The NBA Playoffs in full swing, and as per usual, they don’t feature the Charlotte Hornets in any capacity. That being the case, it’s hard to find reasons to think about the Hornets or things to look forward to. While it’s no NFL, the NBA does manage to find ways to stay relevant for most of the calendar year, even if the team you’re following doesn’t have any games to play.

We’re on the eve of the month of May, which means some meaningful offseason dates are on the horizon for the Hornets.

May

• May 9-11: G League Combine
• May 11-18: NBA Draft Combine
• May 12: NBA Draft Lottery
• May 28: Last day for early draft entrants to withdraw and maintain college eligibility

As has been the case for several years now, the NBA Draft Lottery has a chance to be a seminal moment for this franchise. That’ll happen on Monday, May 12. The Hornets will have a 14% chance of landing Cooper Flagg and altering the course of the organization. May 28 is the date that we need to pass to quell any fears that he’ll return to Duke to avoid a particular NBA team. The combine will give us new insights into players, especially since every prospect is required to participate now.

June

• June 15: Deadline for early draft entrants to withdraw (mostly pertains to international players)
• Day after conclusion of NBA Finals: Teams can negotiate with their own free agents (Seth Curry and Taj Gibson)
• June 25: First round of the 2025 NBA Draft
• June 26: Second round of the 2025 NBA Draft
• June 29: Last day to extend qualifying offers to restricted free agents Tre Mann and Wendell Moore
• June 30: Josh Okogie’s contract becomes fully guaranteed for 2025-26 ($7.75 million)
• June 30 5:00pm: Teams can start negotiating with free agents

The most important date in June is the NBA Draft. The Hornets will hopefully be landing a cornerstone piece at or near the top of the draft and have the potential to make some moves with a couple of early second round picks.

They’ll likely extend a qualifying offer to Mann a couple days before the deadline to do so. I don’t think we’ll see any news on Curry or Gibson. Since they’d likely be back on minimum deals if at all, the team can wait until they’re done with the rest of their offseason moves to ink those deals. I wouldn’t be surprised either way if the Hornets guarantee Okogie’s deal or waive him before that happens.

July

• July 1: Moratorium period begins; teams and players can agree to deals
• July 1: Teams can sign draft picks, minimum salary players; restricted FAs can sign offer sheets
• July 6: Moratorium ends, players can officially sign contracts and trades can be completed
• Before July 10: Other summer league maybe?
• July 10-20: Las Vegas Summer League

The first week of July had historically been chaotic with players swapping teams, but that’s been dulled by the amount of players signing extensions so they can demand trades later. The Hornets have a chance to make a nice mid level move during that time, but I wouldn’t expect anything crazy unless a big trade comes out of left field. It’s possible another Mark Williams trade could happen here if the team still feels like they have better options at their disposal.

The Las Vegas Summer League is always one of my personal favorite parts of the NBA calendar. We’ll get to see the newest Hornets draft picks and if Tidjane Salaün has gotten better at basketball. The Hornets have participated in the California Classic the last couple of years prior to Vegas, but there’s no word on a schedule for that yet.

August

September

• Late September: Training camps open

The August and September doldrums are always tough. We’ll try to find something to talk about then, but it’s always hard to find.