It has been 87 days since the Charlotte Hornets walked off the floor to end their 2024-25 campaign. Following game 82 of the season, they shuffled off the parquet floor in Boston having lost 14 of their last 16 games to close the season, bringing an end to the slog that was last spring.
Fast forward three months, and a wave of optimism has washed over the franchise as Las Vegas Summer League approaches. Long gone are the doldrums of a regular season that was tarnished by injuries, and here is the dawn of a new era spearheaded by a lauded class of rookies and some pivotal second-year players.