Charlotte Dumped LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges. Here Is What Their Draft Class Looks Like Now.

The Charlotte Hornets walked into the 2026 NBA Draft with a playoff team’s shopping list. They left with a rebuild starter kit. And honestly, that shift happened so fast it might give you whiplash.

Just a few weeks before draft night, the Hornets were riding a nine-game winning streak. They finished 44-38. They won a Play-In thriller against Miami in overtime before falling to Orlando. LaMelo Ball looked healthy again. Brandon Miller looked like a future All-Star. Miles Bridges was still there. It felt like the turn under coach Charles Lee was real.

Then Charlotte decided to slam the brakes and take the exit ramp instead.

The Hornets traded Ball and Bridges within days of each other. In return they got Naz Reid, a bunch of future draft picks and a roster that suddenly belongs to Miller. That changed everything about what this draft needed to be.

Pick No. 14: Hannes Steinbach, Washington

Grade: A

Before the trades this pick looked like a luxury. A nice backup big for a team that needed depth. After the trades it looks like something else entirely.

Steinbach averaged 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds last season at Washington. He shot 57.7 percent from the floor. But the scouting reports rave about his passing. The guy can initiate offense from the elbows. He makes quick reads. He is not just a back-to-the-basket center who clogs the lane. He fits a movement-based system really well.

Pairing him with Naz Reid gives Charlotte a frontcourt that can actually pass and space the floor. That was not a strength of last year’s team. Steinbach also attacks the glass like it personally insulted him. The Hornets got killed on the boards in too many games last year. That problem might have just gotten a lot smaller.

Pick No. 18: Christian Anderson Jr., Texas Tech

Grade: A-

Losing LaMelo Ball leaves a crater in your offense. You do not replace that with one guy. But Christian Anderson Jr. is a pretty good start.

The Texas Tech combo guard put up 18.5 points and 7.4 assists while shooting over 40 percent from three. He is one of the best pure shooters in this class. He runs the pick-and-roll like a veteran. He makes the right read more often than not.

Anderson can play on the ball or off it. He can run the offense or just spot up and let Miller create. That versatility matters a lot now that Charlotte does not have a superstar point guard to organize everything. Anderson takes some pressure off Miller. He keeps the offense from turning into isolation ball every possession.

The questions on him are real. Scouts wonder about his defensive ceiling. They wonder if he can get his own shot against NBA athletes. But at pick No. 18 the value is hard to argue. He might end up being the steal of the second half of the first round.

Final Grade: A

The trades change how you see everything. Steinbach is not a backup anymore. He is a building block next to Reid and Miller. Anderson is not a luxury piece. He is a needed creator for a team that just traded its best playmaker away.

Charlotte got two guys who fit the new timeline. They got two guys who can grow with Miller over the next few years. Combined with all those picks they collected from the Ball and Bridges deals, the Hornets quietly have one of the most interesting rebuilds in the league going into 2026-27. They said goodbye to one era this summer. They might have just found the cornerstones of the next one.