26. Charlotte Hornets
On paper, like many teams, the Charlotte Hornets should be improved heading into the 2023-24 NBA season. The hope is that LaMelo Ball will be much healthier than he was last season and that the addition of Brandon Miller will very much push this team in the right direction. Even though I’m not sure the Hornets should’ve brought back Miles Bridges, he’s talented enough to make a difference for the team on the court too.
I suppose the big question revolves around how much better the Hornets will be this year compared to last season. Despite the offseason additions, I still can’t anticipate the Hornets being much of a threat to make the Play-In Tournament in the Eastern Conference, much less the top 6. The only way I could envision that happening is if Miller is much better than we anticipated from the jump and Ball takes another big step forward.
If that does end up happening this season, the Hornets could emerge as one of the most entertaining young teams in the league. For as polarizing as this team has been all offseason long, they do have a strong collection of young talent.