Hornets wing Josh Green and forward Grant Williams will both miss training camp as they continue to recover from their respective injuries, head coach Charles Lee recently told reporters, including Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
Green underwent left shoulder surgery in June, while Williams tore the ACL and meniscus in his right knee last November.
According to Boone, Lee said both players are making progress, but neither has a specific timeline to return, though Williams is apparently a little further along in his recovery.
Given that Green and Williams miss training camp, which begins September 30, it’s possible neither player will be active for Charlotte’s regular season opener on Oct. 22.
Here are few more items of interest from Boone’s story:
- In addition to making on-court strides this offseason, Brandon Miller has also impressed Lee by becoming a vocal leader, Boone writes. In particular, Miller has been mentoring fellow 2023 first-round pick Nick Smith Jr. Miller is another Hornet whose ’24/25 season was cut short — he underwent right wrist surgery in January. He said in late July the wrist was close to fully healed.
- Lee wants LaMelo Ball to become a locker-room leader as well and thinks trade addition Collin Sexton will help with that, per Boone. While Lee said Ball has made strides on defense, he still wants the team’s highest-paid player to be more consistent on that end of the court.
- Each of Charlotte’s 2025 draft picks — Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner — will receive minutes during the preseason, according to Lee, who thinks big man Kalkbrenner could eventually have a career similar to Brook Lopez.
Hornets and Kings have no idea how to run a franchise or put a roster together. They act like it’s NBA 2k.
I don’t think that is a fair assessment of the current front office in Charlotte. The old one I totally agree though, they were brutal.
Really, what have they done in the last two years? The roster doesn’t fit at all. They’re not good enough to actually improve and they’re not bad enough to actually get real talent. They draft crazy And haven’t even figured out what they’re doing what lamelo ball. He’s not a guy you can eat. Build around to win a championship. So at this point they need to find that player and make lamelo ball the number two or just start over
Hornets should hire Thibs to get this franchise in the right direction. …….. in Thibs we Trust.
Hornets have a lot of offensive firepower and an abysmal defense. If they’re not putting up 120 a night it’s going to be another dreadful season. GM did a great job in getting a contingency PG in Collin Sexton should Ball suffer another season ending injury. Rotation to start the season should be: 1. Ball 2. Sexton 3. Miller 4. Bridges 5. Plumlee 6. Mann 7. Knueppel 8. Diabate 9. Connaughton 10. Salaun. Can see Bridges and Ball on the trade block should this team underperform.