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Quick offseason notes on players from the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, and San Antonio Spurs.

  • LaMelo Ball & Brandon Miller missed significant time during 2024-25 (played 74 games combined), but I personally think the Charlotte Hornets would like to see Miller stay healthy/possibly become the #1 player on this team. Hopefully both of them can remain on the court going forward, but LaMelo has dealt with many injuries so far (231 games played in five seasons) while Brandon looked like a 2025 NBA All-Star through 27 games before suffering a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist (21.0 PPG/4.9 RPG/3.6 APG/1.1 SPG/0.7 BPG/86.1% FT were all career-highs last year).
  • The Portland Trail Blazers haven’t made the playoffs since 2021, so I believe Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan, and Yang Hansen (all 25-years-old or younger) have to gain the trust of franchise legend Damian Lillard when he get backs healthy for 2026-27 (recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon). I doubt that Dame wants to deal with finishing outside the Western Conference’s top ten like he did before getting traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023.
  • We know the talent of San Antonio Spurs stars Victor Wembanyama & De’Aaron Fox. And while rookies Dylan Harper & Carter Bryant are gonna have to prove themselves as players, more experienced guys like Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Keldon Johnson, and Julian Champagnie must step up as well (still developing/all are 25 or younger, but need to produce right now with the playoffs as a realistic goal).

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