Upon starting training camp with the Brooklyn Nets, Julius Randle told rookie Mikel Brown Jr. he believes his new team can “shock the world.”
If Randle and the Nets are looking for inspiration for a massive turnaround, they can examine what the Charlotte Hornets achieved last season.
Randle hopes to contribute to turning things around with the Nets starting Wednesday when they host the Hornets, who are coming off their first postseason appearance since 2016.
Brooklyn added Randle in a three-team trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who played 27 postseason games after acquiring him from the New York Knicks for Karl Anthony-Towns in September 2024. Randle averaged 20.0 points in his two seasons for the Wolves after averaging 22.6 points in five seasons for the Knicks.
Randle is joining forces with Michael Porter Jr., who is on an expiring contract. Porter set a career high by averaging 24.2 points in 52 games last season when the Nets finished 20-62 and had five rookies in the lineup at various points.
“Exactly that,” Randle said at media day when asked what he meant about shocking the world. “Whatever your expectations are, whatever expectations that are put upon us, we’re going to exceed them and we’re going to do things at a very high level.”
Randle and Porter are anchoring a young team hoping to see Egor Demin stay healthy after dealing with ankle issues when he averaged 10.3 points and made 38.5% of his 3-point tries. Demin is joined in the backcourt by Brown, who likely will be on a minutes limit following some ankle ailments in the preseason.
After going 46-118 in coach Jordi Fernandez’s first two seasons, the Nets are hoping to pull off what the Hornets achieved in coach Charles Lee’s second season. Lee debuted with a 63-loss campaign, and the Hornets lost 28 of their first 44 games through Jan. 21.
The Hornets finished with a flourish by winning 28 of their final 38 games, highlighted by a nine-game winning streak Jan. 22-Feb. 7. That resulted in Charlotte’s first winning season since 2021-22 and third since the franchise rebranded from the Bobcats following the 2013-14 season.
Despite the big run, the Hornets did not reach the main draw of the postseason by shooting 33.7% in a 121-90 loss to Orlando in their second play-in game.
Since the play-in game, the Hornets traded LaMelo Bell to Minnesota for Naz Reid, who will be in the starting lineup along with Brandon Miller. The Hornets also added former Nets Dennis Schroder and Royce O’Neale but could be without Coby White (calf) and Kon Knueppel (hamstring), who missed the entire preseason.
“I have that burning desire even more to put together a great product on the court for the city and for the Carolinas,” Lee said at media day. “I think we put out and acquired these targeted veterans that are going to bring something to both sides of the ball. They’ve all played at a high level offensively and defensively throughout their career–we’re looking at 219 games of playoff experience.
Charlotte is hoping to replicate last season when its 16.4 3-pointers led the league and its 37.8% from 3-point range was third. The Hornets are hoping to improve on their ball handling after committing 79 turnovers in four preseason games.
–Field Level Media
