The Charlotte Hornets are expected to compete for a postseason spot in 2024-25. It’s unlikely they’ll make it into the top six and avoid the play-in tournament, but a finish somewhere between seventh and 10th in the Eastern Conference seems attainable.

If the Hornets are languishing somewhere near the bottom of the play-in round, say ninth or tenth, but could easily fall out, that, like any situation, will certainly influence Jeff Peterson’s decision-making at the trade deadline.

As I said before, I don’t think the Hornets are really motivated to go to the playoffs. If they don’t land in the top 14 picks in the 2025 draft, their first-round pick will be sent to the San Antonio Spurs. If it lands in the lottery, they’ll send a couple of second-round picks to San Antonio instead.

Even in a world where the Hornets stay healthy and perhaps surprise everyone with how good they can be at their best, it doesn’t make much sense to seek out a big addition near the end. Mitch Kupchak made a few smaller deals near the end of his tenure as head coach of the Hornets that improved the team but didn’t add much salary or part with any major assets. Consider Montrezl Harrell, for example.

For this week’s fan poll, we asked fans on X what they think the Hornets will do at the trade deadline. Will they be buyers? Sellers? Or a little of both?

38.9% of voters were on the side of the sellers, 35.2% were on the side of the buyers, and 25.9% were on the side of both buyers and sellers.

Last season, the Hornets did a little of both. They sent out veterans Gordon Hayward, PJ Washington and Terry Rozier, but brought in some interesting players like Seth Curry, Grant Williams, Tre Mann, Vasilije Micic and others.

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