The Charlotte Hornets have lived in the middle ground of the NBA in recent years, failing to win more than 45 games for the last decade.
In the last three seasons, at least, the team has been able to land top draft picks in the form of sub-30-win seasons. And that continued with Charlotte grabbing talented Duke wing Kon Knueppel at No. 4 in the 2025 NBA Draft. Additionally, the team was able to further fill out its roster with forward Liam McNeeley, wing Sion James and center Ryan Kalkbrenner.
The Hornets were deemed winners of the draft by plenty of the top experts, having nabbed a high-level prospect up top, and multiple others capable of providing impactful NBA minutes.