The Charlotte Hornets have not reached the playoffs in each of the last nine seasons. Recently, they haven’t been close to even qualifying for them. Last season, they went 19-63 and are a combined 67-179 over the last three years. Expectations for next season do not include their streak to end. There isn’t much they can do to further improve their roster. As a matter of fact, there is still work to do in order to have a legal roster in 2025-26. On Tuesday, the Hornets waived Josh Okogie. They still have 18 standard contracts, three above the limit.
Hornets Waive Josh Okogie, But Still Have Work To
Josh Okogie Waived By Hornets
The 26-year-old Okogie wasn’t a member of the Hornets for very long. He was acquired by the team in mid-January in a deal that sent Nick Richards to the Phoenix Suns. Okogie’s $7.75 million contract wasn’t fully guaranteed and was set to become so. Charlotte has decided to move on from him prior before his deal became fully guaranteed.
The 20th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Okogie has now played seven years in the league. He is now hoping to find his fourth team. Prior to playing with the Hornets and Suns, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard spent his first four years with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In 15 games (six starts) with the Hornets last season, Okogie posted averages of 8.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.8 steals in 18.3 minutes. He possessed shooting percentage splits of 38.8/32.0/77.4. In 416 career games (167 starts), he has averages of 6.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists.
Now an unrestricted free agent, someone should be able to add a solid player in Okogie on likely what would be a minimum deal.
Who Are Candidates For Charlotte To Move On From?
Prior to waiving Okogie, the Hornets had 19 players on standard contracts. That number is now at 18, but needs to be down to 15 before the 2025-26 regular season begins.
Probably the most likely candidate to be waived by Charlotte is shooting guard DaQuan Jeffries. The 27-year-old’s $3.09 million salary will become fully guaranteed on January 10. Last season, his first with the Hornets, he played in 47 games (20 starts). He finished with averages of 6.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists.
Another candidate to perhaps be bought out is guard/forward Pat Connaughton. The 10-year veteran was acquired by Charlotte this offseason along with two second round picks from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for guard Vasilije Micic. The 32-year-old Connaughton averaged his lowest playing time (14.7 minutes) and scoring average (5.3) last season during his seven-year Milwaukee tenure.
There doesn’t seem to be other clear candidates to be waived. Nick Smith Jr. and Moussa Diabate are still young, 21 and 23 years old respectively, and showed enough last season that the Hornets would in all likelihood want to keep them. A trade may need to occur in order to solve their roster crunch.
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