Charlotte’s front office spent the summer tearing down the LaMelo Ball era and starting fresh. The Hornets shipped Ball out in a four-team deal that brought back Naz Reid and a pile of future picks. Miles Bridges went to Phoenix. Coby White got a three-year extension. This roster doesn’t have playoff expectations in 2027 and that’s by design.
But that patient rebuild only works if the young guys actually develop. Summer League in Las Vegas gave Charlotte a look at two players who figure into the long-term plans: Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr. Both showed real promise. Both also showed why they’re not ready yet.
Steinbach’s a Beast Inside. The Problem Starts When He Leaves the Paint.
The 6-foot-11 big man averaged 15.8 points and 9.2 rebounds in Vegas while shooting over 60 percent from the field. He bullied smaller defenders on the glass and finished through contact like a guy who already belongs in an NBA rotation. Back-to-back double-doubles against Milwaukee and Sacramento were not flukes. His motor is real and his hands are soft around the rim.
The league doesn’t play that way anymore though. Teams will drag Steinbach away from the basket and make him defend in space. That part of his game is not ready. Quicker guards blew past him on the perimeter all week. His lateral movement is a step slow and his recovery speed after closeouts is a full beat behind where it needs to be. He’s fine in drop coverage where he can sit back and read the play. But modern offenses won’t let him do that.
The good news is footwork can improve. Processing speed can sharpen with reps. Steinbach’s instincts around the rim are already NBA-level. If he gets even average at defending in space he’s a rotation player for a decade.
Anderson’s Shot Just Went Missing
Anderson came into Summer League with a reputation as a knockdown perimeter shooter. That reputation took a beating in Vegas. His outside shot was unreliable from the start and it warped everything Charlotte tried to do offensively. Defenses stopped respecting him. They went under screens. They loaded up in the paint. Passing lanes that existed on paper closed the second Anderson caught the ball.
His struggles didn’t just hurt his own numbers. The Hornets needed Anderson and Sion James to run the offense together and it never really clicked. Cramped spacing meant neither guard could find a rhythm. Anderson’s college shooting track record is legit and his mechanics look fine on film so this probably isn’t a permanent problem. But Summer League showed that the gap between college and NBA shooting is still real for him.
Both Players Have Time. That Doesn’t Mean the Flaws Aren’t Real.
Charlotte isn’t trying to win now. That timeline gives Steinbach and Anderson room to work on the stuff that went wrong in Vegas. Steinbach can focus on lateral quickness and defensive positioning while still dominating the glass. Anderson can spend the next few months rebuilding confidence in his jumper while expanding his secondary playmaking. Neither guy is a finished product and that’s okay for a team that’s clearly thinking two or three years down the road.
But Vegas also provided a warning. If Steinbach never gets comfortable defending on the move and Anderson can’t rediscover his shooting against NBA length, opponents will keep attacking those exact weak points. The Hornets have the patience to let this play out. They just need the players to actually improve.
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