The Charlotte Hornets were one of the league’s most pleasant surprises during the 2025-26 season. Towards the beginning of the season, it looked as though the Hornets were going to need another year of development. But Charlotte hit their stride when the calendar flipped to 2026, and it ended up powering through towards a 44-win season, which put them within striking distance of the NBA playoffs.
In the end, Charlotte missed out on the playoffs after the Orlando Magic demolished them in the final play-in tournament game for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Even then, it’s clear that the Hornets are primed to take the next step.
LaMelo Ball is healthy and has settled into his role as the orchestrator of the team’s high-octane offense. Kon Knueppel is perfect for today’s NBA, as he is a marvelous three-level scorer. Brandon Miller has become quite the 3 and D weapon on the wing.
That trio gives the Hornets quite the foundation to build the team on, and to make things better, they have two first-round picks in this year’s stacked draft to supplement their core even further.
But the Hornets have been involved in trade rumors for a potential upgrade at center. Earlier this year, there were rumblings regarding a potential move from Charlotte for New York Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns. That is basically an impossible trade to make now with the Knicks having won the title.
Maybe Charlotte could clear the requisite cap space to make a run at Jalen Duren, although that is unlikely to bear fruit anyway. Duren is not popular within the Hornets locker room (as evidenced by the brawl this past season between Charlotte and the Detroit Pistons), and he’s going to be a restricted free agent, which means that the Pistons could simply match any offer.
That leaves the Hornets as a potential destination for Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis. But here’s why Charlotte should stay away from him.
Domantas Sabonis would cap the Hornets’ ceiling
There is no question that Sabonis is a talented player who will make the Hornets a better team. Running the offense through Sabonis could help unlock even greater efficiency levels from the Hornets’ trio of swashbuckling young scorers, and as the numbers show during Sabonis’ heyday with the Kings (2022-23 Beam Team), an offense can be elite with him leading the way for a squad that loves to play at a breakneck pace.
De’Aaron Fox played some of his best basketball alongside Sabonis, and Sabonis’ elite dribble handoff game would make the ball pop even more across the court for the Hornets. He can also make the correct read off the short roll every time, and he’s a much more advanced offensive player compared to Moussa Diabate, the man who ran away with the starting job for Charlotte towards the end of the 2025-26 season.
However, the league is trending away from players of Sabonis’ archetype. He’s not the quickest on his feet, and his lateral and vertical limitations would mean that there is always going to be a ceiling to teams that make the Lithuanian big man one of the highest-paid players on the roster.
This current Hornets team ranked 11th overall in defensive rating this past season, and a lot of that has to do with how Diabate has emerged as one of the liveliest big men in the league. Diabate is an offensive rebounding monster whose motor on both ends of the floor never wanes, and he’s a lob threat — an important piece in a Ball-centric offense.
It remains to be seen if Diabate is going to be a long-term starting-caliber center in the NBA. But he’s only 24 years of age, and it would be a bit of a betrayal, team-building-wise, if he were to be replaced with an older player who has never been an impactful defender throughout the course of his career.
If anything, the Hornets need to improve at power forward, as the team, at this point, simply may have outgrown Miles Bridges. Even then, finding a power forward that’s perfect for this team is going to be difficult, so the team might be better off saving its assets for when that perfect piece becomes available.
Sabonis is making too much money
The Hornets own the 14th and 18th overall selections of this year’s draft, and one could argue that trading one of those picks for Sabonis is not too high a price anyhow. But those draft picks are going to be cost-controlled for at least four seasons, and it’s not like Charlotte is in a contending position where Sabonis is the missing piece that would take them over the hump.
Sabonis’ contract is rough to take on anyway. He only has two years remaining on his contract, but he’ll be making a total of around $94 million over that span. He is a double-double machine and a nightly threat to snag a triple-double, but at that cost, a young team like the Hornets would want a legitimate game changer on both ends of the court — something that Sabonis is not.
The Hornets have a cost-controlled platoon at center anyway that should work, at least for next season. Diabate is in the final year of his deal, but he’s only making $2.46 million next season, while Ryan Kalkbrenner has three more seasons left on his rookie contract.
Charlotte has to be mindful of its financial situation. Miller is going to be up for a huge contract extension this offseason, so they’re going to have to keep their books clean moving forward. But they can be a huge player in free agency next season, what with Bridges, Grant Williams, and Josh Green all in the final year of their deals.
Moreover, the Hornets can package those three expiring contracts (making around $51.7 million combined) for a player who better fits their timeline (Sabonis is already 30) and play style (they need a lockdown defensive power forward or just a straight-up upgrade at the position).
The risk-reward calculus simply isn’t lining up in their favor, and they’re better off allocating their resources towards a more impactful acquisition. The Hornets need not take shortcuts, as the 2025-26 season has shown that they’re on a rapid upward trajectory, and they don’t need to drastically change course with the addition of Sabonis.
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