Hornets Turn to White, Miller and Knueppel to Fill LaMelo Ball Void
The short version
- LaMelo Ball was traded from the Hornets to Minnesota
- The Ball-Miller-Knueppel trio posted a 130.3 offensive rating; without Ball it fell to 110.6
- Coby White shot at the rim on 33% of half-court attempts last season vs. 18% for Ball
- Brandon Miller averaged 20.2 points and shot 38% on threes despite a shoulder injury that required May surgery
- Naz Reid came back in the trade and Charlotte drafted Hannes Steinbach 14th overall
After trading Ball to Minnesota, Charlotte is counting on a collective effort and a newly versatile frontcourt to absorb the loss of its offensive engine.
LaMelo Ball is gone from Charlotte, dealt to Minnesota, and the Hornets are not trying to find a single successor. Instead, the organization believes a group effort can cover the production of a player who drove the league's most potent lineup. With Ball alongside Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel, the Hornets produced a 130.3 offensive rating, tops among all three-man groups that logged at least 60 games together last season. Without Ball on the floor, that figure sank to 110.6.
Coby White arrives as the first piece. He will not mirror Ball's passing style, but he brings volume shooting from beyond the arc and a willingness to attack the rim that the previous core lacked. Per Synergy Sports, 33% of White's half-court attempts came at the rim last season, versus 18% for Ball, and Charlotte's jump-shot reliance was glaring in its play-in defeat to Orlando, when it hoisted 45 threes and managed only 28 points in the paint of a 121-90 loss. In the 309 minutes White played without Ball, the Hornets posted a 126.2 offensive rating. Dennis Schröder backs him up.
Brandon Miller carries the next burden. Taken second in his draft behind Victor Wembanyama, he must improve his late-clock scoring after ranking 61st of 66 players in isolation efficiency among those with at least 100 such possessions, per Synergy. He also battled a left shoulder problem last year, initially subluxing it in October, sitting out 13 games and then playing through discomfort after May surgery addressed the instability. He still averaged 20.2 points on a career-high 38% three-point shooting, and he heads into the final year before restricted free agency.
Kon Knueppel, who led the NBA in made threes as a rookie and was the fourth pick in his draft, offers shooting gravity plus enough pace and feel to develop beyond specialist status. The frontcourt reshapes the offense as well: Naz Reid, the main return in the Ball trade, lets coach Charles Lee deploy five shooters at once, twin-big looks with Moussa Diabate or second-year center Ryan Kalkbrenner, and inverted pick-and-rolls with Knueppel screening for Reid. Charlotte also drafted center Hannes Steinbach 14th overall in June.
