The Hornets preseason began on the road vs the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 4th. It was here the Hornets got their only win in the preseason, outscoring the Thunder 113-97. In my opinion, the Hornets looked great and really gave us a glimpse into what could be for the upcoming season. This was the only game the Hornets were almost 100% healthy. LaMelo Ball looked good leading the offense, finishing the night with 15 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds. James Bouknight looked great in his first NBA appearance. In 21 minutes off the bench, he had 20 points. The only minor concern from this game was Kelly Oubre’s ankle injury, which kept him out of the rest of the preseason.

On October 7th the Hornets played their first home game of the preseason against the Memphis Grizzlies. We played without Gordon Hayward, Mason Plumlee, and Kelly Oubre. This game was over from the jump as the Hornets went into halftime down 43-73. Clearing hurting without our starting center, Plumlee, we were outrebounded by 32 against the huge Steven Adams of the Grizzlies. Terry Rozier played fantastically and put up 21 points. James Bouknight, once again off the bench, had exceptionally good numbers and a monster posterizing dunk, finishing with 17 points.

For the third game of the preseason, the Hornets traveled south to play our division rivals the Miami Heat. Personally, I believe this was the most entertaining game of the preseason. Miles Bridges showed his versatility on the floor as he finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and knocked down 4 threes. LaMelo Ball was just shy of a triple-double with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Despite playing without Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, Mason Plumlee and Kelly Oubre the Hornets played real solid the whole game, especially in the second half. Despite our best effort, the Heat ended the game on a 13-0 run and we lost 103-104. 

In the last game of the preseason, the Hornets hosted the Dallas Mavericks. Mason Plumlee was available for this game but the Hornets were still playing without Rozier, Hayward, and Oubre. The game was televised on ESPN, so the Hornets really needed to turn up. Unfortunately, they did exactly the opposite. Only scoring 30 points in the first half basically locked down a loss right away and without the ability to get any momentum the second half we took a beat down of 58-127.. Despite being preseason it was still pretty embarrassing to lose by a record-tying 68 points on national television. The Hornets starters only scored 22 points combined! I did have the great opportunity to sit courtside for this game and one positive thing I saw was Scottie Lewis’ energy, on and off the court. The rookie shooting guard made the most of his 16 minutes. Despite trailing the entire game and losing by 60, Lewis showed enthusiasm off the court, and was a great leader on the court. With his tough perimeter defense and actively talking, he was supportive and this attitude stands to make everyone better. I hope the Hornets coaches saw and heard what I did because this is the kind of player we want on our team.

The Hornets ended the preseason 1-3 and overall played pretty inconsistent. Because of all of the injuries and with it just being preseason it’s not that big of a deal. The player that stood out to me the most this preseason is rookie guard James Bouknight. In these four preseason games, he averaged 15.7 points in an electrifying role off the bench. His innate scoring ability is something to keep an eye on heading into the regular season. The Hornets definitely have some things they need to clean up before the season opener on October 20th, but overall I believe it was a successful preseason.