More often than not, the team is either young, hampered, or confused. The San Antonio Spurs have the former issue, the Washington Wizards have the latter issue, and the Charlotte Hornets sit somewhere in between.
They have LaMelo Ball — one of the league's still-budding stars — but they're also extremely young, and with Ball missing a substantial amount of games, it was understandably difficult to find success. Now, even with Ball, Charlotte isn't in any position to be competitive in the East, but that's not to say it isn't attainable in a few seasons.