Hornets Rumors

Southeast Notes: Badji, Young, Riley, Arison

The Hornets’ G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, has traded for the rights to center Ibou Badji in a deal with the Bucks’ NBAGL squad, the Wisconsin Herd, Greensboro announced via Twitter.

In the exchange, Wisconsin acquired the No. 31 pick in the 2025 G League draft and the rights to center Jeremiah Tilmon and guard Lindell Wigginton.

Badji, 22, led the G League in blocks in 2024/25, and was named to the G League All-Defensive Team for his play with Wisconsin. The big man inked a two-way deal with the Blazers in 2023/24, appearing in 22 contests (one start). He averaged 1.5 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 10.3 MPG.

Across 34 games for the Herd in 2024/25, Badji averaged 6.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 3.4 BPG. He joined the Spanish squad La Laguna Tenerife in April.

Wigginton last played in the Chinese Basketball Association, while Tilman has been with clubs in Kuwait, the Dominican Republic, and Korea since 2024.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • Hawks guard Trae Young is eligible for a standard veteran extension and could decline his 2026/27 player option to begin a new deal sooner rather than later. Keith Smith of Spotrac previews what a possible contract might look like for Young, though he observes that Atlanta appears to be waiting to see how the four-time All-Star performs with the team’s new-look roster before committing to a lengthy extension. Young, an undersized guard, would need to make an All-NBA in 2026 to qualify for a super-max contract, worth up to 35% of the cap’s max in the first season.
  • Heat owner Micky Arison is headed to the Hall of Fame this week as a contributor. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel examines why Pat Riley, who has made the Hall of Fame before as a coach, has yet to make the cut as a contributor. Riley is one of the great modern executives, having overseen three very different rosters en route to seven NBA Finals appearances since 2005/06, winning three championships.
  • In case you missed it, Miami opted not to waive and stretch the $26.7MM contract of guard Terry Rozier ahead of this season. The deadline to do so was Friday.

Charles Lee Talks About His, Hornets’ Offseason

Hornets head coach Charles Lee is in Rwanda as a part of the NBA’s yearly Basketball Without Borders program, and he’s hoping that his time there can pay unexpected dividends for his up-and-coming team, writes Roderick Boone for the Charlotte Observer.

Lee is working with a group that includes forward NBA forward Marvin Williams, who spent five-and-a-half seasons with the Hornets. That growing relationship has borne unexpected fruit, according to Lee.

He’s been my assistant coach and he’s drawn up some beautiful [after-time-out] plays,” Lee said. “He brings a knowledge to the game that probably supersedes mine at that time, and so I’m learning from him.”

While Williams has been a helpful presence, he’s far from the only person to provide that educational experience for the Hornets’ head coach.

There’s a lot of growth ideas that come from a trip like this,” Lee said. “Number one, you get to watch other coaches coach their teams here at BWB and watch their practices and learn some of their terminology and the different ways that they teach things…  In between camp sessions, you get to spend time with other head coaches, assistant coaches… The conversations never stop, the learning never stops. So, there’s a ton of growth opportunities and ideas that I can kind of take from this experience.”

While Lee is continuing to grow as a coach, he’s also making sure to keep tabs on the Hornets, both through his coaching staff and through personal check-ins. Despite being away from the group, he’s excited about the progress the team has made this summer.

I just love the offseason that we’ve had,” he said. “I think the focus that everyone’s had, the commitment to trying to get better, increasing their intensity of their workouts, and I’m looking forward to getting back after itCharlotte Hornets basketball is always on my mind. Everything I do is for that organization, that program while those players just continue to get better.”

Lee added that he’s particularly excited about the team retaining restricted free agent Tre Mann.

Tre has this great quality about himself where he can build the relationships, gain the trust and earn the trust of his teammates,” he said. “So, I’m looking forward to having him back out there on the court and off the court as well, to help kind of keep just bringing this thing together and building.”

Former Villanova Coach Kyle Neptune Joining Hornets’ Staff

Former Fordham and Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune has agreed to become an assistant coach on Charles Lee‘s staff with the Hornets, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (via Twitter).

Neptune, who played four years of college basketball at Lehigh, was an administrative intern/video coordinator for Villanova from 2008-10. He got his assistant coaching job with Niagara from 2010-13, then rejoined the Wildcats, serving as an assistant under former Villanova coach Jay Wright for eight years.

Neptune was hired as Fordham’s head coach in 2021 and spent one season with the Rams, compiling a 16-16 record, before taking over the reins at Villanova when Wright retired in 2022. The 40-year-old was dismissed in March following a disappointing three-year tenure in which the Wildcats went 54-47 and failed to make the NCAA tournament each season.

While Neptune hasn’t had much success as a head coach to this point, a handful of years ago he was viewed as a rising star in the industry, making “40 Under 40” lists at both ESPN and The Athletic in 2020. Villanova won two NCAA championships and averaged 29 wins per season during Neptune’s eight-year run as an assistant and made the Final Four in 2009 during his initial stint with the university.

As Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer tweets, the Hornets had an opening on their coaching staff after Chris Jent was hired away by the Knicks to be the top assistant under Mike Brown.

And-Ones: NBA Position Rankings, Key Stats, Second Apron

Heading into the 2025/26 season, Zach Harper of The Athletic has taken stock of both the NBA’s top 40 big men and the league’s 40 best lead guards.

Harper divided the players into seven tiers for each list. While three All-NBA superstar guards – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, and Stephen Curry – qualified for his top tier among lead guards, only one player is in the top tier for big men — three-time MVP Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. For what it’s worth, two-time MVP Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was not listed as a big for this exercise.

Here’s more news and notes from around the NBA:

  • Zach Kram of ESPN runs through one statistic that could make or break this season’s goals for all 30 NBA squads. Among some of the interesting numbers of note: the Kings were outscored by 120.9 points per 100 possessions during the 1,000-plus possessions that stars Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine shared the floor; and the reigning champion Thunder are bringing back the players who logged 99.2% of all their playoff minutes from last season.
  • The new CBA’s brutal second tax apron has come under renewed scrutiny this summer, after effectively compelling the breakup of the Celtics’ 2024 championship roster. Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com spoke to several league executives about the mechanism’s impact on team-building. “Before, they just kept hiking the price of being over the tax limit,” one executive said. “But now you have things like limitations on trades and loss of draft position [teams in the second apron for three years in a five-year span have a first round pick moved to the end of the round]. These are all new in the apron system. Now the cost gets too expensive. It’s not just money; it’s limiting to your operations.”
  • Seven of the 10 teams listed among David Aldridge of The Athletic‘s most improved rosters this offseason are in the Western Conference. The No. 1 club on Aldridge’s list, the revamped Rockets, may not be much of a surprise, but the No. 6 Hornets certainly are.

Hornets To Hire Will Weaver As Coaching Advisor

Will Weaver is joining the Hornets as a coaching advisor, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto tweets. He’ll provide support to second-year head coach Charles Lee.

Weaver has an extensive coaching resume. He was most recently a Nets assistant but was not retained after Jordi Fernandez was named head coach prior to last season.  He was also an assistant coach with the Rockets and Sixers and served as the head coach of the Nets’ NBA G League team, the Long Island Nets — he was named the NBAGL’s Coach of the Year in 2019.

Weaver’s name has come up in head coaching searches, including an interview for Milwaukee’s top spot in 2023.

His head coaching background includes stints with Paris Basketball and Australia’s Sydney Kings. He has also served as an assistant with Australia’s national team.

Weaver began his coaching career in the college ranks from 2006-12 with Texas and Sam Houston State.

Moussa Diabate Declines To Rejoin French National Team

Hornets big man Moussa Diabate was cut from the French national team on August 8 ahead of EuroBasket 2025. After a knee issue forced Vincent Poirier to withdraw from the tournament, France’s head coach, Frederic Fauthoux, reached out to Diabate about the possibility of rejoining Les Bleus, according to Arthur Puybertier of BeBasket.

However, after consulting with his camp, Diabate declined the offer in order to “focus on his upcoming NBA season” (hat tip to Eurohoops).

2025/26 is a big season for the 6’11” center, whose minimum-salary contract with Charlotte is non-guaranteed. Diabate emerged as a rotation regular in ’24/25, averaging 5.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 59.6% from the field in 71 appearances (17.5 minutes per game).

While the Hornets could be facing a roster crunch this fall, head coach Charles Lee recently praised Diabate, so it would be somewhat surprising if the 23-year-old ends up being released.

The French national team announced on Sunday (via Twitter) that it has finalized its 12-man group for EuroBasket, with Poirier and Paris Basketball guard Nadir Hifi the final two players cut. According to Eurohoops, France’s roster will likely consist of Theo Maledon, Sylvain Francisco, Elie Okobo, Isaia Cordinier, Matthew Strazel, Zaccharie Risacher, Bilal Coulibaly, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Guerschon Yabusele, Jaylen Hoard, Alex Sarr and Mouhammadou Jaiteh.

Risacher (Hawks), Coulibaly (Wizards), Yabusele (Knicks) and Sarr (Wizards) are current NBA players, while Maledon, Okobo, Luwawu-Cabarrot and Hoard previously spent time in the league. Cordinier is a former second-round pick (44th overall in 2016), but the 28-year-old has only played in Europe to this point in his career.

Charles Lee Talks Hornets’ Offseason

The Hornets have had a busy offseason.

They traded Jusuf Nurkic to the Jazz for Collin Sexton and a second-round pick and drafted Kon Knueppel, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Sion James, and Liam McNeeley, who was selected with a pick that came over after trading Mark Williams to the Suns. They also added Pat Connaughton, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Mason Plumlee, either via trade or free agency, and retained free agent Tre Mann.

After getting only 74 combined games out of franchise cornerstones LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, the latter of whom is nearly fully recovered from wrist surgery, they will also be hoping for some better health luck this season.

Head coach Charles Lee went on Charlotte sports radio station WFNZ to discuss the team’s moves, preview the rotation outlook, and provide some injury updates.

Lee talked about the addition of Sexton, what was attractive about him from Charlotte’s standpoint, and what he will bring to the team this season.

[Hornets’ general manager Jeff Peterson] and his group, they’re just so well prepared,” Lee said. “… They understand what we need to do from a roster depth and balance standpoint, too. And I think, as they were approached with the situation, they broke it down, they prepared like they usually do, they chopped it up, and figured out what makes sense for our team going forward.

“I’ve been very excited about Collin Sexton joining our group. From afar, I’ve always witnessed him competing at a really high level. Since he’s been with our group and around our group, he’s elevated the intensity. He’s definitely a sociable and in-your-face type guy, but I love it. I think he’s going to add a lot to our group and our culture.”

When asked about the influx of guards to the roster, which now features Ball, Sexton, Knueppel, Mann, Dinwiddie, James, and Nick Smith Jr., Lee expressed excitement about the possibilities presented by having so many players capable of handling the ball.

I think we had a pretty good roster last year, but this year we are definitely a little more versatile,” he said. “Having so many guards and so many competitors with high basketball IQ, it’s gonna help us be able to play in a lot of different ways. If we watch the league, everybody’s playing a lot faster, it’s becoming a lot more positionless, and so I think with this versatility that we have of our roster, having a lot more guards, having a lot more ball-handlers that can help us hopefully create some more open shots. I’m really excited to see how it all comes together.

Charlotte’s center rotation in the wake of the Williams trade remains a question mark, but Lee seemed confident in the various looks the different big men can bring to the team.

We can play a lot of different ways this year, having Plumlee, having Kalkbrenner, having [Moussa Diabate], it allows you to be in center field sometimes or be able to switch. It’s a good balance,” he said.

Specifically addressing the offseason addition of Plumlee, who is expected by some to begin the season as the starting center, Lee said the Hornets are getting a player with “a ton of experience” who understands what it takes to win.

“He’s been used as a starter, he’s been used as a role player coming off the bench. He’s going to be able to adapt to whatever we need, I think that he’s going to be able to give a lot of corporate knowledge of the NBA,” Lee said. “He’s a professional, he’s in every day, focused on his body, focused on improving in the weight room, and even however many years he’s been in the league now, he understands and has a growth mindset, which is really important, I think, for our group and being open minded.”

Lee went on to praise the two younger big men who will play alongside Plumlee too.

I think Moussa had a phenomenal opportunity this summer,” Lee said. “He’s continued to grow, he’s one of our great success stories from a player development standpoint, and his all-in and commitment to trying to be better, try to be the most versatile and energetic big that he can possibly be. And we saw what Ryan brings in Summer League. I think he’s gonna be able to play both sides of the court at a really high level. I see a lot of Brook Lopez in him.”

Finally, Lee shared injury updates on Grant Williams, who has been rehabbing after tearing his right ACL and meniscus, and Josh Green, who underwent shoulder surgery this summer:

I think both guys have been attacking their rehab plans really well. I always have to give credit to our performance staff and to our coaching staff. They work so well together in putting together these roadmaps for our guys to be able to return to play. Both guys are making really good progress.”

However, when it came to their respective returns to action, he stopped short of any definitive proclamations.

“I can’t put a timetable on it as of right now of when they’ll be back, but they are making positive strides, and I’m just really happy with how they show up every day, how they’re attacking their rehab,” Lee said. “You take a couple steps forward and then all of a sudden you might have a step back, but I think that their mindset has been not to let that slow them down, and they’re really focused on trying to be around the team and get back to the team as soon as they can.”

NBA Teams Average 14.4 Back-To-Backs In 2025/26

Five NBA teams will play a league-high 16 back-to-back sets during the 2025/26 regular season, while six clubs will have just 13 instances of back-to-back games on their schedules. The remaining 19 teams will play either 14 or 15 back-to-backs.

[RELATED: 2025/26 NBA Schedules By Team]

Those totals – along with an overall average of 14.4 back-to-backs per team – are about what we’ve come to expect in recent years.

Prior to the COVID-shortened seasons of 2019/20 and ’20/21, the NBA’s regular season consisted of 177 days, and the league had made a concerted effort to reduce instances of back-to-backs. When the league announced its initial schedule in ’19/20, its press release boasted that teams were averaging a record-low 12.4 back-to-backs that season, marking the fifth straight year in which that number had reached an all-time low.

However, since 2021/22, NBA regular seasons have spanned just 174 days, making it a little more difficult for schedule-makers to avoid back-to-back sets. The average number of back-to-backs per team is still well below where it once was (teams averaged 19.3 in 2024/25), but it’s no longer at a record low.

Here are the back-to-backs by team in 2025/26:

  1. Charlotte Hornets: 16
    Denver Nuggets: 16
    Philadelphia 76ers: 16
    Phoenix Suns: 16
    Washington Wizards: 16
  2. Golden State Warriors: 15
    Los Angeles Clippers: 15
    Miami Heat: 15
    New Orleans Pelicans: 15
    Portland Trail Blazers: 15
    Toronto Raptors: 15
    Utah Jazz: 15
  3. Brooklyn Nets: 14
    Cleveland Cavaliers: 14
    Dallas Mavericks: 14
    Detroit Pistons: 14
    Houston Rockets: 14
    Los Angeles Lakers: 14
    Memphis Grizzlies: 14
    Milwaukee Bucks: 14
    New York Knicks: 14
    Orlando Magic: 14
    Sacramento Kings: 14
    San Antonio Spurs: 14
  4. Atlanta Hawks: 13
    Boston Celtics: 13
    Chicago Bulls: 13
    Indiana Pacers: 13
    Minnesota Timberwolves: 13
    Oklahoma City Thunder: 13

Warriors, Lakers, Knicks, Thunder Get Most Nationally Televised Games For 2025/26

Having gone from two national broadcasting partners (ABC/ESPN and TNT) to three (ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime) ahead of the 2025/26 season, the NBA’s schedule will feature a significant increase in nationally televised games.

When the league unveiled its full regular season schedule on Thursday, it announced 237 nationally televised regular season matchups, along with the seven knockout round NBA Cup games whose participants aren’t yet known, for a total of 244 contests.

As Colin Salao of Front Office Sports writes in a subscriber story, the total number of nationally televised games is up by more than 40% from last season, when the league’s partners nationally broadcasted a total of 172 games.

Salao also points out that beginning in the middle of the season, when the NFL schedule starts winding down, the NBA will have national games every day of the week: Peacock on Monday; NBC/Peacock on Tuesday; ESPN on Wednesday; Amazon on Thursday; Amazon and ESPN on Friday; Amazon and ABC on Saturday; and ABC, NBC, and Peacock on Sunday.

Every team will be featured at least twice on the national TV broadcast schedule, with the Warriors, Lakers, Knicks, and defending champion Thunder leading the way with 34 appearances apiece.

Here’s the full breakdown of nationally televised games by team:

  1. Golden State Warriors: 34
  2. Los Angeles Lakers: 34
  3. New York Knicks: 34
  4. Oklahoma City Thunder: 34
  5. Houston Rockets: 28
  6. Minnesota Timberwolves: 28
  7. Denver Nuggets: 26
  8. Boston Celtics: 25
  9. Cleveland Cavaliers: 24
  10. Dallas Mavericks: 23
  11. San Antonio Spurs: 22
  12. Los Angeles Clippers: 21
  13. Milwaukee Bucks: 18
  14. Detroit Pistons: 16
  15. Orlando Magic: 14
  16. Philadelphia 76ers: 14
  17. Atlanta Hawks: 13
  18. Memphis Grizzlies: 10
  19. Indiana Pacers: 9
  20. Phoenix Suns: 9
  21. Sacramento Kings: 9
  22. Portland Trail Blazers: 8
  23. Miami Heat: 5
  24. Charlotte Hornets: 3
  25. Chicago Bulls: 3
  26. Brooklyn Nets: 2
  27. New Orleans Pelicans: 2
  28. Toronto Raptors: 2
  29. Utah Jazz: 2
  30. Washington Wizards: 2

Since nationally televised matchups are subject to change, there’s no guarantee that every team will ultimately end up being featured multiple times on the national stage.

As Salao points out, all 30 clubs showed up at least once on the national broadcast schedule initially announced for 2024/25, but the Wizards didn’t get any nationally televised games after having their lone contest replaced by a showdown between Cleveland and Oklahoma City.

Additionally, not every team this season will have a game aired on a traditional, non-streaming network — the only games featuring the Raptors or Wizards will air on either Peacock or Amazon Prime.

Two NBA Players Among France’s Pre-EuroBasket Cuts

The French national team announced today (via Twitter) that it has trimmed its preliminary EuroBasket roster to 14 players by making three cuts. Two NBA players – Thunder forward Ousmane Dieng and Hornets big man Moussa Diabate – were among those cut, along with former lottery pick Frank Ntilikina.

Dieng and Diabate both have big seasons on tap in 2025/26. Dieng, the No. 11 overall pick in 2022, is currently eligible for a contract extension as he enters the fourth and final year of his rookie scale deal, which will pay him $6.67MM.

However, unlike fellow ’22 lottery picks Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who received maximum-salary extensions from the Thunder this summer, Dieng isn’t considered likely to get a new deal at this time and is probably more focused on simply hanging onto his roster spot on a deep OKC squad. He’s the only player on the 15-man roster whose contract is fully expiring (with no option for 2026/27).

Diabate, meanwhile, will be looking to parlay a career year in Charlotte into a guaranteed contract and a more significant role. His $2.27MM salary for ’25/26 is currently non-guaranteed and the Hornets, who are currently carrying 18 players on standard contracts (16 guaranteed), could be facing a roster crunch this fall. However, the team is somewhat thin in the frontcourt and Diabate may well be part of the rotation again after averaging 5.7 points and 6.2 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per contest (71 games) last season.

France still has plenty of current and former NBA players on its roster after parting with three of them. Wizards youngsters Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly, 2024’s No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher, and ex-NBAers like Theo Maledon, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Elie Okobo are among those still on the squad, per Eurohoops.

The French team will have to make two more cuts before EuroBasket tips off later this month in order to set its 12-man roster.