The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We’re breaking down the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and fantasy outlooks for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
Additions: Josh Green, Taj Gibson, Tidjane Salaün, Charlie Brown Jr., DaQuan Jeffries, Duane Washington Jr.
Subtractions: Davis Bertans, Aleksej Pokusevski, Bryce McGowens, J.T. Thor
Midway through the 2021-22 season, plenty of people were declaring the Charlotte Hornets’ No. 3 overall selection of LaMelo Ball a rousing success. The 2021 Rookie of the Year became the first member of his draft class — one that includes Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton — to make the All-Star Game. He was bound for superstardom, averaging a 20-7-8 and shooting 39% on 7.5 3-point attempts per game.
Ball has played a total of 58 games ever since, as ankle injuries ended each of his past two seasons. His five-year, $204 million maximum contract begins this season, Year 5 of his career. When he was on the court, only Luka Dončić had a higher usage rate. Ball did not take care of the ball or shoot it efficiently.
There may be no greater detriment to an offense than a high-usage, low-efficiency point guard. And, to put it mildly, Ball was no great defender, either. The Hornets posted the equivalent of the league’s worst-rated defense when Ball was on the court. The offense was not much better, and they were outscored by 8.4 points per 100 possessions in his 32.3 minutes per game. This is, by definition, losing basketball.
It did not help that last season Ball’s second and third options were Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller. Bridges was coming off a year-long suspension for domestic violence. Miller, who had off-the-court issues of his own, was a rookie. The three of them together were outscored by 12.9 points per 100 possessions.
Charlotte is not without talent. Miller looks like he should be a future All-Star. Mark Williams, the team’s lottery pick from 2022, could be a solid starting center if he ever stays healthy. The Hornets added French wing Tidjane Salaün with this year’s No. 6 overall pick. They smartly targeted a trio of young players — Grant Williams, Josh Green and Tre Mann — in trades over the past eight months. This is the bones of a basketball team.
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But is Ball the one to lead them? The Hornets have little other choice. Even if Miller emerges as the clear-cut face of the franchise this season, Ball was there before him, made an All-Star appearance and carries himself as if he is The Man — with the paycheck to make his case. For better or worse, this is Ball’s team.
Update: It has, so far, been for worse. Ball may be a 6-foot-7 point guard with a creative flare for playmaking — the raw tools that made him so coveted a prospect — but in practice he has produced one of the worst assist-to-turnover ratios of any starting point guard. He is not an efficient scorer around the rim or from the midrange, and his 3-point percentage dipped below league average last season.
In an August 2021 GQ article that called Ball “the best young player in the NBA,” former Hornets coach James Borrego conceded that the organization was trying to drill professionalism into Ball. “The habits of being on time. Not skipping a weight session. Studying your playbook. Knowing your plays,” he said. “Let’s not wait three or four years, when he’s too far gone and already a star. Then you can’t pull him back.”
Three years and two coaches later, what have we seen from Ball to convince us that he has developed in this respect? Is he too far gone? That is the question the Hornets must answer this season. And they better make their determination before the rest of the league, or they will risk losing his trade value, too.
Miller is undeniable as the future of the franchise. Salaün shows promise, too, and suddenly the Hornets have two rangy wings to build a roster around. Ball elevates everyone around him, or the front office makes room for someone who can. They discover a few serviceable role players from the collection of remaining young talent, and first-year head coach Charles Lee convinces everyone to commit on defense. The Hornets look like a team prepared to break out, only they don’t, adding another lottery pick instead.
Ball’s high-usage, low-efficiency brand of basketball persists. Bridges believes his status as the longest-tenured member of the Hornets earns him a ton of touches, too. The development of Miller and Salaün is stunted as a result. Individualism permeates the locker room, and the rest of a young roster checks out. Except, the Eastern Conference is so bad that the Hornets sneak into the play-in tournament, where they forfeit a first-round draft pick to the San Antonio Spurs because they wanted Kai Jones so badly in 2021.
Ball has first-round potential if he can stay healthy. He’s now wearing ankle braces to remedy the ankle issues that plagued him over the past two seasons. In the late second round, Ball’s ADP could still be valuable, especially with how he’s looked in the preseason. Bridges is going in the late-fifth round, consistent with his 58th overall finish in nine-category leagues.
Miller is the third star in the making. After a strong rookie campaign, he’s being drafted in the early sixth round. Miller proved he could be a three-level scorer and decent perimeter defender, so fantasy managers can feel comfortable taking him in the mid-rounds.
Williams’ inability to stay healthy is dropping his fantasy stock to the mid-ninth round. I can see the appeal from an upside standpoint, but with an injury history like his, it’s a risky pick. I prefer Zach Edey or even Draymond Green relative to ADP. — Dan Titus
The Hornets have every incentive to develop young players and lose games. Take the under.
