Tag: Charlotte Hornets

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: Nov. 11-17

A couple of solid games for the two former Irish players.

Notre Dame’s two NBA representatives turned in some fine performances during the past week. While they didn’t happen concurrently with each other, they still happened.

After six-point showings on back-to-back nights, [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] delivered his scoring and rebounding high for the young season with 10 points and seven boards Nov. 16 against the Charlotte Hornets. It also was his fifth consecutive game with exactly two assists.

Over three games for the past week, Connaughton averaged 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. This was despite shooting 36.4% from the field.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] turned in a couple of scoreless performances during the week. However, he did have 10 points and two assists in a Nov. 13 win over the Washington Wizards. For his four games during the week, he achieved a scoring average to 4.0 and an assist average to 1.0.

You might be curious how about how these two players looked over the course of the week. Well, here they are:

Lonzo Ball received love from his brother LaMelo after playing his first game in almost 3 years

LaMelo tweeted his full support for Lonzo.

Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball returned to the court after missing more than two NBA seasons and he looked great.

Lonzo, who was selected No. 2 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, could provide a major spark to the Bulls if he returns to form this season. While he received a game ball and a standing ovation, he also got plenty of love from players in the league as well.

LONZO BALL: An NBA player should not look this good after missing nearly 3 years

That includes a shout out from Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton as well as his youngest brother, LaMelo Ball, who is one of the top young players in the NBA.

LaMelo showed some major respect for his oldest brother, Lonzo. The two will play against each other on December 30 in Charlotte and then January 17 in Chicago.

They will have two more games against each other later in the season as well.

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2024-25 Charlotte Hornets: A quick preview

Last season, the Charlotte Hornets struggled without their offensive leader, LaMelo Ball, leading to a disappointing campaign. However, the team enters this year with a projected win total of 30.5, a significant improvement from their previous two …

Last season, the Charlotte Hornets struggled without their offensive leader, LaMelo Ball, leading to a disappointing campaign. However, the team enters this year with a projected win total of 30.5, a significant improvement from their previous two seasons (21 wins in 2023-24 and 27 wins in 2022-23). This summer, they hired Charles Lee, who many considered to be one of the top upcoming head coaches. Then, the Hornets focused on upgrading their roster and acquiring valuable draft assets. They re-signed Miles Bridges to a three-year, $75 million deal, traded for Josh Green, and selected Tidjane Saluan and KJ Simpson in the draft.

While the Bridges signing was notable, the key moves came from a series of trades that provided Charlotte with much-needed flexibility. Despite being over the salary cap, the Hornets managed to acquire Green, all while adding seven second-round picks in the process. The Hornets acquired three of those second-round picks along with DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown, and Duane Washington Jr. to help facilitate the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves’ trade of Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.

The team’s improvement largely hinges on the health of Ball, who played only 21 games last season but was the team’s leading scorer with 23.9 points and 8 assists per game. His return is the primary source of optimism, as the offense will once again revolve around his playmaking. Brandon Miller, named to the All-Rookie 1st Team after averaging 17.3 points per game, adds another key element to their offensive firepower. On the defensive end, Bridges and Mark Williams form a solid defensive presence, although Williams is currently sidelined with a strained tendon.

Former Duke basketball star returning to North Carolina with the Charlotte Hornets

Former Duke basketball star Harry Giles will return to North Carolina later this year thanks to a one-year deal with the Charlotte Hornets.

Former Duke basketball player Harry Giles makes his return to North Carolina later this year after he signed a one-year contract with the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported the signing.

A former five-star prospect, Giles was 247Sports’ third-ranked player in the Class of 2016. The 6-foot-10 forward battled injuries during his time in Durham, only playing in 26 games throughout his freshman season, and he averaged 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game.

After the Sacramento Kings took Giles with the 20th overall pick in the 2017 draft, the Winston-Salem native did not play in his first NBA season. He made 104 appearances over the next two years, however, averaging at least 6.9 points per game in both campaigns. He set a career-high with 4.1 rebounds per game in 2019-20, his last season with the Kings.

Giles has played in 61 NBA games since the 2020-21 season began for the Portland Trail Blazers, Brooklyn Nets, and Los Angeles Lakers. His career averages sit at 5.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists.

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1837896225128907099

Former Duke basketball stars Seth Curry and Mark Williams set for training camp in Durham

The Charlotte Hornets, with two former Duke basketball stars in tow, will host training camp at Cameron Indoor Stadium in October.

The Blue Devils will host the Charlotte Hornets, an NBA team featuring former Blue Devils Seth Curry and Mark Williams, for training camp next month.

The school announced on Thursday that the Hornets would take over the Michael W. Krzyzewski Center, where both the Duke men’s and women’s basketball teams train, from October 1-4 as they prepare for the 2024-25 NBA season.

Curry, now 34 years old, has been in the NBA since 2013. He’s played in 482 games for nine different teams, and the Dallas Mavericks traded him to the Hornets last February. He’s a career 43.1% 3-point shooter and averaged 9.0 points in 19.9 minutes during his eight games with the team last season.

Williams, on the other hand, has been with the Hornets since they drafted him in 2022. He averaged 12.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game in 2023-24, and he’s averaged at least one block per game in both of his career seasons. However, his sophomore campaign lasted only 19 games before a back injury kept him out for the rest of the year.

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1834298872082076093

The last day of the Hornets training camp, October 4, is the same day as Duke’s season-opening Countdown to Craziness, so there’s a chance that Williams and Curry make an appearance at Cameron Indoor Stadium that night.

Former Thunder Keyontae Johnson signs deal with Hornets

Former Thunder Keyontae Johnson signs deal with Hornets.

After his free agent rights were renounced earlier this offseason, Keyontae Johnson has found a new home. The 24-year-old has signed a contract with the Charlotte Hornets, per his agency Priority Sports.

This marks the end of a forgettable one-year stint for Johnson with the Thunder. He was the No. 50 selection of the 2023 NBA draft and was added on a two-way deal.

Johnson had a redshirt season last year and only totaled nine appearances in his rookie season. He averaged 1.2 points and 1.1 rebounds.

The 24-year-old spent most of his rookie campaign with the G League’s OKC Blue, where he was a starter on their quest to a championship.

Johnson played in five college seasons from 2018-23. He spent his first four campaigns in Florida before transferring to Kansas State for his final season.

He was limited to four games in his final two years with the Gators as he missed time with a heart condition discovered after he collapsed on the court in Dec. 2020.

The details of his deal with the Hornets are unknown, but it’s likely a two-way slot. He will have a chance to continue to develop in the G League while on an NBA squad more suited to give him consistent minutes.

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Hornets’ Tidjane SalaĂźn, KJ Simpson threw out first pitch for Charlotte Knights

Hornets rookies Tidjane SalaĂźn and KJ Simpson threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Charlotte Knights on Thursday.

Charlotte Hornets rookies Tidjane SalaĂźn and KJ Simpson threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

SalaĂźn and Simpson were on hand to watch the Knights host the Toledo Mud Hens at Truist Field on Thursday as part of their six-game homestand. They took the mound donning custom-made Knights jerseys, and both delivered their pitches.

With the two draftees in attendance, the Knights took down the Mud Hens 3-2 in the 10th inning on a walk-off single by Bryan Ramos. The Knights have taken two out of their first three games against the Mud Hens and improved to 53-61 on the season.

SalaĂźn debuted with the Hornets in the NBA Summer League, averaging nine points and seven rebounds on 42.3% shooting from the field in three appearances. The sixth pick produced his best game on July 16 with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Simpson, the 42nd pick, was ruled out of playing with the Hornets in summer league after suffering a hamstring injury during the predraft process. He is expected to be fully recovered and available for the start of training camp in October.

SalaĂźn and Simpson join a roster headlined by LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Grant Williams, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams, among others. The team will be guided by first-year head coach Charles Lee.

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A Charlotte Sting revival isn’t happening anytime soon amid WNBA expansion

The new ownership group of the Charlotte Hornets doesn’t seem interested in bringing a WNBA team back to the Queen City.

The WNBA – and women’s basketball as a sport – is experiencing a tremendous period of growth right now. In the college game, the women’s national championship game between Iowa and South Carolina drew a record 18.9 million viewers, topping the men’s title game by about four million.

Tickets to the WNBA Draft sold out within minutes, arenas are being filled at an unprecedented rate, and WNBA viewership records are being shattered. And a new league, Unrivaled, is coming online soon too, with stars like Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers already signing up.

Expansion teams are on the way for the WNBA as well, with the Golden State Valkyries launching next season and a team in Toronto coming in 2026. Expansion is likely to continue for the WNBA through 2028, with commissioner Cathy Engelbert previously saying that she wants 18 teams in the league by then.

Where will the WNBA go next? It’s unclear. Nashville, Philadelphia, Denver and other cities have all been discussed and debated as potential options.

But it’s beginning to seem less likely that the WNBA will return to the city of Charlotte, North Carolina.

In an interview with the Charlotte Observer, the new President of the Charlotte Hornets, Shelly Cayette-Weston said “we are not in current conversations to bring a team here,” when asked about the WNBA.

She added:

“We are not currently not looking to bring a team here. But you can know that for us, we absolutely support the women’s game, the WNBA and we’ll continue those conversations as they arise… There’s so much demand for getting a WNBA franchise that it’s actually really competitive right now. So the decision is not just (wanting to) get it. There is a long line in waiting for the next franchise that’s going to be awarded by the league, which is a great thing.”

In the past year, Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall became controlling owners of the Hornets, buying Michael Jordan’s majority shares.

The Charlotte Sting were one of the WNBA’s original eight franchises when the league launched in 1997. The team had some great players – like Dawn Staley, Andrea Stinson, Tracy Reid, Charlotte Smith and Vicky Bullett – and went to the playoffs six times, making the Finals in 2001 when they were coached by Anne Donovan.

But the future of the team fell into limbo when the Hornets relocated to New Orleans in 2002. Soon after, Robert Johnson was announced as the owner of a new expansion NBA franchise in Charlotte and he bought the Sting too. Citing low attendance and loss in revenue, Johnson’s ownership group attempted to sell the Sting to a group in Kansas City in 2006, which would’ve saw the franchise relocate. The deal fell apart and Johnson relinquished control of the team to the WNBA. By January 2007, the team had folded, its players sent to other squads in a dispersal draft.

Despite the departure of the Sting, women’s basketball remains incredibly popular in North Carolina, which led some to believe that a return of the WNBA to the Tar Heel State was possible.

 

N.C. State, for example, has already sold out its season tickets in Raleigh’s Reynolds Coliseum for the upcoming season and averaged north of 5,200 fans per game last year. In Greensboro, the ACC said that 67,081 people attended games for its 2024 women’s basketball tournament across five days at the Greensboro Coliseum, which is the highest total attendance the tournament has drawn since 2009.

And in Charlotte last year, an announced crowd of 15,196 fans came to the Spectrum Center to watch Virginia Tech vs. Iowa in the Ally Tip-Off, which broke the record for the highest attended egular season women’s college basketball in the state, surpassing the mark of 12,722 set in 2009 when UNC-Chapel Hill hosted UConn at the Dean Smith Center.

That game was put on by the Charlotte Sports Foundation, and they’re running it back this year with a doubleheader of women’s college games as Virginia Tech will play Iowa again, and N.C. State and South Carolina will have a rematch of their Final Four clash. Miller Yoho, the Director of Communications and Marketing at the Charlotte Sports Foundation, said “It’s common sense to invest in women’s sports.”

But without the involvement or endorsement of the Hornets, bringing the WNBA back to Charlotte seems like unlikely.

Leaky Black’s time with Charlotte Hornets comes to end

Leaky Black’s dream of playing for his hometown Charlotte Hornets came to a bittersweet end on Thursday, August 1.

There was hope that when Leaky Black’s time at North Carolina was up after the 2022-2023 season, he would be highly-sought after amongst NBA teams.

Black enjoyed a solid offensive jump during his COVID season, averaging a career-high 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, but that isn’t enough to be a consistent starter in today’s NBA.

Despite his prowess as a defensive ace, Black signed a 2-way deal with his hometown Charlotte Hornets – after going undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft. He spent most of last season with Charlotte’s G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, but appeared in 26 NBA games (three starts) – averaging 2.7 points in 10.7 minutes per game.

Black played Summer League ball with the Hornets again this summer. Unfortunately, that was his last time (for now) in Charlotte, as the Hornets released him on Thursday, Aug. 1.

If you follow the NBA, you’ll know Charlotte is one of the worst teams in the league. The Hornets, however, enjoyed a strong 7-1 Summer League – and are giving 2-way contracts to rookie KJ Simpson and Moussa Diabate instead.

If teams were looking at Black because of his defense alone, Black would be an easy first-round pick. As a Tar Heel, Black was typically assigned to the opposition’s top scorer.

There isn’t a lot of defense in today’s NBA, though, with some of the highest-ever point totals coming in the past couple seasons.

I’m sure another team will pick up Black, whether in the NBA, overseas or somewhere else in the Americas. After all, a player with Black’s caliber of defense is a rare find in today’s game – and defense wins championships.

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Former Tar Heel Leaky Black featured in Charlotte Hornets’ NBA Summer League highlights

It’s safe to say that Leaky Black is enjoying his time with the Charlotte Hornets.

Leaky Black is arguably one of the best all-around basketball players to ever don a UNC uniform.

Black played at North Carolina for five seasons (2018-2023), carving out a name for himself as a defensive standout, a title that was apparent by being name a 2-time member of the ACC’s All-Defensive Team.

Roy Williams and Hubert Davis typically put Black on the opposition’s best shooter or offensive creator, with his goal the ability to heavily influence a game’s outcome.

As Black developed throughout his Tar Heels career, he added a solid shooting touch to his arsenal. Black never averaged more than 7.3 points per game in a single season, with that total coming in his 2022-2023 COVID year, but you could still count on him for decent scoring production.

When Black’s time at UNC ended, he signed a 2-way contract with the Charlotte Hornets. Despite spending most of last season with the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate, Black played 26 NBA games.

Black was also part of Charlotte’s Summer League team the past two seasons, with 2024 being a strong summer in particular at 7-1. Black played in five of the Hornets’ eight contests, averaging three points, four rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

In the Hornets’ summer league highlights recap video, which they posted to Instagram on Thursday, July 25, you’ll see Black several times throughout.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C92mjbuJQ0Y/

I hope Charlotte decides to keep Black at the NBA level, but if he’d rather the route to more playing time, Greensboro might be the better option.

With both cities being just 90 minutes from each other, though, don’t be surprised to see Black bouncing back and forth.

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