New Hornets Executive Sends A Clear Message About The Team

Throughout their NBA existence, the Charlotte Hornets have been a laughingstock, but their new executive vice president of basketball operations, Jeff Peterson, wants to change that.

In fact, he wants his new employer to do a 180 when it comes to its reputation.

At his introductory press conference on Wednesday, he said he wants to turn the Hornets into “the premier franchise in the NBA,” per Legion Hoops.

Hornets head of basketball operations, Jeff Peterson:

“We are going to turn this into the premier franchise in the NBA.”

(via @British_Buzz) pic.twitter.com/iq1bbxQT0N

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 6, 2024

Peterson is just 35 years of age, but he does have years of experience working in the front offices of the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets — in fact, he was the Nets’ assistant general manager dating back to the 2019-20 season.

While in Brooklyn, he helped executive Sean Marks with bringing in Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Mikal Bridges.

This iteration of the Hornets, who were founded in 2004 as the Charlotte Bobcats, have made the postseason only three times since and have never won a playoff series, but they do seem to have some building blocks right now.

While guard LaMelo Ball is injury-prone, he is a definite star, and forward Miles Bridges is playing strong basketball after resolving some serious legal charges he had been facing.

In addition, rookie forward Brandon Miller has been a standout this season, averaging 16.7 points per game while shooting a high percentage from 3-point range.

While Charlotte has one of the worst records in the NBA at 15-47, they will have tons of salary cap space this summer, which will give Peterson an opportunity to lure some high-quality players to basketball-crazy North Carolina.

NEXT: 
Hornets Set To Make Major Front Office Addition