Charlotte Hornets
Being ninth in the Eastern Conference right now means that if the playoffs ended today, the Charlotte Hornets would be in the play-in tournament. I personally think Charlotte is a dark horse that a lot of teams would not want to see in the first round of the playoffs. This is due to the fact that they have one of the game’s most talented and youngest stars in LaMelo Ball.
The Hornets are a team built with a lot of offensive weapons as they have six players who are averaging at least 15 points or better per game. LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges each average 20 points or more a game. Charlotte is two games under .500 and only five games back from not being in the play-in round.
Another factor that benefits the Hornets is that they have the 11th easiest remaining schedule left in the NBA. Only 22 games remain in the regular season for the Hornets and every game from here on out will be extremely important.