Charles Lee, Hornets Agree to HC Contract to Replace Steve Clifford After Celtics Run
Charles Lee, the assistant coach of the Boston Celtics, was named the new head coach of the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that Lee will see out the Celtics’ postseason campaign before assuming formal leadership in Charlotte. According to Wojnarowski, Lee and the Hornets reached an agreement on a four-year deal.
For a few years now, Lee has been seen as a future head coach. He was Mike Budenholzer’s longtime assistant while he was with the Atlanta Hawks and later the Milwaukee Bucks. Ahead of the 2022–2023 season, Budenholzer accepted a position as a member of the coaching staff of the Boston Celtics.
On April 3, Steve Clifford revealed he was leaving the Hornets at the end of the 2023–24 season, sparking the team’s hunt for a new head coach.
In addition to the Hornets’ 21-61 record and 13th-place Eastern Conference finish, Clifford saw the departure of general manager Mitch Kupchak and the arrival of a new ownership group. It’s possible that he saw his future written in the stars.
The new team governors, Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, had their first serious chance to implement the strategy they outlined when they took over the organisation in August of last year during this offseason.
At the time, they declared, “Our vision is to take the Hornets to the next level, both on and off the court.” “Our goals are to create a fiercely competitive basketball team, create cutting-edge business strategies, support our community, and establish a bond with our supporters.”
“In order to provide our supporters in the Carolinas with a winner, we intend to make additional investments in the team, the facilities, and the fan experience. We are certain that our prior expertise as minority NBA owners and our prosperous business backgrounds would be helpful in guiding the franchise towards being a top-tier enterprise.”
Lee will have his hands full trying to turn around a team that has missed the playoffs for the past eight years.
A string of poor decisions made in the NBA draft and free agency have cost the Hornets dearly. They’ve also had a lot of misfortune, of which LaMelo Ball is the most glaring example.
When Charlotte signed Ball to a five-year, $204.5 million agreement last summer, the team cemented Ball as their cornerstone for the future. A small-market team must hang on to its indigenous talent, so the agreement was understandable given that the dynamic guard finished his first two years of college with averages of 18.3 points, 7.0 assists, and 6.4 rebounds per game.
However, Ball is now coming off a 2023–24 season in which an ankle ailment limited his playing time to just 22 games. He was also limited to 36 appearances in 2022–2023 by a fractured right ankle.
To compete with their current core, the Hornets need the 22-year-old to both stay healthy and return to his peak performance.
Brandon Miller, a first-round pick in 2023, will also need to develop carefully. The 6’9″ forward had impressive first-round results, averaging 17.2 points on 44.0 percent shooting (including 37.3 percent from three), 4.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.
Although Miller did not impress fans as much as players like Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs and Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder, it is clear that he has potential.
Charlotte might have the core of a playoff club in Ball and Miller. Compared to some other teams, it’s a better place to start when embarking on a complete reconstruction.
They will need to hope that Lee can eventually assist in getting them back to the playoffs, but there are still a lot of things that the ownership and front staff will need to correct in the coming years.