on Sunday that Lowry had been waived.

Lowry -- a six-time All-Star guard -- has long hoped to play for his hometown 76ers, and now the alumnus of Cardinal Dougherty High School and Villanova University will get his chance to make a playoff push with his longtime former coach, Nick Nurse.

Lowry landed with the Hornets as part of the Terry Rozier trade last month from Miami, and Charlotte and Lowry agreed that he would sit out until after the trade deadline. Lowry had $10.6 million left on his $29.7 million deal for 2023-2024 before the buyout with Hornets.

Lowry will join a reshaped post-trade deadline Sixers roster that includes guard Buddy Hield -- and they'll try to help keep the Sixers in solid playoff shape until the eventual return of reigning MVP center Joel Embiid, who is out several weeks after left knee surgery.

Charlotte Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak is stepping down to become an organizational adviser, clearing the way for the franchise to begin an immediate search for a new head of basketball operations, sources told ESPN on Monday morning.

There's an expectation that new owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin will hire a new top basketball executive prior to the end of the regular season, which will allow Kupchak to remain in his day-to-day role until his successor is on board, sources said.

Kupchak, 69, would be completing a remarkably successful career that included 10 championships as a front-office executive and player.

The Hornets' search is expected to focus on several sitting general managers, including Philadelphia's Elton Brand, New Orleans' Trajan Langdon, Cleveland's Mike Gansey and the LA Clippers' Trent Redden, sources said. Brooklyn's Jeff Peterson, Washington's Travis Schlenk and Sacramento's Wes Wilcox are among assistant GMs who will be in consideration, sources said. Peterson, Schlenk and Wilcox worked with the Atlanta Hawks when Schnall was one of the franchise's minority owners.

Schnall and Plotkin have started spearheading significant change and upgrades in the Hornets' infrastructure since purchasing a majority interest in the team from Michael Jordan for $3 billion in August.

The Hornets made several roster moves in recent weeks to start gathering draft assets and young players for a rebuild, including two future first-round picks in trades that sent out Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington. Rookie forward Brandon Miller has shown the promise of a future All-Star.

The franchise has also embarked on a $275 million arena renovation and plans for a new $60 million practice facility. The Hornets are 11-41 and have been largely decimated by injuries this season.

Kupchak will be completing his sixth season as Charlotte's top basketball executive, a run that included the drafting of Miller and 2021 NBA Rookie of the Year and All-Star guard LaMelo Ball.

Before joining the Hornets in 2018, Kupchak had a decorated 30-year run in the Lakers' front office -- including 17 years as GM with four NBA championships and six Western Conference titles. Kupchak won seven titles as an executive, two as a Lakers player and one as a Washington player.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/11645511

Report: P.J. Washington Traded to Mavs; Hornets Get Grant Williams, Seth Curry, Pick

The Dallas Mavericks are acquiring Washington from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Grant Williams, Seth Curry and a first-round pick.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/14963069

The Oklahoma City Thunder are finalizing a trade to send G Tre Mann and F Davis Bertans to the Charlotte Hornets for Gordon Hayward -Woj

The Miami Heat acquired Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier for guard Kyle Lowry and a protected 2027 first-round pick on Tuesday.

The deal lands the Heat a gifted scoring guard who's having one of his best NBA seasons -- averaging 23.2 points and 6.6 assists a game.

The Hornets (10-31) -- who are beginning to accumulate future assets ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline -- will get a lottery-protected pick in 2027 that becomes unprotected in 2028.

Charlotte is discussing other deals on its veteran players ahead of the trade deadline and plans to continue accumulating assets, sources told ESPN.

The Hornets will work to move Lowry, 37, onto another team before the deadline, but short of finding a deal for him and his $29.6 million expiring contract, he could eventually become a contract buyout candidate, sources said.

The Heat will save $15.4 million in luxury tax on the trade and create a $6.4 million trade exception.

Under new ownership in Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, the Hornets are planning to build around young players LaMelo Ball and rookie Brandon Miller and gather up draft assets and young players in potential deals.

With the Heat 24-19 and sixth in the Eastern Conference, Rozier, 29, gives them some more dynamic guard play and hope that he can help them make another run in the Eastern Conference playoffs this year and beyond.

ESPN's Bobby Marks contributed to this report.

Here are the scheduled Charlotte Hornets games for January 2024, courtesy of ProSportsBackgrounds.com

Continuing the new format from last month, I will be pinning the post-game thread for this December's Hornets games. The correct schedule is Most of the scheduled games are now posted in the attached image from prosportsbackgrounds.com

Like what I've done in the c/DetroitPistons community, I’ll also be setting up a monthly thread for Hornets post-game recaps starting with the November 17 and 18 back-to-back games against the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks, respectively

Washington Goes for Season-High 32 PTS, Ball Records 5th Straight 25-PT Showing

Down roughly six rotational players – including their first and third-leading scorers – the Charlotte Hornets threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Miami Heat in a valiant 111-105 In-Season Tournament home loss on Tuesday night.

PJ Washington bounced back from a tough showing two days ago in New York, scoring a season-high 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting, which included a campaign best six 3-pointers. Although the efficiency wasn’t quite there (9-of-26 with eight turnovers), LaMelo Ball had 28 points and a game-high 11 assists to become the first Charlotte player with five straight 25-point games since Kemba Walker did so in February of 2019, per Stathead.

Charlotte canned its first six 3-point attempts and led 32-24 following the opening quarter. Miami expectedly stormed back in the second though, forcing eight turnovers and winning the frame, 33-16, to take a nine-point halftime lead. The deficit climbed to 13 in the third, but the Hornets brought it back down to four with 3:34 left on the game clock. A turnover, a couple quick shots and a late missed defensive rebound ended their hopes of a win, though.

“We started great,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “Obviously, P.J. and ‘Melo both got off to great starts. The second quarter, that was a lack of organization on stuff that we worked through this morning. You’ve got guys in there that don’t play a lot, but they get their reps, and they should know what we’re doing. We blew two sets in the last three-and-a-half, four minutes there. Again, we’ve got different groups out there, but they’ve all had enough reps, so they should know where they’re going. We were getting shots off a particular action then we just got all screwed up, and those are two huge possessions.”

Bryce McGowens (season-high 12 points), Mark Williams (11) and Nick Richards (10) also crossed the double-digit scoring plateau, with Richards wrangling a season-high 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Charlotte canned a season-high 15-of-32 3-point attempts (46.9%) but committed a lopsided 18 turnovers for 23 Miami points. Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, and Brandon Miller were amongst the team’s seven unavailable players.

“I think everybody was locked in and ready to play,” said Washington. “The biggest thing for us tonight was turnovers. We turned the ball over on the press and they got up on us. When we’re missing guys, we can’t really afford to make mistakes. Obviously, we made too many. We turned the ball over too many times. It’s unacceptable in this league and we can’t win like that.”

Navigating a depleted depth chart was something the Hornets dealt with a lot last season. On the bright side at least, the injuries to Rozier, Hayward and Miller aren’t considered serious long-term issues, according to Clifford. But until more bodies start coming back, Charlotte’s margin for error on the court is going to be razor thin.

Jimmy Butler notched a season-high 32 points on 10-of-14 shooting – 11-of-14 from the free-throw line – in the Heat’s sixth consecutive victory. Bam Adebayo recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double and eighth 20-point showing of the season.

The Hornets will host another NBA In-Season Tournament game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, Nov. 17 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.

Miller Sprains Left Ankle Early, Charlotte Struggles with Transition Defense, Fouling

Adding another injury – this time involving prized rookie Brandon Miller – to their already lengthy list of absences became too much for the Charlotte Hornets to work through in their 129-107 road loss in New York on Sunday afternoon.

One continued bright spot for the Hornets was LaMelo Ball, who finished with a game-high 32 points on 13-of-20 shooting – 4-of-8 from 3-point range – seven rebounds, six assists and only two turnovers in the defeat. Ball has topped 30 points in three of his last four games and has also now recorded at least 25 points in a career-best four consecutive outings.

Just like they did in Friday’s contest in Washington, the Hornets fell behind by 16 in the first half, and then closed the second quarter with a small 6-0 run to make it a 64-54 New York lead. The Knicks didn’t waste any time in the third though, opening the frame with an 18-5 stretch over the first four-and-a-half minutes of action which basically did Charlotte in for good.

The visitors canned a season-high 12-of-35 3-point attempts (34.3%), but in a rare seasonal occurrence, got outscored by New York in the paint, 62-56. Despite the solid shooting (46.8%), offense was an uphill battle for the Hornets, especially with the Knicks feasting on fast-break scoring (22), points off turnovers (20) and at the line (20-of-30).

“At the beginning of the third quarter, we got a bunch of open shots we didn’t make, and it turned into fast-break points for them at the other end,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford. “Right now, we don’t have any room for error. I thought we did a lot of good things. We’re asking a lot out of a few guys right now and it’s going to be hard until we get guys back.”

Miller had a quick 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first quarter before soon exiting the game with a left ankle sprain after he accidently stepped on Josh Hart’s foot. Nick Richards (season-high 16 points) and Mark Williams (10) were the only other Charlotte players to score in double figures. Rookies Leaky Black and Amari Bailey both notched their first NBA buckets, with Bailey’s coming right as the final buzzer sounded.

“He tried to come back in,” explained Clifford, when asked about Miller’s injury after the game. “I think it’ll be more day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow getting treatment and stuff and hopefully, he’s good by Tuesday.”

RJ Barrett (24), Julius Randle (23) and Jalen Brunson (20) all had 20-point showings for the Knicks, who are now 11-3 since the start of last season when this trio all hits this threshold. Immanuel Quickley added 17 points, five rebounds and dished out a game-high nine assists off the bench in New York’s third consecutive victory.

The Hornets will now begin a five-game homestand with another In-Season Tournament battle against the Miami Heat on Tuesday, Nov. 14 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.